The Duchess & Duke of Bavaria

I caught this photo as the snow subsided, and the sun started shining for the first time this Spring. Munich has had the “never-ending Winter” which fortunately has come to an end this week. I love the colors in the background, which have become so common in Munich. The building in the background is the Arcade of the Hofgarden, which is the garden of the Royal Residence. Can you imagine this place in its hey-day from the 13th to the beginning of the 20th century? The grounds of the Royal Palace is where all the royal court strolled through the Spring afternoon. This was the home of the aristocratic class in the Holy Roman Empire which today is Germany. In Germany, all legitimate children of a nobleman became nobles themselves, and most titles pass onto all the children. Not all children became kings, but did become princesses, dukes and duchesses. All of that came to an end in 1919 with the Weimar constitution, when all Germans were made equal and any right or privileges due to nobility ceased to exist. Yet the German nobility continues to play an important role in the various European nations that have not abolished the nobility. In fact, most of the European royal families are descendants of the German nobility.