Crown prince Born in the Zweibrücker Hof in Straßburg as Ludwig Karl August von Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken, he was the son of Count Palatine Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken (later Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria) by his first wife Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. At the time of his birth, his father was an officer in the French Army stationed at Strasbourg. Ludwig was the godson and namesake of Louis XVI of France. thumb|left|Portrait of Crown Prince Ludwig by Angelica Kauffman, 1807 On 1 April 1795 his father succeeded Ludwig's uncle, Charles II, as duke of Zweibrücken, and on 16 February 1799 became Elector of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Arch-Steward of the Empire, and Duke of Berg on the extinction of the Sulzbach line with the death of the elector Charles Theodore. His father assumed the title of King of Bavaria on 1 January 1806.
Crown prince Born in the Zweibrücker Hof in Straßburg as Ludwig Karl August von Pfalz-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken, he was the son of Count Palatine Maximilian Joseph of Zweibrücken (later Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria) by his first wife Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. A!t the time of his birth, his father was an officer in the French Army stationed at Strasbourg. Ludwig was the godson and namesake of Louis XVI of France. thumb|left|Portrait of Crown Prince Ludwig by Angelica Kauffman, 1807 On 1 April 1795 his father succeeded Ludwig's uncle, Charles II, a?s duke of Zweibrücken, and on 16 February! 1799 became Elector of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Arch-Steward of the Empire, and Duke of Berg on the extinction of the Sulzbach line with the death of the elector Charles Theodore. His father assumed the title of King of Bavaria on 1 January 1806.