Translation by Ingrid Kane

Chapter 1 - King Ludwig Superstar

By Erich Adami

His addiction to happiness ended in disaster. In his craving for self-realization he broke all conventional barriers. His life was a constant struggle against the forces of reality. He was a dreamer and a pacifist. He hated everything conventional and was on a never-ending search for the exceptional. He loved beauty and detested everything connected to Prussia. He was a failure and he was a genius. He was a loser in the poker game with the mighty and at the same time he had an unerring sense for great political correlation. He was loved by the common people and detested by the upper classes. He created his own mysterious and luxurious world.

He took the last secrets of his eccentric life with him in his sarcophagus that has its place inside St.Michaels Church in the middle of Munich's pedestrian zone.

"I will forever remain a mystery!"

That was King Ludwig's avowal and he continues to live as an eternal enigma. 158 years have passed from the time of his birth, 118 years have passed since his death and the mystery surrounding King Ludwig II still remains unsolved - even though many new documents about his life have surfaced that escaped the "cleaning actions" of the House of Wittelsbachs after his death.

What lifted Ludwig II to such a cultural figure? What elevated him to such a myth?

Chapter 2 - The Mystery Surrounding King Ludwig's

Procreation and Birth

On August 25 1845 101 cannon shots thundered across the royal capital and the Residence City of Munich. At Nymphenburg Castle a successor to the throne had been born to the Kingdom of Bavaria. Ludwig II was named after his grandfather Ludwig I, because he happened to be born on his grandfather's birthday on August 25. Already during the first hour of his life legend and reality become entwined. Soon the rumor made the rounds that little Ludwig was not born on August 25th but that Queen Marie of Bavaria had given birth some days earlier and in consideration of his grandfather's birthday the birth was kept a secret until August 25th!

Another rumor already making the rounds while Ludwig II was still alive and that has not grown silent to this day, is: Maximilian II is not the natural father of the Bavarian Fairytale King.

If Not King Max II, Then Who Is It?

The only name serious historians speculate about is that of the king's former adjutant - Ludwig Baron von Tann and in fact, his face has a striking resemblance to that of King Ludwig II. Could he be the father instead of Papa Max? Historians point out that the great distance Ludwig II put between himself and his Wittelsbach relatives, could be caused by doubts Ludwig II had himself, in regards to Papa Max' paternity.

"I will always remain an enigma."

King Ludwig's leading statement did not start with his birth but already with his procreation.

With the issuance of an atypical medical diagnosis the psychiatrist Dr. Gudden declared King Ludwig insane just days before his life ended so tragically. Who knows, maybe Gudden could have saved himself the effort and maybe even lived a few more years, had he shown some concern at the beginning of Ludwig's life and had he given his parents some advice in regards to his upbringing. Their child-raising methods that were to make their child into a king, were bizarre at best.

Little Ludwig was in good hands with his nanny Sybilla Meilhaus. Ludwig dearly loved her and corresponded with her until his death. It was during that time that little Ludwig received a gift of building blocks from his grandfather for Christmas. The little prince showed talent and built the most beautiful towers.

"He has his talent for building from me",

grandfather shouted with joy and happiness.

The fun was over when officers like Theodor Basselet Count de la Rose took over Ludwig's education. In general they all were sober and strict educators who showed no more understanding for him during his childhood than his parents did.

His teachers' most important goal was to elevate him to the highest feeling of self-worth, that immediately prompted Ludwig into indescribable heights until he finally felt himself as one with the absolutarian ruler Ludwig XIV of France. At times he thought of himself as being another "Sun King" which can be directly attributed to the perverse education he received. As a child he was once saved by one of the court employees from falling off a cliff. Years later when his rescuer approached him about the event no words of thanks crossed Ludwig's lips:

"Yes, yes, I remember that you dared touch me at the time!"

Another incidence was his attempted "assassination" of his younger brother Otto in Hohenschwangau in the summer of 1857. A court servant found little Otto bound hand and foot with a gag in his mouth. When he wanted to free the little one Ludwig sputtered:
"He is my prisoner and dared to be disobedient. I have to kill him!"

