King Otto, the Bavarian prince who ruled as King of Greece from May 27th, 1832 until October 23rd, 1862, was a polarising figure who tried to bring Greece out of the chaos of the revolution into the modern world.
The attempt, he made to energize all the powers at play in the world of Greek politics led to a departure from the country on the same boat on which he had come to Greece. But in the following years, he left an indelible mark on the country by transforming Athens into the great capital it is today.
The second son of King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended the newly created throne of Greece at the age of 17, as a minor, who had a regency of three Bavarian nobles ruling in his name.
The Great Powers insisted that he will be called the "King of Greece" rather than "King of the Hellenes" because the latter would imply a claim over the millions of Greeks living outside the borders of the country who were still under Turkish rule.
Otto landed in Greece with his three Bavarian advisers Count von Armansperg, Karl von Atel, and Georg Ludwig von Mauer after sailing on the British frigate "HMS Madagaskar".
Thousands lined the docks of Nafplion, the Greek capital of the time, to witness his arrival, including many heroes of the revolution such as Theodoris Kolokotronis and Alexandros Mavrokordatos.
His arrival was enthusiastically welcomed by the Greek people as an end to the chaos of the prior years and the rejuvenation of the Greek nation.
Prince Otto was the second son of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria however he did have blood ties with Greece through his ancestor Byzantine Emperors Komnenos and Laskaris.
The London Conference of the Great Powers establish Otto as a Greek monarch In addition his father was a prominent philhellene who provided significant assistance to the Greek War of Independence.
At the end of the war, the three great powers, Great Britain, France, and Russia formulated the London Protocol of 1829, which established an autonomous Greek state and Otto became a"Hereditary Christian Prince" The political situation remained unstable for several years with unsuitable figures to rule as regents to Greece...
In 1832, the British Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston convened at the London Conference and offered the crown to the teenage Prince Otto which he happily accepted. The Bavarian House of Helsbach had no connections to the ruling dynasties of any of the Great Powers, so Otto was a mutual choice with which they were all satisfied.
Otto left an indelible mark on Greece with his decision to move the Greek capital from Nafplion to Athens for its former greatness.
By the 1830s the population of Athens was estimated at 5.000 people, who mainly lived in what is now the Plaka district near the Acropolis.
Otto's first task as a King was to make a detailed archaeological and topographical survey of Athens assigning Gustav Edward Shubert and Stamatis Kleanthis to complete his task. A modern city plan was laid out and public buildings were constructed. One of the first was Otto's palace located in an area of Athens called Perivolakia. The palace was designed by the Bavarian architect Friedrich von Gunter and was paid for by Otto's father.
Apart from the palace which became the Parliament Building, Otto's finest legacy includes the stunning Classical building of the University of Athens, the Athens Polytechnic University which was founded in 1807 as the Royal School of Arts, the Public Libary, and the Athens National Park which sill grace Athens today. Another contribution to Greek culture is when Otto introduced beer to Greece. He was certain to bring his personal brewmaster, Herr Fuchs with him when he came to the country, knowing that Greeks drank wine only, Herr Fuchs stayed on in Greece when Otto left and made his own beer called FIX which is still produced today.
The Bavarians and Otto were very unpopular in Greece, despite all Otto had done for Athens, so, unfortunately, they had to depart from the country in 1862. Are we Greeks ungrateful?
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