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ludwig ii of bavaria 1 ludwig ii of bavaria ludwig ii ludwig in c 1874 king of bavaria reign 10 march 1864 ­ 13 june 1886 predecessor maximilian ii successor full name ludwig otto friedrich wilhelm house father mother born died burial religion house of wittelsbach maximilian ii of bavaria marie of prussia 25 august 1845 nymphenburg palace 13 june 1886 aged 40 lake starnberg st michael s church munich catholic otto ludwig ii ludwig otto friedrich wilhelm 1 sometimes rendered as louis ii in english 25 august 1845[2 ­ 13 june 1886 was king of bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death he is sometimes called the swan king english and der märchenkönig the fairy tale king german additional titles were count palatine of the rhine duke of bavaria franconia and in swabia 3 ludwig is sometimes also called mad king ludwig though the accuracy of that label has been disputed his younger brother otto was certifiably insane thus the claim of hereditary madness was convenient because ludwig was deposed on grounds of mental incapacity without any medical examination questions about the medical diagnosis remain controversial adding to the controversy are the mysterious circumstances under which he died king ludwig and the doctor assigned to him in captivity at castle berg on lake starnberg were both found dead in the lake in waist-high water ludwig was well-known to be a strong swimmer the doctor with unexplained injuries to the head and shoulders on the morning of june 13 1886 [4 one of his most quoted sayings was i wish to remain an eternal enigma to myself and to others 5 ludwig is best known as an eccentric whose legacy is intertwined with the history of art and architecture he commissioned the construction of two extravagant palaces and a castle the most famous being neuschwanstein and

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ludwig ii of bavaria was a devoted patron of the composer richard wagner king ludwig is generally well-liked and even revered by many bavarians today many of whom note the irony of his supposed madness and the fact that his legacy of architecture and art and the tourist income they generate help to make bavaria the richest state in germany 2 life childhood and adolescent years born in nymphenburg palace today located in suburban munich he was the eldest son of maximilian ii of bavaria then crown prince and his wife princess marie of prussia his parents intended to name him otto but his grandfather ludwig i of bavaria insisted his grandson was to be named after him since their common birthday 25 august is the feast day of saint louis patron saint of bavaria a younger brother born three years later was named otto like many young heirs in an age when kings governed most of europe ludwig was continually reminded of his royal status king maximilian wanted to instruct both of his sons in the burdens of royal duty from an early age 6 ludwig was both extremely indulged and severely controlled by his tutors and subjected to a strict regimen of study and exercise there are some who point to these stresses of growing up in a royal family as the causes for much of his odd behavior as an adult ludwig was not close with either of his parents 7 king maximilian s advisers had suggested that on his daily walks he might like at times to be accompanied by his future successor the king replied but what am i to say to him after all my son takes no interest in what other people tell him 8 later ludwig would refer to his mother as my predecessor s consort 8 he was far closer to his grandfather the deposed and notorious king ludwig i who came from a family of eccentrics crown prince ludwig of bavaria left with his parents and younger brother prince otto in 1860 ludwig s childhood years did have happy moments he lived for much of the time at castle hohenschwangau a fantasy castle his father had built near the schwansee swan lake near füssen it was decorated in the gothic style with countless frescoes depicting heroic german sagas the family also visited lake starnberg as an adolescent ludwig became close friends with his aide de camp prince paul of bavaria s wealthy thurn und taxis family the two young men rode together read poetry aloud and staged scenes from the romantic operas of richard wagner the friendship ended when paul became engaged in 1866 during his youth ludwig also initiated a lifelong friendship with his half-first cousin once removed duchess elisabeth in bavaria later empress of austria 7 they loved nature and poetry elisabeth called ludwig eagle and he called her dove