The two princes seldom saw their parents. His father's cabinet secretary, Franz von Pfistermeister, remembers:

The king saw the two princes Ludwig and Otto just once or twice a day, at noon during the second breakfast and in the evening during dinner. He rarely visited them in their rooms where they grew up. At most their father would just extend his hand in greeting and quickly excuse himself. Even when the crown prince was already of age it took strenuous efforts to move the king to take his oldest son with him on his morning walks through the English Garden. The king remarked: 'I have nothing in common with this young gentleman, nothing I speak of interests him'."

Playmates of the same age as the young heir to the throne were, of course, taboo, because his personality was to develop quietly. The solitude Ludwig sought later and that no one could understand, was already his trusted companion during his childhood days.

Included in his royal education was the strict way of living with limited meal rations. It may sound unbelievable but Ludwig never really went without hunger as a child. That he still managed to satisfy his hunger at times stems from the compassion of the court servants who secretly provided him with some food whenever they could.

If you are amazed about Ludwig's strange judgements of money budgeting during the construction of his castles you have to keep in mind, that Ludwig did not hold cash money in his hands until he was of age. He was under the impression that he could buy half a jewelry shop for his mother from the 100 guilders he received and he was visibly
shaken when the jeweler educated him about the value of the money he had on hand. For those who questioned his later preference for nightly sled rides, and wondered why he preferred night over day, maybe the following information might explain this:

The literature that interested the enormously fantasy-rich Ludwig consisted exclusively of the legends of the middle ages, opera texts, theater plays and books about architecture, but he was not allowed to read any of these and was only able to solicit these books with the help of trusted servants. Since he could only read his favorite books unnoticed during the night, he read by candle light into the wee hours of the morning. For Ludwig these nightly rituals later became a way of life.

Chapter 3 - The Magnificent King

Ludwig's path to power was paved when Bavaria's King Maximilian II died on March 10 1864. This path would quickly prove to be a dangerous one and a failure.

He was 18 years old when he rose to the throne, he looked like a king from a story book. His 6ft 4" stature alone was impressive. His appearance was dazzling, his personal charm and the looks of his eyes were fascinating. The chief physician at the local Insane Asylum in southern Bavaria espoused:

".... psychiatrists have seen many patients with eyes as such."

He must have been radiant, this king, who was the complete opposite of his father Maximilian. Max was a sober bureaucrat, an introverted and a confirmed pessimist, a man who would would have preferred being a professor instead of king. He ruled Bavaria with great precision. A sense of humor or even the hint of geniality were strangers to him. He was much different than his son who had imagination, loved the arts, devoured literature and was not opposed to life's pleasures. This caused the Austrian ambassador Count Blome to make the sarcastic remark:

"Majesty has a tendency for female sensuality."

This Viennese count had taken a dislike to this dazzling young king. His idol was the Emperor Franz Josef, who at this time was already on the way to becoming an inane half-wit.

A beautiful man had risen to Bavaria's throne, a type similar to those in the old hero legends, half Lohengrin, half Parcifal, something that contributed to the slowly developing myth. Other events added to this mystification.

During the first months after rising to the throne King Ludwig II showed great eagerness in his new role as king. He read mountains of documents, received his ministers, appreciated their advice and gave audiences. He knew he was inexperienced in the daily business affairs of a king. He was totally unprepared to take the place of his father, Max II, who had met death at such an early age. Although he completed the usual high school education, he lacked a university education in state laws, history or national economy as well as military knowledge. He did not have a confidant who could advise him in state or private affairs. One of his first acts as king was raising the salaries of government employees, announcing: "The troubled times have come to an end."

Ludwig loved solitude, he was untouchable and he hated his resident city of Munich with its officiousness and political intrigues. Steady contact with people of lower standings
annoyed him and he spoke of them with contempt. He firmly believed in the theory of the divine rights of the king so why stay in contact with his subjects? A senseless waste of time! The king ruled, his orders were binding. In his opinion the legitimization of a king did not have to be affirmed by any government in the world, least of all the Bavarian Provincial Diet.

Relieved of bothersome daily politics Ludwig fashioned his life as a ruler to that of the long deceased Ludwig XIV, France's Sun King who ruled in absolutism. He was the idol of the King of Bavaria. Removed from all realities he found bothersome, he gave in to his dreams and built them out of stone. The castles Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and Neuschwanstein were the sinfully costly castles he escaped to from the gray everyday life to a world of fantasy. He kept his association with people to a minimum.

