Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria

Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria, with his sister Elisabeth at 11 years old, and their dog "Bummerl" at Possenhofen Castle

Karl-Theodor was born at Possenhofen Castle, the third son of Duke Maximilian in Bavaria and of his wife, Princess Ludovika of Bavaria.

At the age of fourteen Karl-Theodor joined the Bavarian Army. In 1866 he fought in the Austro-Prussian War. When he left active duty, he became a student at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he studied philosophy, law, economics, and medicine. Among his teachers were the chemist Justus von Liebig, the pathologist Ludwig von Buhl, and the physicist Philipp von Jolly.

In 1870 Karl-Theodor's studies were interrupted by the Franco-Prussian War in which he served as a proprietary colonel of the 3rd Bavarian Light Horse. After the war he returned to his studies. In 1872 he was named an honorary Doctor of Medicine by the Ludwig Maximilian University; the following year he completed the requirements for the degree. Then he studied ophthalmology under Professor Deutschland and continued his education under Professor Arlt in Vienna and Professor Horner in Zürich.

In 1877 Karl-Theodor began practicing medicine in Mentone on the Côte d'Azur, often assisted by his wife Maria Josepha. In 1880 he opened an eye-clinic in his castle at Tegernsee. In 1895 he founded the Augenklinik Herzog Carl Theodor (English: Duke Charles Theodore Eye Clinic) in Munich; the clinic in the Nymphenburger Strasse remains one of the most respected eye clinics in Bavaria to the present day. Between 1895 and 1909 Carl Theodor personally carried out more than 5,000 cataract operations as well as treating countless other eye disorders.

Karl-Theodor and his second wife, Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal, 1890

On 11 February 1865, at Dresden, Karl-Theodor married his first cousin Princess Sophie of Saxony (1845–1867), daughter of King John of Saxony and his maternal aunt Princess Amalie Auguste of Bavaria. They had one child:

• Duchess Amalie in Bavaria (24 December 1865 – 26 May 1912) she married Wilhelm, Duke of Urach on 4 July 1892, and had issue.

On 29 April 1874, at Kleinheubach, Karl-Theodor married Infanta Maria Josepha of Portugal (1857–1943), daughter of exiled King Miguel I of Portugal and Princess Adelaide of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, and had issue:

• Duchess Sophie Adelheid in Bavaria (22 February 1875 – 4 September 1957), married Hans Viet, Count of Törring-Jettenbach on 26 July 1898, and had issue.
• Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria (25 July 1876 – 23 November 1965), married King Albert I of Belgium on 2 October 1900, and had issue.
• Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria (1878–1912) she married Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria on 10 August 1900, and had issue.
• Duke Ludwig Wilhelm in Bavaria (1884–1968), married Princess Eleonore Anna Lucie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg on 19 March 1917.
• Duke Franz Joseph in Bavaria (1888–1912)

Karl-Theodor received a number of honours:

•  Kingdom of Bavaria: Knight of the Order of St. Hubert[1]
•  Baden:[2]
  • Knight of the House Order of Fidelity, 1882
  • Knight of the Order of Berthold the First, 1882
•  Austrian Empire: Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece, 1862[3]
• Kingdom of Prussia: Knight of the Order of the Black Eagle
•  Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Royal Order of Leopold, 1900 – Wedding gift[4]
•  Kingdom of Saxony:[5]
  • Knight of the Order of the Rue Crown, 1864
  • Knight of the Military Order of St. Henry, 1870
•  Württemberg: Grand Cross of the Order of the Württemberg Crown, 1892[6]
•  Grand Duchy of Hesse: Grand Cross of the Ludwig Order, 19 January 1861[7]
• Mecklenburg: Grand Cross of the House Order of the Wendish Crown, with Crown in Ore[8]

He was honorary doctor of the University of Louvain, honorary colonel of the 5th Regiment of Prussian Dragoons, and an honorary member of the Academy of Medical Sciences in Brussels.

Karl-Theodor died at Kreuth in 1909. He is buried in the family crypt in Schloss Tegernsee.

• Sexau, Richard. Fürst und Arzt, Dr. med. Herzog Carl Theodor in Bayern: Shicksal zwischen Wittelsbach und Habsburg. Graz: Verlag Styria, 1963.
• Trevor-Roper, Patrick Dacre. "The Royal Oculist". British Journal of Ophthalmology 43 (1959): 1–2.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Duke Karl-Theodor in Bavaria.

• Website of the Herzog Carl Theodor Eye Clinic