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ludwig ii of bavaria 3 early reign and wars crown prince ludwig had just turned 18 when his father died after a three-day illness and he ascended the bavarian throne 8 although he was not prepared for high office 7 his youth and brooding good looks made him popular in bavaria and elsewhere 7 one of the first acts of his reign a few weeks after his accession was to summon composer richard wagner to his court in munich 7 9 wagner had a notorious reputation as a revolutionary and a philanderer and was constantly on the run from creditors 7 ludwig had admired wagner since first seeing his opera lohengrin at the impressionable age of 15½ followed by tannhäuser ten months later wagner s operas appealed to the king s fantasy-filled imagination on 4 may 1864 the 51-year-old wagner was given an unprecedented 1¾ hour audience with ludwig in the royal palace in munich later the composer wrote of his first meeting with ludwig alas he is so handsome and wise soulful and ludwig ii just after his accession to the throne of lovely that i fear that his life must melt away in this vulgar world like [7 9 bavaria in 1864 a fleeting dream of the gods the king was likely the saviour of wagner s career without ludwig it is doubted that wagner s later operas would have been composed much less premiered at the prestigious munich royal court theatre now the bavarian state opera house a year after meeting the king wagner presented his latest work tristan und isolde in munich to great acclaim but the composer s perceived extravagant and scandalous behaviour in the capital was unsettling for the conservative people of bavaria and the king was forced to ask wagner to leave the city six months later in december 1865 ludwig s interest in theatre was by no means confined to wagner in 1864 he laid the foundation stone of a new court theatre this theatre is nowadays called the staatstheater am gärtnerplatz gärtnerplatz-theater in 1867 he appointed karl von perfall director of the new theatre ludwig wished to introduce munich theatre-goers to the best of european drama perfall under ludwig s supervision introduced the public to shakespeare calderón mozart gluck ibsen weber and many others he also raised the standard of interpretation of schiller molière and corneille 10 between 1872 and 1885 the king had 209 private performances separatvorstellungen given for himself alone or with a guest in the two court theatres comprising 44 operas 28 by wagner including eight of parsifal 11 ballets and 154 plays the principal theme being bourbon france at a cost of 97,300 marks 11 this was not due so much to misanthropy but as the king complained to the theatre actor-manager ernst possart i can get no sense of illusion in the theatre so long as people keep staring at me and follow my every expression through their opera-glasses i want to look myself not to be a spectacle for the masses

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ludwig ii of bavaria 4 marriage and homosexuality the greatest stresses of ludwig s early reign were pressure to produce an heir and relations with militant prussia both issues came to the forefront in 1867 ludwig became engaged to duchess sophie in bavaria his cousin and the youngest sister of his dear friend empress elisabeth of austria 7 the engagement was publicized on 22 january 1867 but after repeatedly postponing the wedding date ludwig finally cancelled the engagement in october a few days before the engagement had been announced sophie had received a letter from the king telling her what she already knew the main substance of our relationship has always been richard wagner s remarkable and deeply moving destiny 12 after the engagement was broken off ludwig wrote to his former fiancee my beloved elsa your cruel father has torn us apart eternally yours heinrich the names elsa and heinrich came from characters from wagner operas 12 ludwig never married but sophie later married ferdinand d orléans duc d alençon 1844­1910 throughout his reign ludwig had a succession of close friendships with men including his chief equerry and master of the horse richard ludwig ii and duchess sophie in bavaria in 1867 hornig 1843­1911 hungarian theatre actor josef kainz and courtier alfons weber born c.1862 he began keeping a diary in which he recorded his private thoughts and his attempts to suppress his sexual desires and remain true to his roman catholic faith ludwig s original diaries from 1869 were lost during world war ii and all that remains today are copies of entries during the 1886 plot to depose him these questionable copied diary entries along with private letters and other surviving personal documents have been said to suggest that ludwig was homosexual and struggled with his orientation throughout his life 13 homosexuality had not been punishable in bavaria since 1813 14 some earlier diaries have survived in the geheimes hausarchiv in munich and extracts starting in 1858 were published by evers in 1986 15 the seven weeks war relations with prussia took centre stage starting in 1866 during the seven weeks war which began in july ludwig agreed as did several other german principalities to take the side of austria against prussia 7 when the two sides negotiated the war s settlement the terms required that ludwig accept a mutual defense treaty with prussia this treaty placed bavaria back on the firing line three years later when the franco-prussian war broke out prussia and her allies prevailed in this conflict and an emboldened prussia now finished her campaign to unify all of the minor german kingdoms into one german empire under the rule of his uncle wilhelm i of prussia who would now be declared emperor or kaiser at the request of prussian minister president bismarck and in exchange for certain financial concessions ludwig wrote a letter the so-called kaiserbrief in december 1870 endorsing the creation of the german empire with the creation of the empire bavaria lost its status as an independent kingdom and became another state in the empire ludwig attempted to protest these alterations by refusing to attend the ceremony where wilhelm i was proclaimed the new empire s first emperor 16 however the bavarian delegation under prime minister count otto von bray-steinburg had secured a privileged status of the kingdom of bavaria within the german empire reservatrechte within the empire the kingdom of bavaria was even able to retain its own diplomatic body and its own army which would fall under prussian command only in times of war.

