Joseph Ferdinand Maria of Salern
Count Ferdinand Joseph Maria of Salern (1718 – 7 December 1805) was an illegitimate son of Prince Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria (1699-1738) and Countess Marie Adelheid Fortunata of Spaur. He was thus a nephew of Emperor Charles VII and his brothers Clemens Augustus, elector and archbishop of Cologne, and Cardinal Johann Theodore, bishop of Freising, Regensburg and Liège.
Joseph Ferdinand Maria of Salern | |
|---|---|
Double portrait of Elector Maximilian III Joseph of Bavaria and Count Joseph of Salern, by Johann Jakob Dorner the Elder, 1765 | |
| Born | 1718 Berg bei Kling, Upper Bavaria |
| Died | 7 December 1805 (aged 86–87) Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria |
| Noble family | House of Wittelsbach |
| Spouse(s) | Marie Mechthildis of Törring-Seefeld Josepha of La Rosee |
| Issue | Maximilian Maria Josepha Adelaide |
| Father | Ferdinand Maria Innocenz of Bavaria |
| Mother | Countess Marie Adelheid Fortunata of Spaur |
Salern owned the Lordship of Geltolfing near Straubing. During the Napoleonic Wars, he served as a general of the artillery. From 1804, he had his own infantry regiment "Count Salern", which had been formed from the Royal Bavarian Infantry Regiment No. 4 "King William of Württemberg".
As the General Intendant for music at the Bavarian court, he was a patron of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In 1779, he was elected as a full member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. In the painting at the top of this article, he is represented as a trusted friend of his cousin Maximilian III Joseph, in the "woodturning" cabinet at Nymphenburg Palace.