His ignorance of the world around him served his later image. Ludwig shrouded himself in secrecy. One of his favorite sayings was:

"I will remain an endless mystery - to myself and others."

This sentence did not come from the fruits of his own creativity. The monarch borrowed this little saying from the dramatist Friedrich Schiller. Always surrounded by secrecy, always distant - that is good for the myth.

His deep felt hatred for everything Prussian brought him later fame. That hatred already started with his antipathy towards his mother Marie, a protestant Hohenzollern princess he scorned. Ludwig regarded German politics of the late 18th century as a great misfortune. It forced the immaculate pacifist on the Bavarian throne into two wars in 1866 and 1870, which resulted in the establishment of the German Reich under the Hohenzollern Emperor Wilhelm I. The Kingdom of Bavaria had gambled away its independence and had to submit to the Berlin government in all-important decisions, even military ones. Ludwig regarded this as a humiliation he never forgot. His dream of a sovereign monarchy had come to an end.

Nevertheless, the political defeat offered new substance for glorification: Ludwig, the only German monarch who regarded Prussia's glory as fatal! Ludwig, the straight-line Bavarian! That caused even more cause for glowing admiration, although it was generously overlooked that the sad king was politically too weak to prevent the tutelage under the Hohenzollern. In the contrary. His consent to form the Prussian Empire was rewarded with many millions in money by the Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Monies from the "Welfenfond" partially financed his castles. That part is readily overlooked in the mystification.

Still, the Bavarian King always spoke against the hated Prussian nationalism. He cursed the "miserable German Empire" and regarded it as a

"contagious disease of the wretched German deceit."

The king despised any type of militarism.

"The tools of war spoil the morals of people and makes them unable to
understand higher and nobler causes and makes them indifferent to mental pleasures",

he noted in 1871, the year of the Prussian takeover.

Chapter 4 - The Love Story Richard Wagner - Ludwig II

Imagine this: The Bavarian President became obsessed with a film director, who until now had made some peculiar and senseless movies, one who is so deeply indebted that he is chased by creditors throughout Europe. If that isn't enough, the Department for the Protection of the Constitution discovers that this strange artist is a terrorist who until a short time before was on the "Most Wanted List".

The president now believes he can no longer live without this artist, has him brought to Munich under mysterious circumstances and receives him immediately in his place of business.

Then he rents a luxurious house for this filmmaker because an artist has to live in luxury to be creative, pays all his debts and tops it off with a hefty allowance for his extravagances. Just imagine something like that happening today!

Nevertheless, that is how the love story between Ludwig II and Richard Wagner began in 1864, culminating in the Court Theater, the present State Opera, with the financing and premiere of the insane opera "Tristan and Isolde".

A shocked outcry would appear on all TV screens today, leading articles would ask critical questions, Richard Wagner would be seen on three talk-shows at the same time, a commission would secretly meet with the Department of Constitutional Protection and an investigative committee would have to explain the waste of tax money.

That's not all! There is this friendship-business with Wagner, who is followed by a rat- tail of musicians, conductors, singers and directors. And what about Wagner's immoral behavior with this Cosima von Buelow, daughter of Franz Liszt? In all probability Richard Wagner would not have it so easy in Munich today and no president and no minister would spend a dime to promote a single artist, insisting with everything in his power to further him in the accomplishment of his life works. That is precisely what King Ludwig II did with Richard Wagner.

Not only did King Ludwig II display much courage, but he was able to see Wagner's future. Although he was not a very musical individual, according to people of his time, he discovered one of the greatest musical geniuses. He was the first to recognize Wagner's genial works.

One project Munich would be more than happy with today failed, due to the protest of his ministers. The Bayreuth Festspielhaus {Festival Theater} was originally planned by Ludwig and Wagner to be constructed on the high shore of the river Isar, next to the Maximilian Museum. This plan, however, was considered completely insane by Bavaria's ministers and Munich's magistrates. Although the famous architect Gottfried Semper had already built a model of the theater, the ministers made sure that the plan did not become reality.

What an attraction would it be for Munich today, the City of the Arts, would the Wagner Festival not take place in distant Franconia but repeat itself every year in Munich near the shores of the Isar River. But God forbid! Ludwig would have "wasted tax money" and anyway, the Royal Bavarian decision-makers had limited knowledge of art and commerce.