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ludwig ii of bavaria after the creation of the greater germany ludwig increasingly withdrew from politics and devoted himself to his personal creative projects most famously his castles where he personally approved every detail of the architecture decoration and furnishing 5 ludwig s castles ludwig was notably eccentric in ways that made serving as bavaria s head of state problematic he disliked large public functions and avoided formal social events whenever possible and preferred a life of seclusion that he pursued with various creative projects he last inspected a military parade on 22 august 1875 and last gave a court banquet on 10 february 1876 17 his mother had foreseen difficulties for ludwig when she recorded her concern for her extremely introverted and creative son who spent much time day-dreaming these idiosyncrasies combined with the the coat of arms of king ludwig over the entrance to fact that ludwig avoided munich and participating in the schloss neuschwanstein government there at all costs caused considerable tension with the king s government ministers but did not cost him popularity among the citizens of bavaria the king enjoyed traveling in the bavarian countryside and chatting with farmers and laborers he met along the way he also delighted in rewarding those who were hospitable to him during his travels with lavish gifts he is still remembered in bavaria as unser kini which means our cherished king in the bavarian dialect ludwig also used his personal fortune supplemented annually from 1873 by 270,000 marks from the welfenfonds[18 to fund the construction of a series of elaborate castles in 1867 he visited viollet-le-duc s work at pierrefonds and the palace of versailles in france as well as the wartburg near eisenach in thuringia which largely influenced the style of their construction in his letters ludwig marveled at how the french had magnificently built up and glorified their culture e.g architecture art and music and how miserably lacking bavaria was in comparison it became his dream to accomplish the same for bavaria these projects provided employment for many hundreds of local labourers and artisans and brought a considerable flow of money to the relatively poor regions where his castles were built figures for the total costs between 1869 and 1886 for the building and equipping of each castle were published in 1968 schloß neuschwanstein 6,180,047 marks schloß linderhof 8,460,937 marks a large portion being expended on the venus grotto schloß herrenchiemsee from 1873 16,579,674 marks[19 guide books of the time give 20 german marks £100 sterling in 1868 ludwig commissioned the first drawings for two of his buildings the first was schloss neuschwanstein or new swan castle on the rock a dramatic romanesque fortress with soaring fairy-tale towers situated on an alpine crag above ludwig s childhood home castle hohenschwangau approximately high swan region hohenschwangau was a medieval knights caslte which his parents had purchased ludwig reputedly had spied the location and conceived of building a castle there while still a boy the second was herrenchiemsee a replica of the palace at versailles france which was sited on the herren island in the middle of lake chiemsee and was built as a monument to ludwig s admiration for louis xiv the magnificent sun king only the central portion of the palace was built all construction halted on the king s death herrenchiemsee comprises 8,366 square feet a copy in miniature compared with versailles 551 112 ft2 the following year ludwig finished the construction of the royal apartment in the residenz palace in munich to which he had added an opulent conservatory or winter garden on the palace roof it was started in 1867 as quite a small structure but after extensions in 1868 and 1871 the dimensions reached 69.5mx17.2mx9.5m high it featured an ornamental lake complete with skiff a painted panorama of the himalayas as a backdrop an indian fisher-hut of bamboo a moorish kiosk and an exotic tent the roof was a technically advanced metal and glass construction the winter garden was closed in june 1886 partly dismantled the

