With the revolution of 7 November 1918, the 738-year reign of the Wittelsbachs, the first monarchy in the German Empire, came to an end in Bavaria. After the Bavarian royal couple fled during the night of the revolution, the Eisner government tried to obtain an official resignation from the monarch.

The Bavarian royal family, the House of Wittelsbach, officially lost their political power in November 1918 when King Ludwig III was deposed during the German Revolution at the end of World War I. Unlike many other German royals, they did not flee into permanent exile; instead, they negotiated the Wittelsbacher Ausgleichsfonds (Compensatory Fund) in 1923, which allowed them to keep several private estates and artworks while turning over major palaces like Neuschwanstein to the state. During the Nazi era, the family was famously anti-Hitler, leading to many members being imprisoned in concentration camps like Dachau. Today, the family remains one of the most respected "former" royal houses in Europe. The current head of the house is Duke Franz of Bavaria, who lives in a wing of Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. While they hold no official political titles, they remain prominent in Bavarian cultural and philanthropic life.