As reigning prince-elector of the Palatinate, Charles Theodore founded an academy of science, stocking up the museums' collections and supporting the arts.

[3] Charles Theodore had only one son, Franz Ludwig Josef, with his wife, Countess Elizabeth Augusta of Sulzbach, who died a day after birth.

A second proposal to exchange Bavaria for the Austrian Netherlands in 1784 also failed as Frederick II of Prussia initiated the Fürstenbund.

[2] It is more widely understood that Charles Theodore continued the despotic and expensive habits he had developed as Elector Palatine.

Over the next 11 years, Thompson reformed the Bavarian Army and many aspects of the state, rose to high ministerial rank with Charles Theodore's backing and became Count von Rumford.

Despite the mutual dislike and distrust between the elector and his Bavarian subjects, Charles Theodore left a distinctive mark on the city of Munich.

The British Victorian historian Thomas Carlyle referred to him as a "poor idle creature, of purely egoistical, ornamental, dilettante nature; sunk in theatricals, bastard children and the like; much praised by Voltaire, who sometimes used to visit him; and Collini, to whom he [Charles Theodore] is a kind master.

This conduct has increased his natural weakness and apathy to such a degree that for a long time he has had no opinions save those inspired in him by his entourage.

The void which this indolence has left in his soul is filled with the amusements of the hunt and of music and by secret liaisons, for which His Electoral Majesty has at all times had a particular penchant.

The Mannheim School (including composer Christian Cannabich and conductor Johann Stamitz) did groundbreaking work that the celebrated Wiener Klassik would later draw upon.

"[9] In keeping with the customs of the time, an Italian opera company as well as a troupe of French actors were employed at Mannheim, each performing in their respective tongues.

In the visual arts, a massive collection of plaster casts taken from celebrated antique works was assembled at Mannheim.

The pre-existing Düsseldorf gallery, including many works by Rubens, was first transferred to Mannheim, then to Munich, where it was later incorporated in the Alte Pinakothek.

This self-view is best summed up in the inscription of a small monument at Schwetzingen: "A field of war and death of Romans and Germans has been discovered, through the unearthing of weapons, urns and bones, in the year 1765.

– To the arts of peace, which are the sole joys of his life, the elector Charles Theodore has dedicated this spot, excavated to the height of seven feet, and had this monument erected in 1768."