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ludwig ii of bavaria following year and demolished in 1897 20 21 in 1869 ludwig oversaw the laying of the cornerstone for schloss neuschwanstein on a breathtaking mountaintop site the walls of neuschwanstein are decorated with frescoes depicting scenes from the legends used in wagner s operas including tannhäuser tristan and isolde lohengrin parsifal and the somewhat less than mystic meistersinger 22 after plans for a monumental festival theatre for wagner s opera in munich were thwarted by court opposition he supported the construction in 1872-76 of the festspielhaus an 1890s photochrom print of schloss neuschwanstein in the town of bayreuth and attended the dress rehearsal and third public performance of the complete ring cycle in 1876 in 1878 construction was completed on ludwig s schloss linderhof an ornate palace in neo-french rococo style with handsome formal gardens the grounds contained a venus grotto lit by electricity where ludwig was rowed in a boat shaped like a shell after seeing the bayreuth performances ludwig had built in the forest near linderhof hunding s hut hundinghütte based on the stage set of the first act of wagner s die walküre complete with an artificial tree and a sword embedded in it in die walküre siegfried s father siegmund pulls the sword from the tree hunding s hut was destroyed in 1945 but a replica was constructed at linderhof in 1990 in 1877 a small hermitage einsiedlei des gurnemanz as in the third act of wagner s parsifal was erected near hunding s hut with a meadow of spring flowers where the king would retire to read a replica made in 2000 can now be seen in the park at linderhof nearby a moroccan house purchased at the paris world fair in 1878 was erected alongside the mountain road sold in 1891 and taken to oberammergau it was purchased by the government in 1980 and re-erected in the park at linderhof after extensive restoration inside the palace iconography reflected ludwig s fascination with the absolutist government of ancien régime france ludwig saw himself as the moon king a romantic shadow of the earlier sun king louis xiv of france from linderhof ludwig enjoyed moonlit sleigh rides in an elaborate eighteenth-century sleigh complete with footmen in eighteenth century livery also in 1878 construction began on his versailles-derived herrenchiemsee in the 1880s ludwig s plans proceeded undeterred he planned construction of a new castle on falkenstein falcon rock near pfronten in the allgäu a place he knew well a diary entry for 16 october 1867 reads falkenstein wild romantic 23 the first design was a sketch by christian jank in 1883 very much like the townhall of liege kreisel 1954 p 82 subsequent designs showed a modest villa with a square tower dollmann 1884 and a small gothic castle schultze 1884 hofmann 1886 [24 a byzantine palace in the graswangtal and a chinese summer palace by the plansee in tyrol by 1885 a road and water supply had been provided at falkenstein but the old ruins remained untouched 25 the other projects never got beyond initial plans 6 controversy and struggle for power although the king had paid for his pet projects out of his own funds and not the state coffers 26 that did not necessarily spare bavaria from financial fallout by 1885 the king was 14 million marks in debt had borrowed heavily from his family and rather than economizing as his financial ministers advised him he undertook new opulence and new designs without pause he demanded that loans be sought from all of europe s royalty and remained aloof from matters of state feeling harassed and irritated by his ministers he considered dismissing the entire cabinet and replacing them with fresh faces the cabinet decided to act first seeking a cause to depose ludwig by constitutional means the rebelling ministers decided on the rationale that he was mentally ill and unable to rule they asked ludwig s uncle prince luitpold to step into the royal vacancy once

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ludwig ii of bavaria ludwig was deposed luitpold agreed so long as the conspirators produced reliable proof that the king was in fact helplessly insane between january and march 1886 the conspirators assembled the Ärztliches gutachten or medical report on ludwig s fitness to rule most of the details in the report were compiled by count von holnstein who was disillusioned with ludwig and actively sought his downfall holnstein used his high rank and bribery to extract a long list of complaints accounts and gossip about ludwig from among the king s servants the litany of supposed bizarre behavior included his pathological shyness his avoidance of state business his complex and expensive flights of fancy dining out of doors in cold weather and wearing heavy overcoats in summer sloppy and childish table manners dispatching servants on lengthy and expensive voyages to research architectural details in foreign lands and abusive violent threats to his servants while some of these accusations may have been accurate exactly which and to what degree may never be known the conspirators approached the imperial chancellor otto von bismarck who doubted the report s veracity calling it rakings from the king s wastepaper-basket and cupboards 27 bismarck commented after reading the report that the ministers wish to sacrifice the king otherwise they have no chance of saving themselves and suggested that the matter be brought before the bavarian diet and discussed in a session of parliament but did not stop the ministers from carrying out their plan [28 in early june the report was finalized and signed by a panel of four psychiatrists dr bernhard von gudden chief of the munich asylum dr hubert von grashey who was gudden s son-in-law and their colleagues a dr hagen and a dr hubrich the report declared in its final sentences that the king suffered from paranoia and concluded suffering from such a disorder freedom of action can no longer be allowed and your majesty is declared incapable of ruling which incapacity will be not only for a year s duration but for the length of your majesty s life the men had never met the king except gudden once twelve years earlier nor examined him 7 7 deposition at 4 a.m on 10 june 1886 a government commission including holnstein and von gudden arrived at neuschwanstein to formally deliver the document of deposition to the king and place him in custody tipped off an hour or two earlier by a faithful servant his coachman fritz osterholzer ludwig ordered the local police to protect him and the commissioners were turned back at the castle gate at gun-point in an especially famous sideshow the commissioners were attacked by 47-year-old local baroness spera von truchseß[29 loyal to the king who flailed at the men with her umbrella and then rushed to the king s apartments to identify the conspirators ludwig then had the commissioners arrested but after holding them captive for several hours had them released that same day the government publicly proclaimed luitpold as prince regent the king s friends and allies urged him to flee or to show himself in munich and thus regain the support of the people ludwig hesitated instead issuing a statement allegedly drafted by his aide-de-camp count alfred dürckheim which was published by a bamberg newspaper on 11 june ludwig ii of bavaria towards the end of his life c 1882 the prince luitpold intends against my will to ascend to the regency of my land and my erstwhile ministry has through false allegations regarding the state of my health deceived my beloved people and is preparing to commit acts of high treason i call upon every loyal bavarian to rally around my loyal supporters to

