Ludwig I, King of Bavaria from 1825 to 1848, collected the nucleus of works which formed the Glyptothek and Alte Pinakothek in Munich. He was also responsible for the classical layout of the city and commissioned such important buildings as the Ludwigskirche (Karl Friedrich Schinkel), the Staatsgalerie, the Propyläen, the Siegestor, the Feldherrnhalle, and the Odeon.

Despite the cultural success of his reign, the unpopularity of his ultra conservative state policies, combined with his passion for the dancer Lola Montez, forced him to abdicate in favour of his son, Maximillian II, on the outbreak of the 1848 revolutions.