Open Writing

One of the stranger figures of European royal history is King Ludwig II, who was born in 1845 and reigned as King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886, aged 41.

Known to many as the 'Mad King', Ludwig II was a man born out of his time, and, like many outsiders, found it difficult to fit into the straightjacket protocol demanded of him as ruler of a conventional and rigid society. Creative and artistic, a patron of the arts and music, he founded a number of educational establishments and an Academy of Fine Arts in Bavaria; endowed the Wittelsbacher Foundation to foster the arts and brought the concept of the Red Cross to his country.

He was the principle sponsor of the composer Richard Wagner and an early visionary who commissioned an inventor to design him an airplane. Derided and scorned by others, this request was used against him as evidence of his so-called “madness” yet, only 10 years later, the Wright brothers invented the first heavier-than-air machine. Far ahead of his time, he was a man of extravagant and rococo tastes who spent vast fortunes in achieving his dreams. Hounded for his financial excesses and supposed homosexuality, his doctors declared him mad without physically examining, or ever meeting him. But, for all the derision and scorn, his creations, in the form of one castle and two palaces, now earn the State of Bavaria some of the largest tourist revenue in Europe.

The full force of Ludwig's artistic temperament was dedicated to rejuvenating and fostering the creative arts, and while originally intending to build five palaces, the opposition he encountered from his government and advisors resulted in him only building the palaces of Neuschwanstein, near the village of Fussen and Linderhof near Oberammergau, both in Southern Bavaria and Herrenchiemsee in Lake Chiem about 40kms from Munich. In creating these unique works of art, he realised only part of his intention, of which the unfinished Herrenchiemsee is undoubtedly the most outstanding.

The distinctive outline of the pinnacles, turrets and towers of the first of his creations is recognised throughout the world, as the outline of Neuschwanstein was appropriated by the Walt Disney Foundation as their logo for the fairytale castle screened before the opening credits for the DreamWorks movies. The interior of this castle is the least impressive of the three, decorated with scenes from ancient Teutonic legends. Fierce ‘Siegfrieds’ fight improbable foes and blonde maidens swoon in adoration while the sun rises through massed clouds to illuminate scenes of triumphant victory. Ludwig commissioned the scene painter from the Munich Court Theatre to design and execute the works, and the interiors are kitch and stagey and lack authenticity. Even the window embrasures have double-glazing, which, whilst a sensible addition in the Bavarian Alps, when used in a so-called 'mediaeval' castle in middle-Europe, creates an uneasy feeling of being too modern for the situation.

The wedding-cake aspect of Linderhof nestled in the Graswang valley near Oberammergau belies its Arabian-nights interior, while the separate ‘Venus Grotto’ with the first electric generating system in Bavaria used to power the thunder and lightning effects is theatrical in the extreme. Its artificial stalactites and stalagmites, shallow lake with the gilded conch-shell boat drawn by a cupid, and theatrical backdrop of mythical heroes and heroines reminds one of nothing less than a Christmas pantomime. The Grotto was one of Ludwig’s favourite retreats where he escaped from the unpleasant realities of his lonely life.

However, a visit to his last, unfinished masterpiece, the mini-Versailles of Herrenchiemsee, is a different experience. Delicate Meissen porcelain candelabra grace the salons, decorated in rose, lavender, yellow and blue with gold rocaille decoration on every vertical surface. The Hall of Mirrors, reputed to be longer and more splendid than Versailles with 2200 candles, 33 lustres and 44 candelabras is a triumph. The theme is extended throughout the palace where golden rocaille panels, specially woven Gobelin tapestry wall hangings and Savonnarie carpets continue the feeling of extravagant luxury, while elaborate green velvet and gold baldachin canopies project over beds and thrones. The extravagance of decoration bewilders the eye and sets the senses whirling, but the overall impression is of a level of splendour and grandeur never achieved on the same scale after his death.

Ludwig was born into the Wittelsbach royal family, certain members of whom had colourful histories, including his grandfather Maximilian I who reigned from 1806 to1825, and his first cousin Elizabeth [Sissy] Empress of Austria, married to Kaiser Franz-Joseph, the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In his youth, he proposed unsuccessfully to Sissy, and she is said to have been the only enduring love of his life. Maximilian I was the first King of a united Bavaria, a lusty man with a taste in voluptuous women. One of Maximilian's several legacies to posterity is visible in the 'Hall of the Ancestors' of the Munich Residenz, commemorating his lover Lola Montez, who, it is rumoured, he met at the gaming tables in Monte Carlo. Her image is immortalised in the portraits in the Hall of the Ancestors, each portrait being a reproduction of her features.

Bowing to royal custom, Ludwig was briefly engaged to Elizabeth's sister Princess Sophia in 1867, but this lasted only a few months before, without explanation, he called it off. From the evidence of his emotional attachment to Elizabeth, it is possible to question the long-held belief that he was gay. It seems rather that he was unable to establish an emotional commitment to a loving companion of either sex and his need to leave behind a legacy of art, beauty and fine craftsmanship absorbed energies which might otherwise have been directed towards a satisfying personal relationship. In many respects, had he been happily married, the world would have been the poorer, his life happier and richer and perhaps he would have lived to an old age, instead of dying in circumstances which remain shrouded in mystery to this day.