But let's start at the beginning of the story:

Born in Leipzig in 1813, Richard Wagner was an active member of the young revolutionaries during the 1848 May Unrest in Dresden where an arrest warrant had been issued accusing him of being a terrorist. Wagner had to flee, first to Switzerland and then to Paris and on to Vienna. Operas he had written so far were stricken from all repertoires. By 1863 he had accumulated debts of about 100,000 Marks and he left Vienna to escape arrest. On Good Friday of 1864 he strolled unrecognized through Munich and saw a photograph of young King Ludwig for the first time, unsuspecting of the fate that soon would link the two.

Crown Prince Ludwig was allowed to attend his first opera performance at age 15. He saw Wagner's "Lohengrin" and it is said that he cried "tears of rapture" during the performance. Lohengrin became the basis for Ludwig's fantasy world that was supported by the legendary figures in the frescoes at Hohenschwangau. In 1861 he saw "Tannhaeuser", then he read "Tristand and Isolde" and "The Ring of the Nibelungen".

In his first official administrative function as king Ludwig's ordered his cabinet secretary Franz Seraph von Pfistermeister, to find the composer Richard Wagner and bring him to Munich.

As already mentioned, Wagner was broke and hiding out in Stuttgart. His creditors were trying to hunt him down throughout Switzerland and Vienna. Being hunted throughout Europe, the creator of "Tristan" hardly dared to leave his hideout. Now everything was to change, the "wealthy Monarch " had miraculously appeared!

On May 4 1864 the newly crowned 18 year old Ludwig and the 51 year-old destitute composer Wagner, met for the first time in the Residence in Munich. After the meeting Wagner remarked:

"Unfortunately he {the king} is so beautiful and ingenious, tender and stunning, that one thinks his life will disappear like a myth in this horrible world."

At first Ludwig II gave Wagner lodging in Kempfenhausen on Lake Starnberg, where the most trouble free time began between Ludwig and Wagner. They met daily, Wagner read from his works, played his own compositions on the piano and the king became enraptured in the fairytale world that Wagner delivered to him - free of charge.

Wagner was too much of a sly fox to pass up the opportunity to reorganize. He enjoyed the young king's letters of adoration like a warm country rain after a long drought.

Wagner now began to develop his position. He needed an able conductor and found
one in Hans von Buelow, married to Cosima, the daughter of Franz Liszt.

While Ludwig II was vacationing in Bad Kissingen, Buelow sent his wife ahead of him and the 27 year-old Cosima lived with Richard Wagner alone for a week in the villa at Kempfenhausen. There a completely different partnership was formed other than Wagner had with Ludwig II and from that time on Cosima functioned as Wagner's "secretary". For quite some time the king was unaware of Cosima's and Wagner's true relationship. In October 1864 Ludwig issued Wagner the formal order to complete "The Ring of the Nibelungen" and moved Wagner to a magnificent house in Briennerstreet.

But plans to build a Festspielhaus {Festival Theater} by the high shores of the river Isar soon resulted in discord. Munich's jealousy of Ludwig's favorite mirrored itself through numerous caricatures and satiricals and there was the never-ending vexation about the money that Ludwig "wasted" on Wagner. One of these payments Wagner received in the form of small coins. The royal cashiers simply insisted they only had the smallest coins available and "secretary" Cosima had to rumble through Munich in an open carriage filled with sacks of hard money.

Shaken by scandals, one of Wagner's most genial works "Tristand and Isolde" finally premiered. Cosima's "still husband" Hans von Buelow abruptly threw out the first seating rows in the opera house due to lack of orchestra space and remarked:

"What difference does it make if a few less pigs sitting here!"

Munich's "Finest Opera Elite", believing to recognize themselves with this remark, almost lynched von Buelow afterwards and Wagner had to apologize ceremoniously and publicly. Adding insult to injury, some of the main performers lost their voices, the rehearsals came to a stand-still and the rumor mill began to turn:

"Tristan unable to be performed? Wagner out of favor?"

Finally, on June 10 1865, "Tristand and Isolde" stood in the limelight of the Munich opera stage.

