The Wittelsbach Dynasty, a royal Bavarian family, was founded by Otto I in 1117, during a time of turbulence among European governments and strategic royal marriages. Ludwig II, a member of this dynasty, was born August 25, 1845 at Nymphenberg Castle in Munich, Germany. As the son of King Maximillian, his childhood was one of strict royal comportment, paternal conflicts and rigid regimens of physical exercise and study in preparation for his ascendency to the throne. As a young prince, Ludwig was exposed to the finest classes of Bavarian society. He received an education typical of royals of the day. From an early age, Ludwig developed a deep love of music, theater and the arts.
Ludwig's Military Career
Following in the direction of his father, Ludwig became embroiled in a war instigated by Prince Otto von Bismarck, a Prussian statesman who oversaw the unification of Germany. The rivalry between Bavaria and Prussia was never more clear than at this time in history. Otto began the war for the hegemony of Prussia over Germany. Ludwig II suffered an embarrassing defeat and forced into a treaty that gave Prussia total control of the Bavarian army. As a consequence, Bavaria also became implicated into Prussia's war with France in 1870. This war ended the creation of the German Empire and Bavaria's membership in it.
The Letter
Ludwig endured a final indignity when he was obliged by von Bismarck to dispatch a letter to William I of Prussia, also Emperor of Germany. To Ludwig's deep humiliation, von Bismarck dictated the contents of this letter. This was a blow Ludwig was unable to accept. As a consequence, he retired from the political world and fashioned his own Bavarian fairy tale.
Ludwig's Fairy Tale World
Ludwig's flights of fancy mirrored his own personal eccentricities, often at great expense to himself and his government. He began construction of 3 castles: Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee and Linderhof. He used his own private funds to pay for the work. The design of these castles was ornate and opulent in the manner of a fairy tale. His expensive hobbies, eccentricities and homosexual proclivities fueled rumors he was growing mad. His free spending began to seriously affect government coffers as well. Though Bavaria's debt was growing, Ludwig refused to curtail his lifestyle of grandiose opulence.
Ludwig and the Bavarian Ministers
As time passed, his government ministers grew ever more agitated with his lavish spending and outlandish lifestyle. Exhibiting royal disgust for his ministers, he attempted to remove all of them from their government positions. The result was that eventually his ministers began to plot a way to dispose of him.
Ludwig II and Composer Richard Wagner
As a young royal, Ludwig was enamored of the music of composer Richard Wagner. Wagner was a temperamental man who possessed a strident and contrary demeanor. Ludwig struck an enthusiastic friendship with the composer, even to settling Wagner in Tribschen in Lucerne, Switzerland. In 1872, Ludwig built the Bayreuth Theater expressly for Wagner. Around this time, Wagner began a scandalous affair with a woman 24 years his junior to Ludwig's disappointment and their friendship cooled.
A Mysterious Death
As Bavarian debt continued to grow, ministers of the government tried to rein in Ludwig's spending to no avail. The ministers entreated Ludwig's uncle, Luitpold, to depose Ludwig from the throne. They decided the best path to this end was to declare Ludwig insane. When Ludwig was deposed on June 10, 1886, Luitpold ascended the throne in his place. Ludwig was confined to Berg Castle. Three days later, he and his physician were found drowned in the Starnberger See, Bavaria's 4th largest body of water located in the southern end of Bavaria. The government declared his death a suicide and provided no explanation of the physician's death.
The Last German Feudal Prince
Ludwig II was the last German Feudal prince. His reign was marked by his inability to adjust himself to the times in which he lived and as a result, was ruined by his own perceptions of royalty. On the one hand, he imagined himself an absolute monarch. On the other hand, he became the symbol of Bavaria's final submission to Prussia. Though he was loved by the lesser people of Bavaria, he managed to agitate those in high positions in government and set himself apart from the bourgeois classes.
Three Fairytale Castles
Ludwig built a reputation for renovation and construction of the royal palaces of Bavaria. Of three castles built under Ludwig's direction, Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee and Linderhof, Neuschwanstein would become world famous. More than 6 million people have visited this ornate structure with the fairytale towers. Ludwig, in his day, never allowed anyone inside the castles. But, the Bavarian government has since lifted this restriction. Photographs of the interior of the Neuschanstein palace are still prohibited. Neuschwanstein Castle is best known for its inspiration in Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty film. It is the most photographed Castle in the world and represents the image of a fairytale castle with Romanesque style and towers that reach skyward amid the awesome beauty of the surrounding mountains.
Sources:
Colliers Encyclopedia, People and Nations, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
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