Duke Siegfried August in Bavaria

Duke Siegfried in Bavaria, full German name: Siegfried August Maximilian Maria, Herzog in Bayern (10 July 1876, Bamberg, Kingdom of Bavaria – 12 March 1952, Munich, Republic of Bavaria) was a Duke in Bavaria and member of the House of Wittelsbach. Siegfried August was the first of three sons of Duke Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria and his wife Princess Amalie of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Siegfried August was the brother of Christoph Joseph Clemens Maria, Duke in Bavaria and Luitpold Emanuel Ludwig Maria, Duke in Bavaria. Family and early life Duke Siegfried was the eldest son of Duke Maximilian Emanuel in Bavaria and his wife Amalie, who was a sister of Prince Philip of Coburg and of Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria. Siegfried belonged to the Ducal or non-reigning branch of the ancient dynasty of Wittelsbach, and about five years ago, after having been one of the most conspicuous figures at the Court of Munich, in the Bavarian society, and on the German turf, was halted suddenly in his extravagant career by the old Prince Regent, who insisted upon the disposal of his large and costly racing stables, and upon his betaking himself abroad for the space of a year, one of the objects of his absence from Europe being to break certain feminine entanglements which had become exceedingly troublesome. The Duke visited America, proceeded via the Pacific to Japan, China and to India, where he shot plenty of big game, and on his way home paid a visit to Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Austrian throne, at the latter’s country seat in Bohemia in order to compare sporting notes with him, the Archduke likewise having spent a considerable time shooting tigers in India. Married and unmarried While staying with Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Siegfried met his host’s unmarried half-sister, Archduchess Maria Annunciata, fell in love with her, and their engagement was to be announced in due course. They would have made a comely couple, for the Princess had inherited much of the brilliance as well as good looks of her mother, the beloved Archduchess Maria Theresa, while Duke Siegfried was probably the best looking Prince of his house, a dashing cavalier, and one of the few scions of old world royalty and who had achieved distinction as a steeplechase rider.