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Germany. German States. Electorate of Bavaria
Maximilian II – King: 20 March 1848 – 10 March 1864
Commemorates Restoration of the Madonna Column in Munich
1855 Silver 2 Gulden 35mm (21.21 grams) 0.900 Silver (0.3067 oz. ASW)
Reference: KM# 848 | Engraver: Carl Friedrich Voigt
MAXIMILIAN II KŒNIG V. BAYERN C.VOIGT, Restoration of Madonna Column in Munich Obverse
ZUR ERINNERUNG AN DIE WIEDERHERSTELLUNG DER MARIENSÄULE IN MÜNCHEN 1855 PATRONA BAVARIÆ, Crowned Madonna standing with child.
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 Maximilian II (28 November 1811 – 10 March 1864) reigned as King of Bavaria between 1848 and 1864.
Unlike his father, King Ludwig I, “King Max” was very popular and took a greater interest in the business of Government than in personal extravagance. Ascending the throne during the German Revolution of 1848, King Maximilian restored stability in his kingdom. The rest of his reign was characterized by attempts to maintain Bavarian independence during the wars of German Unification and to transform his capital city of Munich into a cultural and educational city.
When the abdication of Ludwig I (20 March 1848) called him suddenly to the throne, his choice of ministers promised a liberal regime.
Domestic policy
In 1849 an uprising in the Bavarian Palatinate was broken down with the support of the Prussian Army.
Though from 1850 onwards his government tended in the direction of absolute monarchy, King Maximilian steered a moderate course between the extremes of Classical Liberalism, Prussian-inspired Pan-Germanism, and the so-called “Ultramontanes”.
In his attempts to transform Bavaria into a center of culture, education, and the arts, he enraged conservative Catholics and Protestants by inviting a number of celebrated men of learning (e.g. Geibel, Liebig and Sybel) to Munich, regardless of their religious views.
Devoted to his family and his people, the King also financed studies of the art, costumes, dialects, and customs of the Bavarian peasantry. This was done in order to promote a separate national identity against Prussian-inspired Pan-Germanism.
In this, the King was assisted by his Personal Private Secretary, Franz Xaver von Schönwerth. A native of the Oberpfalz region of the Bavarian Kingdom, Ritter von Schonwerth’s work collecting the folklore and traditions of his native district won him the admiration of the Brothers Grimm and made him a model for future folklore collectors.
Foreign policy
Maximilian II responded also to the demands of the people for a united German state, by attending the Frankfurt Assembly which intended to create such a state. The progress of the 1848 Revolution, however, gave him pause. The king strenuously opposed the unionist plans of the Frankfurt Parliament, refused to recognize the imperial constitution devised by it, and assisted Austria in restoring the federal diet and in carrying out the federal execution in Hesse-Kassel and Holstein. In the aftermath of the failure of the Frankfurt Assembly, Prussia and Austria continued to debate of which monarchy had the inherent right to rule Germany. The dispute between Austria and the Electoral Prince of Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel) was used by Austria and its allies (including Bavaria) to promote the isolation of Prussia in German political affairs. This diplomatic insult almost led to war when Austria, Bavaria and other allies moved troops through Bavaria towards Hesse-Kassel in 1850. However, the Prussian army backed down and accepted the principle of dual leadership. This event was known as the Punctation of Olmütz but also known as the “Humiliation of Olmütz” by Prussia. This event solidified the Bavarian kingdom’s alliance with Austria against Prussia.
 In his German policy Maximilian was guided by the desire to maintain the union of the princes. During the cold warfare between Austria and Prussia, King Maximilian and his ministers favored the former, which was a policy enthusiastically supported by both the Catholics and Protestants of the Bavarian Kingdom. Simultaneously, however, the King and his Ministers also attempted to preserve Bavaria’s independence by trying to play both powers against each other. This policy continued under his son, King Ludwig II.
