Who doesn't know them: Ludwig II, King of Bavaria and Elisabeth, Empress of Austria? They owe their world fame mainly to the photo and film industry and still do to this day. However, without the invention of photography and film, the all-encompassing fame of the Wittelsbach family would be unthinkable. But what was the world of photography and film like for the Wittelsbach family in the 19th and early 20th centuries? Away from a modern royal family, the eagle eyes of pushy paparazzi and the marketing of the tabloid press? How did the members of the Bavarian ruling family come into contact with these mass media? What has changed? Why did they pick up a camera themselves? How did both discoveries influence everyday life and the art world in the Kingdom of Bavaria? These questions are answered in the tension between the European and Bavarian history of the development of photography and film, the rejection of and enthusiasm for the new technology and the emergence and success of competitive photographers. This harmony is told in a lavishly illustrated book with a large number of previously unpublished illustrations and a focus on the thrilling, sometimes tragic individual fates of the two branches of the Bavarian ruling dynasty. A wonderful standard work on photography and film from the perspective of the Wittelsbach family. Hardback edition, German language, 224 pages fully illustrated.