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ludwig ii of bavaria thwart the planned treason against the king and the fatherland the government succeeded in suppressing the statement by seizing most copies of the newspaper and handbills anton sailer s pictorial biography of the king prints a photograph of this rare document the authenticity of the royal proclamation is doubted however as it is dated 9 june before the commission arrived it uses i instead of the royal we and there are orthographic errors as the king dithered his support waned peasants who rallied to his cause were dispersed and the police who guarded his castle were replaced by a police detachment of 36 men who sealed off all entrances to the castle eventually the king decided he would try to escape but it was too late in the early hours of 12 june a second commission arrived the king was seized just after midnight and at 4 a.m taken to a waiting carriage he had asked dr gudden how can you declare me insane after all you have never seen or examined me before only to be told that it was unnecessary the documentary evidence [servants tittle-tattle is very copious and completely substantiated it is overwhelming [30 ludwig was transported to castle berg on the shores of lake starnberg south of munich 8 mysterious death on 13 june 1886 around 6:00 pm ludwig asked gudden to accompany him on a walk through the schloß berg parkland along the shore of lake starnberg gudden agreed the walk may even have been his suggestion and he told the aides not to accompany them his words were ambiguous es darf kein pfleger mitgehen and whether they were meant to follow at a discreet distance is not clear the two men were last seen at about 6:30 p.m they were due back at eight but never returned after searches were made for more than three hours by the entire castle personnel in a gale with heavy rain at 11:30 p.m that night the bodies of both the king and von gudden were found head and shoulders above the shallow water near the shore the king s watch had stopped at 6:54 gendarmes patrolling the park had heard and seen nothing ludwig s death was officially ruled a suicide by drowning but this has been questioned 31 32 ludwig was known to have been a very strong swimmer in his youth the water was approximately waist-deep where his body was found and the official autopsy report indicated that no water was found in his lungs 31 33 ludwig had expressed suicidal feelings during the crisis but the suicide theory does not fully explain gudden s death gudden s body showed blows to the head and neck and signs of strangulation leading to the suspicion that he was strangled to death by ludwig 7]

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ludwig ii of bavaria 9 many hold that ludwig was murdered by his enemies while attempting to escape from berg one account suggests that the king was shot 31 the king s personal fisherman jakob lidl 1864­1933 stated three years after the king s death i was made to swear an oath that i would never say certain things not to my wife not on my deathbed and not to any priest the state has undertaken to look after my family if anything should happen to me in either peace time or war lidl kept his oath at least orally but left behind notes which were found after his death according to lidl he had hidden behind bushes with his boat waiting to meet the king in order to row him out into the lake where loyalists were waiting to help him escape as the king stepped up to his boat and put one foot in it a shot rang out from the bank apparently killing him on the spot for the king fell across the bow of the boat 31 34 however the autopsy report indicates no scars or wounds found on the body of the dead king on the other hand many memorial cross at the site where the body of years later countess josephine von wrba-kaunitz would show her ludwig ii was found in the starnberger lake afternoon tea guests a grey loden coat with two bullet holes in the back asserting it was the one ludwig was wearing 35 another theory suggests that ludwig died of natural causes such as a heart attack or stroke brought on by the extreme cold 12°c of the lake during an escape attempt 31 ludwig s remains were dressed in the regalia of the order of saint hubert and lay in state in the royal chapel at the munich residence palace in his right hand he held a posy of white jasmine picked for him by his cousin the empress elisabeth of austria 36 after an elaborate funeral on 19 june 1886 ludwig s remains were interred in the crypt of the michaelskirche in munich his heart however does not lie with the rest of his body bavarian tradition called for the heart of the king to be placed in a silver urn and sent to the gnadenkapelle chapel of the mercy in altötting where it was placed beside those of his father and grandfather three years after his death a small memorial chapel was built overlooking the site and a cross erected in the lake a remembrance ceremony is held there each year on 13 june the king was succeeded by his brother otto but since otto was genuinely incapacitated by mental illness the king s uncle luitpold remained regent.

