Louis of Oettingen-Wallerstein
Louis Kraft Ernest, Prince of Oettingen-Wallerstein, German Ludwig Kraft Ernst (31 January 1791 – 22 June 1870) was a German Prince of the House of Oettingen-Wallerstein.
Early life
Born at Wallerstein, his mother was Wilhelmine Friederike (1764-1817), a daughter of Louis Eugene, Duke of Württemberg. He succeeded his father as ruling Prince of Wallerstein in 1802 but lost his sovereignty in 1806 due to Mediatisation.
Career
He served as minister of the interior in the Kingdom of Bavaria between 1832 and 1837 and as foreign minister in 1848/49. From 1819 until 1849 he was a liberal member of the Bavarian Upper House of Parliament and from 1849 until 1858 of the Lower House.
In 1823 he married Maria Crescentia Bourgin (1806–1853) in a morganatic marriage, thus being stripped of his headship of the House, and after her death he married Countess Albertine Larisch von Moennich. A passionate art collector, he spent almost all of his money on artworks and in 1862 had to move to Switzerland after being arrested on the request of his creditors. He died at Lucerne in 1870.