KING LUDWIG IIBy Katelyn Martin (Katja)

Also known as the

“Swan King,” “Mad

King Ludwig,” “der

Märchenkönig (the

FairyTale King)

CHILDHOODB

orn August 25, 1845 at

Nymphenburg Palace in Munich as

Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelim

F

ather: Maximilian II of Bavaria

M

other: Marie of Prussia, the King’s

1st cousin

NYMPHENBURG PALACE

L

udwig was named after his

grandfather King Ludwig I

because they shared the same

Birthday

Y

ounger brother: Otto, 3 years

younger

L

ouis XIV of France was his

Godfather

March 10, 1863

–

June 13, 1886

KING OF BAVARIA

I

n 1883, he stated "I became king much too

early. I had not learned enough. I had made

such a good beginning ... with the learning of

state laws. Suddenly I was snatched away

from my books and set on the throne. Well, I

am still trying to learn...”

I

n 1866 the expanding state of Prussia

conquered Austria and Bavaria in the

"German War". From then on, Bavaria's

foreign policy was dictated by Prussia and the

king was only a "vassal" of his Prussian uncle.

KING OF BAVARIA

L

udwig soon became detached

from anything political

H

e spent vast amounts of money

on his own personal projects,

such as castles and palaces.

KING OF BAVARIA

A

few weeks after becoming King, Ludwig summoned Richard

Wagner to court.

F

rom May 1864 – December 1865, Wagner was constantly with

Ludwig, with Ludwig paying off all of Wagner’s debts and giving

him a yearly income of 8000 gulden

M

unich soon became the musical capital of Europe because

Ludwig built theaters for Wagner’s operas.

L

udwig funded many of Wagner’s operas with money that

belonged to the State of Bavaria. This led to the people of

Bavaria forcing Ludwig to make Wagner leave Bavaria.

WAGNER OBSESSION

WAGNER CONTINUED….

B

etween 1872 – 1885 the king had Wagner

perform 28 operas and 8 ballets for him privately.

I

n 1876, Ludwig had a festival theater built in

Bayreuth and Wagner’s "Der Ring des

Nibelungen” was the first performance. Every

year since then, there has been an annual

Bayreuth Festival

"

Tristan und Isolde" (1865), "Die Meistersinger

von Nürnberg" (1868), "Das Rheingold" (1869)

and "Die Walküre" (1870)

LOVE LIFET

here was a lot of pressure from his family to produce an heir.

I

n January 1867, he became engaged to his 1st cousin, Duchess

Sophie of Bavaria.

A

fter postponing the wedding on numerous occasions, Ludwig

finally ended the engagement in October 1867, by writing a letter

to Sophie with the line “The main substance of our relationship

has always been ... Richard Wagner's remarkable and deeply

moving destiny.”

H

is engagement to Sophie was the only relationship known to the

public.

Ludwig had many close friendships with men, including Wagner and many young actors,

including Richard Hornig.

In his diary he would write about his sexual desires

towards men, and his struggle to remain true to

his Catholic faith

ALTERNATIVE LOVE LIFE

Ludwig became more and more antisocial, barely

leaving his castles, with only his servants and lovers

surrounding him. He slept all day long and

stayed up all night. When he did leave the castles, it was in the middle

of the night, riding the countryside in his sleighs, wearing historic costumes

He bought more extravagant gifts for himself, which lead

him in debt

OLDER YEARS

MAD KING LUDWIG?

L

udwig always dined alone but the kitchen staff always had to set the table for 4

because of Ludwig’s imaginary dinner guests, such as Marie Antoinette or Louis XV,

whom he would talk to

I

n June 1886, doctors declared him to be affected with chronic and incurable

madness and he was pronounced incapable of governing, and was put under the

care of a psychiatrist.

L

udwig’s brother Otto was next in throne, but because of Otto’s history of mental

illness, he was deemed unfit to be king.

O

n l0 June, his uncle, Prince Luitpold, took over the throne

L

udwig was forced to stay at Castle Berg, with

constant watch of psychiatrists and doctors.

O

n June 13, while under watch from a

psychiatrist, Ludwig asked the doctor if he could

go for a walk along the shore of Lake Starnberg.

The doctor accompanied him and they left the

castle around 6:30pm. The doctor told the

nurses that they would be back by 8pm.

T

hey never returned

A

ll the castle staff searched for the

doctor and Ludwig for 3 hours,

until the bodies were found

floating in the shallow water near

the shore of Lake Starnberg.

T

he watch that was still on

Ludwig’s wrist was stopped at

6:54

L

udwig’s death was officially

ruled as a suicide by drowning,

but many believe it was not.

L

udwig was known to be a

strong swimmer, the water was

less than waist-deep where his

body was found, and the

official autopsy report

indicated that no water was

found in his lungs.

The doctor’s body showed signs of

strangulation and of a struggle, leading to

the suspicion that he was strangled to death

by Ludwig

Many believed he was shot due to bullet

holes found in the jacket he was wearing,

but the autopsy report doesn’t report any

wounds on his body.

Others believe he died of natural causes,

such as a heart attack or a stroke, brought

on from the extreme cold water of the lake,

during an attempt to escape from the doctor.

After a lavish funeral, his remains were

brought to a crypt in Munich where there

still are today.

KING LUDWIG’S CASTLES

“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.”

HERRENCHIEMSEE

HERRENCHIEMSEE

B

uilt on Herreninsel, an island on Chiemsee,

which is Bavaria’s largest lake

I

nspired by Versailles Palace in Paris,

including the Hall of Mirrors, which is

larger than the one in Versailles

L

udwig only stayed for a few days in 1885

A

fter his death, all construction work

discontinued and the building was opened

for the public

L

ocated in Southwest Bavaria

T

he smallest of Ludwig’s castles and

the only one Ludwig saw

completed

T

he inside design was inspired by

Versailles Palace, with a smaller

version of the Hall of Mirrors

LINDERHOF

P

alace includes the Venus Grotto, which was inspired by the grotto of Capri

from the first act of Wagner’s “Tannhauser”

h

ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJUxHXN328w

SCHLOSS NEUSCHWANSTEIN

Located in Hohenschwangau, near

Fussen in Southwest Bavaria

Built as a retreat and a homage to Richard

Wagner Ludwig paid for this

palace with his own money, not from the state of Bavaria’s public funds

NEUSCHWANSTEIN

Ludwig called this castle New Hohenschwangau Castle, but the name was changed to Neuschwanstein after his death

Ludwig devoted the castle to the life and work of Richard Wagner

Many rooms depict scenes from Wagner’s operas, such as Tristan und Isolde

The interior of the castle is still not finished

NEUSCHWANSTEIN

WORKS CITED

“

King Ludwig II of Bavaria”

<http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/ludwig/biography.htm

“

Ludwig II” http://www.nndb.com/people/589/000114247/

L

udwig II: The Swan King and His Castles <http://www.german-

way.com/ludwig.html>

“

The Mysterious Death of the King” <http://schwangau.de/646.0.html>