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ludwig ii of bavaria 10 legacy most historians believe that ludwig was deeply peculiar and irresponsible but the question of clinical insanity remains unresolved 4 the brain researcher heinz häfner disagreed that there were signs for insanity 7 others believe he may have suffered from the effects of chloroform used in an effort to control chronic toothache rather than any psychological disorder his cousin empress elisabeth held that the king was not mad he was just an eccentric living in a world of dreams they might have treated him more gently and thus perhaps spared him so terrible an end king ludwig s uncle luitpold maintained the regency until his own death in 1912 at the age of 91 he was succeeded as regent by his eldest son also named ludwig the regency lasted for 13 months until november 1913 when the new regent ludwig declared the regency at an end deposed the still-living but still-institutionalized king otto and declared himself king ludwig iii of bavaria his reign lasted until the end of the first world war when monarchy in all of germany came to an end ludwig ii s coronation portrait 1865 today visitors pay tribute to king ludwig by visiting his grave as well as his castles ironically the very castles which were said to be causing the king s financial ruin have today become extremely profitable tourist attractions for the bavarian state the palaces given to bavaria by ludwig iii s son crown prince rupprecht in 1923 37 have paid for themselves many times over and attract millions of tourists from all over the world to germany each year buildings it is not surprising that ludwig ii had a great interest in building his paternal grandfather king ludwig i had largely rebuilt munich it was known as the athens on the isar his father king maximilian ii had also continued with more construction in munich as well as the construction of hohenschwangau castle the childhood home of ludwig ii near the future neuschwanstein castle of ludwig ii ludwig ii had planned to build a large opera house on the banks of the isar river in munich this plan was vetoed by the bavarian government 38 using similar plans a festival theatre was built later in his reign from ludwig s personal finances at bayreuth · winter garden residenz palace munich an elaborate winter garden built on the roof of the residenz palace in munich it featured an ornamental lake with gardens and painted frescos it was roofed over using a technically advanced metal and glass construction 20 after the death of ludwig ii it was dismantled in 1897 due to water leaking from the ornamental lake through the ceiling of the rooms below photographs and sketches still record this incredible creation which included a grotto a moorish kiosk an indian royal tent an artificially illuminated rainbow and intermittent moonlight 20 39]

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ludwig ii of bavaria · neuschwanstein castle 40 or new swan stone castle a dramatic romanesque fortress with byzantine romanesque and gothic interiors which was built high above his father s castle hohenschwangau numerous wall paintings depict scenes from the legends wagner used in his operas christian glory and chaste love figure predominantly in the iconography and may have been intended to help ludwig live up to his religious ideals but the bedroom decoration depicts the illicit love of tristan isolde after gottfried von strasbourg s poem schloß neuschwanstein the castle was not finished at ludwig s death the kemenate was completed in 1892 but the watch-tower and chapel were only at the foundation stage in 1886 and were never built 41 the residence quarters of the king which he first occupied in may 1884[42 can be visited along with the servant s rooms kitchens as well as the monumental throne room unfortunately the throne was never completed although sketches show how it might have looked on completion 43 neuschwanstein castle is a landmark well known by many non-germans and was used by walt disney in the twentieth century as the inspiration for the sleeping beauty castles at disneylands around the world the castle has had over 50 million visitors since it was opened to the public on 1 august 1886 including 1.3 million in 2008 alone 44 · linderhof castle an ornate palace in neo-french rococo style with handsome formal gardens just north of the palace at the foot of the hennenkopf the park contains a venus grotto where ludwig was rowed in a shell-like boat on an underground lake lit with red green or capri blue effects by electricity a novelty at that time provided by one of the first generating plants in bavaria 45 stories of private musical performances here are probably apochryphal nothing is known for certain 46 in the forest nearby a romantic wooded hut linderhof castle was also built around an artificial tree see hundinghütte above inside the palace iconography reflects ludwig s fascination with the absolutist government of ancien régime france ludwig saw himself as the moon king a romantic shadow of the earlier sun king louis xiv of france from linderhof ludwig enjoyed moonlit sleigh rides in an elaborate eighteenth century sleigh complete with footmen in eighteenth century livery he was known to stop and visit with rural peasants while on rides adding to his legend and popularity the sleigh can today be viewed with other royal carriages and sleds at the carriage museum marstallmusem at nymphenburg palace in munich its lantern was illuminated by electricity supplied by a battery 47 there is also a moorish pavilion in the park of schloß linderhof 11

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ludwig ii of bavaria 12 · herrenchiemsee a replica although only the central section was ever built of louis xiv s palace at versailles france which was meant to outdo its predecessor in scale and opulence for instance at 98 meters the hall of mirrors and its adjoining halls of war and peace is slightly longer than the original the palace is located on the herren island in the middle of the herrenchiemsee castle chiemsee lake most of the palace was never completed once the king ran out of money and ludwig lived there for only 10 days in october 1885 less than a year before his mysterious death 42 it is interesting to note that tourists come from france to view the recreation of the famous ambassadors staircase the original ambassadors staircase at versailles was demolished in 1752 48 · ludwig also outfitted schachen king s house with an overwhelmingly decorative arabian style interior including a replica of the famous peacock throne there are allegations of luxurious parties with the king sometimes reclining in the role of turkish sultan while the most handsome soldiers and stable boys served him as scantily clad dancers · falkenstein a planned but never executed robber baron s castle in the gothic style a painting by christian jank shows the proposed building as an even more fairytale version of neuschwanstein perched on a rocky cliff high above castle neuschwanstein ludwig ii left behind a large collection of plans and designs for other castles that were never built as well as plans for further rooms in his completed buildings many of these designs are housed today in the king ludwig ii museum at herrenchiemsee castle these building designs date from the latter part of the king s reign beginning around 1883 as money was starting to run out the artists knew that their designs would never be executed the designs became more extravagant and numerous as the artists realized that there was no need to concern themselves with economy or practicality.

