Rupert of the house of Wittelsbach (1352 - 1410) succeeded his father Rupert II as Rupert III, Count Palatine of the Rhine (see Palatinate) and one of the foremost rulers in western Germany in 1398.
In August 1400, he was designated king of the Germans (the title which normally preceded accession to the Imperial throne upon its vacation) by the princely electors of the Holy Roman Empire following the deposition of the Emperor Wenceslaus. His universal recognition as Emperor was prevented, however, by Wenceslaus's refusal to renounce his title until after Rupert's death in 1410.
Rupert commissioned the Ruprecht building in Heidelberg castle. Today there is a Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg.