Accounts of Ludwig's early life show a sensitive ascetic brought up in solitude, isolated from others and dependent on his mother, castle servants and unsophisticated farmers for company. He spent much of his early life roaming the forests and mountains around the family castle of Hohenschwangau, fantasizing and dreaming. Introverted and studious, his tutors were badly chosen and did not suit his active mind, and he fell back largely on his overactive imagination, stimulated by the poems and dramas of Schiller and mediaeval German legends. Aged 16 he attended a performance of the Wagner opera “Lohengrin” which realized all his romantic dreams. From then on, he determined to learn all he could about the composer, who he came to idolise and with whom he had a close friendship. Soon, this friendship took up so much of his time and attention that the Bavarian government insisted that Wagner return to his native Prussia. Intense political pressures led to the outbreak of several small but significant local wars, greatly prejudiced his position and pushed Ludwig to the point where he seriously considered abdication.

Inflamed by treachery and trickery amongst Ludwig’s courtiers and advisors, events moved swiftly in 1866. Anxious and angry at the extent of the debts incurred with his non-stop castle building, the plotters intended to strip him of his powers and locked him up in Neuschwanstein, while they took over the government. Despite his annual income of 5.5 million marks, Ludwig’s liabilities incurred by his extensive building operations amounted to 13 million marks, which by the time of his death had increased to 21 millions marks. With the connivance of doctors who never examined him or met him, and acting on reports and evidence of those sympathetic to their cause, the group, headed by the Minister President Lutz, had Ludwig declared insane with the intention of having him regally incapacitated. This done, they intended appointing his uncle Luitpold of Bavaria as Regent.

Like many rulers before and after him, Ludwig ignored warnings of the imminent coup from loyal servants, and early in the morning of 10th June 1886 he was firmly incarcerated in Neuschwanstein Castle, where he was kept incommunicado and under the control of several doctors who acted as his jailers. Although it seems that Ludwig behaved with great self-control and politeness, reports say that, ‘having reached the end of his energy, he toyed with the idea of committing suicide, remarking to his servant, “It is not the worst that they want to rob me of my throne. But it will be the death of me that they want to have me declared insane and buried alive.”’

On the morning of Whitsunday June 13th 1886 the King and his doctor, followed by two keepers walked through the castle park. As was his custom, the King lunched alone, after which he spent some time gazing at Starnberg Lake through a telescope. Later in the afternoon, he and his doctor took another walk and it was during this walk that the doctor made a sign to the two watchers not to follow them. The King and Dr von Gudden disappeared into an arcade leading to the lake.

When they had not reappeared by 7pm the physicians and servants got worried, especially as they knew that the walk was not expected to take long. Several policemen searched the grounds but found nothing, and the entire staff of the castle was called out to search the Park. Just after 11pm the two missing men were found floating in the water of Starnberg Lake, both dead.

After Ludwig’s death much time and energy went into an official justification of the verdict of madness on which Ludwig’s enemies had acted, and there were many witnesses called to give evidence and bring “proof” of his mental incapacity, even to the extent of attributing his condition to “schizophrenic hereditary factors” shown by an ancestor who died in 1592!

Many lies were told; much false evidence was produced, but from the few true accounts of the events of the day of his death, the only facts which are indisputable are those that he was shaken and horrified by the extent of his betrayal by trusted friends and confidants. During the giving of evidence, much was made of Ludwig's liking for exhilarating – some called it 'wild' – midnight sleigh rides through the snow sitting in a fur-lined golden sleigh with only outriders and a coachman as company, but no rational observer would seriously consider this as evidence of a mental condition. To this day, the beautifully crafted golden sleigh used on these rides, together with a fanciful oil painting of such an outing, are on display at the Marstalmuseum adjoining the Nymphenburg Palace on the outskirts of Munich.

There is some evidence to suggest that on the day of his death he intended making his escape across Starnberg Lake with the help of trusted supporters. Cart tracks were found near the lake and there were more than the usual number of horses held in the stables of Mayor Horning. During the fateful day, this loyal friend had, despite heavy rain, stood ready with a boat waiting for a signal which never came. There have never been any answers to the many questions about how he died and no determined investigation was ever made into his death. Anything that might have led to a truthful answer was carefully obscured by the officials responsible, compounded by the fact that there was no post mortem or autopsy.

So, it seems that Ludwig was an enlightened ruler, born out of his time, whose ideas and attitudes did not conform with the rigid and formalized view of the world of those around him. For this reason, as well as genuine concern about his extravagant spending, a conspiracy was hatched to depose him, and replace him with a more compliant ruler who would accept the demands of the government and do what was required.

But Ludwig’s legacy lives on, in some of the most extravagant and beautiful palaces ever created, and from which today the State of Bavaria collects huge sums of money in tourist income, far in excess of anything this visionary king ever spent on building these extraordinary creations.