Klemens August of Bavaria ¹⁸⁹⁶

  General Notes:

Clemens or Klemens August of Bavaria (1700-1761) was born in Brussels, a member of the Wittelsbach house.

He was the son of Maximilian II Emanuel, elector of Bavaria and Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska. His family was split during the War of the Spanish Succession and was for many years under house arrest in Austria. Only in 1715 did the family become re-united.

His uncle Joseph Clemens, Elector and Archbishop of Cologne saw to it that Klemens August of Bavaria received several appointments in Alt-Oetting, Diocese of Regensburg and at the Prince-Bishopric of Berchtesgaden and he soon received papal confirmation as Bishop of Regensburg, and later of Cologne.

As Archbishop of Cologne, he was one of the Electors, a Prince-Bishop of Münster, Hildesheim, and Osnabrück, and a Grand Master of the Teutonic Order.

Klemens August who mostly sided with the Austria Habsburg-Lorraine side during the wars of Habsburg successions, personally crowned his brother Charles VII emperor at Frankfurt in 1742. After Charles' death in 1745 Klemens August then again leaned toward Austria.

Klemens August patronised the arts, among others he ordered to build the palaces Augustusburg and Falkenlust in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, listed on the UNESCO cultural world heritage list. ¹⁸⁹⁶

  Life Events:

1. Acceded: Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, 1732-1761. ¹⁸⁹⁶