In 1863, however, the King supported the project of reform proposed by Austria at the Frankfurt Fürstentag.
Attempts by Prussia to reorganize the loose and un-led German Confederation, were opposed by King Maximilian, the Emperor Franz Joseph, and other allies in 1863 in Frankfurt. The failure of these plans, and the attitude of the Austrian Court towards the Confederation and the Schleswig-Holstein Question, disillusioned King Maximilian. The last days of his reign were spent attempting to deal with the new situation created by the outbreak of the war with Denmark.
Later life
In the summers of 1849 and 1855, King Maximilian travelled his kingdom. Between 24 June and 27 July 1858, he undertook a journey on foot through his country, which began in Lindau. However, because of frequent rain he repeatedly had to be carried physically.
In government policy, the King repeatedly requested the advice of his ministers and scholarly experts before making a decision, which led to long delays. In addition, King Maximilian often traveled to Italy and Greece, which also led to long delays.
After a brief and unexpected illness, King Maximilian died at Munich on 10 March 1864. He is buried in the Theatinerkirche there.
 A Madonna is a representation of Mary, either alone or with her child Jesus. These images are central icons for both the Catholic and Orthodox churches. The word is from Italian ma donna, meaning “my lady”. The Madonna and Child type is very prevalent in Christian iconography, divided into many traditional subtypes especially in Eastern Orthodox iconography, often known after the location of a notable icon of the type, such as the Theotokos of Vladimir, Agiosoritissa, Blachernitissa, etc., or descriptive of the depicted posture, as in Hodegetria, Eleusa, etc.
The term Madonna in the sense of “picture or statue of the Virgin Mary” enters English usage in the 17th century, primarily in reference to works of the Italian Renaissance. In an Eastern Orthodox context, such images are typically known as Theotokos. “Madonna” may be generally used of representations of Mary, with or without the infant Jesus, is the focus and central figure of the image, possibly flanked or surrounded by angels or saints. Other types of Marian imagery have a narrative context, depicting scenes from the Life of the Virgin, e.g. the Annunciation to Mary, are not typically called “Madonna”.
The earliest depictions of Mary date still to Early Christianity (2nd to 3rd centuries), found in the Catacombs of Rome. These are in a narrative context. The classical “Madonna” or “Theotokos” imagery develops from the 5th century, as Marian devotion rose to great importance after the Council of Ephesus formally affirmed her status as “Mother of God or Theotokos (“God-bearer”) in 431. The Theotokos iconography as it developed in the 6th to 8th century rose to great importance in the high medieval period (12th to 14th centuries) both in the Eastern Orthodox and in the Latin spheres. According to a tradition recorded in the 8th century, Marian iconography goes back to a portrait drawn from life by Luke the Evangelist, with a number of icons (such as the Panagia Portaitissa) claimed to either represent this original icon or to be a direct copy of it. In the Western tradition, depictions of the Madonna were greatly diversified by Renaissance masters such as Duccio, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Giovanni Bellini, Caravaggio and Rubens (and further by certain modernists, such as Salvador Dal?and Henry Moore) while Eastern Orthodox iconography adheres more closely to the inherited traditional types.
 Germany, officially the Federal Republic of  Germany is a federal parliamentary republic in western-central Europe. It includes 16 constituent states and covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi) with a largely temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Berlin. With 81 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state in the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular migration destination in the world.
Various Germanic tribes have occupied northern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before 100 CE. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation.
The rise of Pan-Germanism inside the German Confederation resulted in the unification of most of the German states in 1871 into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918-1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic. The establishment of the Third Reich in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After 1945, Germany split into two states, East Germany and West Germany. In 1990, the country was reunified.
 In the 21st century, Germany is a great power and has the world’s fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP, as well as the fifth-largest by PPP. As a global leader in several industrial and technological sectors, it is both the world’s third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a developed country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled and productive society. It upholds a social security and universal health care system, environmental protection and a tuition free university education.
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