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ludwig ii of bavaria 13 ludwig and the arts it has been said that richard wagner s late career is part of ludwig s legacy since he almost certainly would have been unable to complete his opera cycle der ring des nibelungen or to write his final opera parsifal without the king s support ludwig also sponsored the premieres of tristan und isolde die meistersinger von nürnberg and through his financial support of the bayreuth festival those of der ring des nibelungen and parsifal 49 ludwig provided munich with its staatstheater am gärtnerplatz establishing a lasting tradition of performing the best of european drama ludwig in popular culture literature stage games and film · the 1972 film ludwig directed by luchino visconti was based on his life it traces the life of ludwig ii from his accession to death and stars helmut berger as ludwig ii and romy schneider as the austrian empress elisabeth ludwig ii with richard wagner the composer of lohengrin and many other romantic operas at the piano · the 1972 german film ludwig requiem für einen jungfräulichen könig ludwig requiem for a virgin king written and directed by hans-jürgen syberberg provides a more personal sympathetic and idiosyncratic account of the king s life from his boyhood to his death it stars harry baer and balthasar thomass as ludwig ii and gerhard maerz and anette tirier as richard wagner · an earlier film directed by helmut kautner entitled ludwig ii 1955 starred o w fischer in the role of ludwig ii and ruth leuwerik in the role of empress elizabeth · an epic film wagner 1983 directed by tony palmer on the life of richard wagner starring richard burton in the role of wagner also features lászló gálffi in the substantial role of king ludwig · the early 21st century play valhalla by playwright paul rudnick prominently features ludwig as the play unfolds in 19th century bavaria and 1940s texas · a play by jordan harrison doris to darlene a cautionary valentine features ludwig ii and his relationship with wagner as two central characters it premiered at playwrights horizons in new york in december 2007 · the three-volume manga series ludwig ii ii by the artist you higuri published by kadokawa shoten is a highly fictionalized account of ludwig s love life · the busch gardens williamsburg ride the curse of darkastle features ludwig as a king whose parents and later party guests mysteriously disappeared and who now haunts his old castle terrorizing guests riding golden sleighs as with gabriel knight 2 the beast within werewolves figure in the ride · takarazuka revue has adopted the life of the emperor for a musical production · ludwig figures in the alabaster egg a novel by gillian freeman · there is an anecdote of the death of ludwig ii by t s eliot in the first stanza of the waste land · sharyn mccrumb s 1984 mystery novel sick of shadows features a character who identifies with ludwig ii and builds a replica of neuschwanstein castle in georgia the novel also acts out a few more disturbing incidents from ludwig s life.

