The Fairy Tale King

Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm became the king of Bavaria in 1864 when he was just 18 years old. He would come to be known as King Ludwig II, the Swan King, the Mad King, and the Fairytale King. This last nickname he earned by preferring to live in his own fantasy world than to actually attend to matters of state and ruling his kingdom.

Ludwig's coronation portrait

Ludwig grew up in Castle Hohenschwangau near Swan Lake, the interior of which was decorated with frescoes depicting heroic German sagas. One of his dearest friends was his cousin Elisabeth, future Empress of Austria. He had great love for architecture, art, music, poetry, and most especially the opera of Richard Wagner. His mother described him as an introvert, creative, and a daydreamer. Everyone agreed he was shy and eccentric.

Castle Hohenschwangau, near Swan Lake

Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria, his mother Princess Marie of Prussia, his father Maximilian II of Bavaria, and his brother Prince Otto

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Ludwig's cousin and friend

Shortly after turning 18 years old, Ludwig ascended the throne after his father died of a 3 day illness. One of his first acts as King was to summon Wagner to court. He abhorred public functions and social events and avoided them, preferring instead to live in relative seclusion. Early in his reign he was pressured to produce an heir. His diary and personal letters show that Ludwig had strong homosexual leanings, but he struggled to suppress them in an effort to keep with the dictates of his Roman Catholic faith. He did become engaged one of his cousins (Elisabeth's youngest sister); the relationship between the two seems to have been based primarily on their shared love of Wagner's opera. However, Ludwig eventually broke off the engagement, and never ended up marrying.

"I do what I want."

Ludwig was a great patron of Wagner's, aiding and supporting his work. He also enjoyed watching plays and ballet. He had more than 200 private performances at his homes, for either himself alone or accompanied by one guest. He explained the reason for this was: "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."

Scene from Wagner's opera Tristan and Isolde

 In addition to being a recluse, Ludwig was also eccentric in that instead of seeing to affairs of his state, he preferred to spend his time (and all of his money) on building fantastical castles. The most famous of these is Schloss Neuschwanstein ("new swan-on-the-rock castle"), situated in the Alps overlooking the castle of his parents he had grown up in. The walls inside are covered with scenes from Wagner's operas. It was Neuschwanstein that inspired Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle. 

Neuschwanstein (aka Disney castle)

Ludwig's bedroom in Neuschwanstein

Inside Neuschwanstein

Hall of the Singers. The king viewed private performances here.

Neuschwanstein

Schloss Linderhof included a Venus grotto where Ludwig was rowed in a boat shaped like a shell. In the forest outside the castle grounds he built a scene from one of Wagner's operas, complete with a fake tree with a sword embedded in it. He also had a hermitage from one the operas constructed there, where he would hide himself away to read.

Linderhof

The Venus Grotto

The Venus Grotto

The king's sweet ride

The king's bedroom at Linderhof

One of the fountains in the gardens at Linderhof

Ludwig also fancied eighteenth century style, having his servants dress in the garb of eighteenth century footmen and bringing him for moonlit sleigh rides in an elaborate eighteenth century sleigh. He would stop and speak to peasants during these rides, adding to his legend and popularity among the commonfolk.

King Ludwig II's moonlit sleigh rides

Herrenchiemsee was another of his palaces, a replica of Versailles Ludwig had planned, but its construction was still underway at the time of his death.

Ludwig also added on to the royal apartment in Munich. This included a winter garden on the palace roof, an ornamental lake with a skiff, a painted panorama of the Himalayans, an Indian fisher-hut made of bamboo, a Moorish kiosk, and an exotic tent. He also drew up plans for three more palaces, including a Chinese summer palace and a Byzantine Palace.

Moorish Kiosk at the royal apartments

Ludwig used his personal funds to pay for his elaborate endeavors, not the kingdom's money, but he ended up deep in debt. His cabinet tried to convince him to put on the brakes with all of his building and spending, but instead he demanded that they ask other European royalty for loans. This disagreement led to Ludwig considering replacing all of his cabinet members, but those men acted before he could. They wanted to find a constitutional way to have the king deposed, and made the argument that Ludwig was mentally ill and not fit to rule. They used as "evidence" rumors and complaints from some of the king's servants, some of which were undoubtedly obtained with bribery. Based on these verbal reports, a panel of four experts made the diagnosis that Ludwig was insane, without ever having met him in person. Ludwig's brother Otto was also considered insane, diagnosed by the same men, making a convenient case for hereditary insanity.

An older, puffier Ludwig. ("I still do what I want. Recognize.")

Knowing that men would be coming to depose him, Ludwig decided to flee, but he was too late. A government commission arrived at his castle and seized him just after midnight. He was taken to Berg Castle on the shores of Lake Starnberg near Munich, in the care of Dr. Bernhard Gudden, head of Munich Asylum and the man who had diagnosed him from afar.

Dr. Bernhard Gudden

The very next day, the king and Dr. Gudden went for a walk together along the shore of the lake. When they failed to return, a search was launched. The bodies of both men were found floating in waist-high water at the edge of the lake. Ludwig's watch had stopped 24 minutes after the men had left for their walk. He was 40 years old.

"Hey man, let's go for a walk...in the water." "Alright, sounds like fun."

Memorial at the site where the king's body was found

Ludwig's death was officially ruled suicide by drowning, but no water was found in his lungs. Dr. Gudden had evidence of blows to his head and neck and strangulation. Possibly Ludwig killed him, but we'll never know for certain. Some maintain that Ludwig was making an escape attempt when he was shot by his enemies, although the autopsy report does not mention any bullet wounds. Others postulate that he died of natural causes while making an escape attempt in the cold lake water (12 degrees Celsius).

King Ludwig II's death mask

Ludwig's body was interred in Munich, but his heart, as was the tradition for all kings of Bavaria, was placed in a silver urn and brought to the Chapel of Mercy in Altotting. It remains there now, next to the hearts of his father and grandfather. 

The king's cousin and good friend, the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, had this to say: "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."

Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She and her cousin were fond of one another. She always addressed him as 'Eagle' in their correspondence, and he called her 'Dove'

Ironically, Ludwig's fairytale castles, the building of which cost him his kingdom and perhaps also his life, have since become extremely profitable tourist attractions.

Was Ludwig really insane? Or was he just an eccentric man who preferred to create a world from his own fantasies to live in, rather than deal with the reality of his responsibilities as king? And what exactly happened during the walk he took with Dr. Gudden, leading to the death of both men in shallow water?

What do you think?

My personal favorite explanation for the story of the Fairytale King comes from a PC game that was released many many moons ago, Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within. And that is, of course, that Ludwig was a werewolf. Obviously.

Circa 1993

Just look at those graphics! Bestill my heart!