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ludwig ii of bavaria · the 1993 novel sherlock in love by sena jeter naslund features an appearance by the mad king ludwig · in the 1993 film ludwig 1881 helmut berger reprises his role as ludwig ii in an episode involving the actor josef kainz who is invited to accompany the king on a cruise on a swiss lake in order to recreate scenes from a story which actually took place around the lake · the story of ludwig ii is discussed by the characters of the 1947 novel doktor faustus by thomas mann in chapter xl · ludvig ii is a prominent character in the 1995 computer game gabriel knight 2 the beast within · ludwig ii is a prominent character in the 1994 steampunk/fantasy role-playing game castle falkenstein in the game world ludwig s death was really an abduction by the faerie folk of new europa his real-world eccentricities are an asset to bavaria because they allow him to work with faeries and other magical creatures more effectively than his rivals in prussia · ludwig s life and swan obsession features in the secret crown by author chris kuzneski the book focuses on the 2 main characters following a trail that leads to them investigating ludwig s life and castles in hopes of finding his secret treasure 14 music · illusions like `swan lake a restaging of tchaikovsky s ballet swan lake by john neumeier to reflect the life of ludwig ii · a number of musicals based on the life of ludwig ii have been staged one was called ludwig the musical by rolf rettburg and another ludwig ii longing for paradise with music by franz hummel and lyrics by stephen barbarino a special theatre was constructed on the shores of the lake at fussen not far from castles hohenschwangau and neuschwanstein specifically for the musical performances · the clean s spoken-word song ludwig and amon duul ii s 1975 song of the same name are about him · the electronic duo matmos recorded a song entitled banquet for king ludwig ii of bavaria on their 2006 album the rose has teeth in the mouth of a beast · electronic music composer klaus schulze wrote the song ludwig ii von bayern on his album x a concept album of six musical biographies evoking contemporary or historical intellectuals with an influence on schulze · in 2010 the german power metal group freedom call released a concept album about the life of king ludwig ii called legend of the shadowking titles styles honours and arms titles and styles · 25 august 1845 28 march 1848 his royal highness prince ludwig of bavaria · 28 march 1848 10 march 1864 his royal highness the crown prince of bavaria · 10 march 1864 ­ 13 june 1886 his majesty the king [of bavaria references notes [1 he was originally named otto ludwig and friedrich wilhelm was his father but on 8 sept 1845 he was called ludwig after his grandfather who was born on the same day st ludwig s day see böhm 1924 pp 1f chapman-huston 1955 p 4 schlim 2005 p 5 [2 at 00.28 hours j.g wolf 1922 p 16 compare ludwig s remark to anton niggl on 11/12 june 1886 about being born going to die at 12.30 hacker 1966 p 363 quoting gerold 1914 pp 91-3 [3 see e.g adreßbuch von münchen 1876 p 1 [4 desing 1996.

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ludwig ii of bavaria [5 ein ewig rätsel bleiben will ich mir und anderen in a letter dated 27 april 1876 to the actress marie dahn-hausmann 1829-1909 whom he may have regarded as a kind of substitute mother published by conrad in die propyläen 17 munich 9 july 1920 the words are based on a passage in schiller s 1803 drama die braut von messina ii/1 [6 nohbauer 1998 p 6 [7 der mythos vom märchenkönig http www focus de wissen bildung deutsche_geschichte tid-22518 125-todestag-der-mythos-vom-maerchenkoenig_aid_632826 html focus.de 2010-06-12 retrieved 2011-06-14 [8 nohbauer 1998 p 12 [9 nohbauer 1998 p 25 [10 rall petzet and merta 2001 king ludwig ii [11 see kurt hommel die separatvorstellungen vor könig ludwig ii von bayern munich 1963 [12 nohbauer 1998 p 40 [13 mcintosh 1982 pp 155­158 [14 till 2010 p 48 [15 hans gerhard evers ludwig ii von bayern theaterfürst-könig-bauherr munich 1986 [16 nohbauer 1998 p 37 [17 hojer 1986 p 138 [18 gerhard hojer ed könig ludwig ii museum herrenchiemsee katalog munich 1986 p 137 [19 petzet katalog 1968 p 226 [20 nohbauer 1998 p 18 [21 see die wintergarten könig ludwigs ii in der münchener residenz by elmar d schmid in gerhard hojer ed könig ludwig ii museum herrenchiemsee katalog munich 1986 pp 62-94 446-451 [22 the pictures in the new castle shall follow the sagas and not wagner s interpretation of them letter from footman adalbert welker to court secretary ludwig von bürkel 5 april 1879 petzet 1970 p 138 [23 evers 1986 p 228 [24 see petzet katalog 1968 hojer 1986 pp 298-304 for details [25 hojer 1986 p 300 [26 nohbauer 1998 p 73 [27 blunt 1970 p.216 [28 http schwangau de 646 0 html [29 esperanza truchsess von wetzhausen née von sarachaga of spanish descent born petersburg 1839 married 1862 friedrich truchsess von wetzhausen 1825-94 died after 1909 böhm 1922 p 600 [30 name=nohbauer82 [31 nohbauer 1998 p 88 [32 von burg 1989 p 315 [33 von burg 1989 p 308 [34 von burg 1989 p 311 [35 http www spiegel de international germany 0,1518,515924,00 html [36 nohbauer 1998 p 86 [37 princess irmingard of bavaria http www telegraph co uk news obituaries 8118338 princess-irmingard-of-bavaria html the daily telegraph london 8 november 2010 [38 petzet and neumeister 1995 p 24 [39 calore 1998 pp 164-165 [40 first so-called only in 1891 baumgartner 1981 p 78 [41 hojer 1986 p 294 [42 merta 2005 p 190 [43 calore 1998 p 89 [44 till 2010 p 34 [45 petzet 1970 p 144 [46 petzet 1970 p 146 [47 petzet 1968 no 780 [48 calore 1998 p 60 [49 see detta michael petzet 1970 passim 15

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