A human highlight followed the artistic one. In November 1865 Wagner was Ludwig's guest for a week at Hohenschwangau. Wagner woke Ludwig with Lohengrin songs, they rolled through the fall forests in their carriage and in the evening Wagner read his memoirs to Ludwig. "I am in heaven!", he told his "secretary" Cosima.

Maybe it was Wagner's extravagance or his ignorance of the conditions in Munich - but he now played his stakes too high. He believed to solve his problems politically to continue with the new Festspielhaus, conductors and singers and his extravagant lifestyle and he tried to manipulate the king into firing the hated ministers Pfistermeister and Pfordten.

Rumors of Wagner's coup were of course welcome fodder for the press. A petition with
4,000 signatures demanded the removal of the composer and Munich's professors and all of the ministers and the archbishop loudly screamed :

"Remove Wagner!"

Ludwig II was in despair. For the first (and last) time he consulted his mother, then the archbishop and then the entire cabinet and realized he had no choice. Cabinet secretary Lutz presented Wagner with his walking papers and on December 10 1865 Richard Wagner and his dog climbed on a train headed for Switzerland.
Ludwig fell into deep depressions. Thoughts of abdicating ran through his mind but Wagner begged him to remain on the throne. How else would he continue to reap the benefits and live the lifestyle he had become accustomed to?

In the spring of 1866 the Austrian-Prussian conflict came to a climax and Ludwig should have taken a stand, or at least have kept close contact with his ministers to try relieve the tension through royal channels involving the Bavarian situation. Instead he traveled to Switzerland incognito, as "Walther von Stolzing", to help Wagner celebrate his 53rd birthday. The newspapers reported: "The king has left"!

Not until 1867 did Wagner return to Munich but the magic of the first meeting between him and King Ludwig was gone. Ludwig distanced himself and let Wagner "stew" over his financial situation for some time, but he never deserted him entirely. The last time both of them appeared together in public was during the 1876 Festival at Bayreuth, after Ludwig secretly arrived in his private train.

The last meeting with Ludwig ended in a nervous breakdown for Wagner. After a separate performance of Lohengrin Wagner had to conduct the overture of "Parcifal" upon Ludwig's order of "da capo!" and Wagner complied, though not happily. Cold silence followed. As though he sat in a "concert by request", Ludwig again demanded the Lohengrin Overture....Wagner broke down. They never met again.

Hearing of Wagner's death on February 13 1883, Ludwig demanded:

The corpse belongs to me! I was first to recognize the artist the whole world now bemoans. I saved his for the world!"

The generosity of this Wittelsbach king towards the music genius knew no boundaries. He helped the composer with a total of 559,074 Marks from his Privy Purse to assure the completion of "The Rings of the Nibelungen", "Die Meistersinger" and "Parcifal" and to afford him a luxurious lifestyle. At least that is the amount Wagner's grandson Wolfgang stated, who today is the chief of the Bayreuth Festspielhaus. He also figured the amount to be equal to 8,3 Million Marks by today's standards. A hefty chunk, but
Ludwig felt it was money well invested.

"The melodies of your works are my necessity for life, I cannot be without them",

the Monarch wrote to the master whose music he craved like a drug.

The defeat during the war against the Prussians in 1866 cost 30 Million guilders - but no one got excited about that.

Apparently wars come with a different price than an artist.

Chapter 5 - King Ludwig II on Marriage

"I would rather jump into the Lake."

If Bavaria would still be a kingdom today or become a kingdom again and had Ludwig II just risen to the throne as an 18 year-old, he would immediately have filled the gossip columns in all well-known journals and would have replaced every other article, from knitting instructions and cooking recipes and maybe even the weekly horoscope!

Under each pine tree surrounding his castles raging reporters with telescopes and news reels would make camp to record each imaginable detail, important or not, which would have provided the people with the most intimate photos of the king.

Ludwig II had the historical misfortune to rise to the white and blue throne as a bachelor. With his slender, sharp and tall figure and deep blue eyes he would be the subject of every celebrity chaser until the mystery of the dream and fairytale marriage in the Kingdom of Bavaria would be lifted. Who will be his queen? Had he already choose one but kept mum? Why doesn't he have a queen yet? Maybe he doesn't like any of the prospects. Why this princess and not that one? Horrible thought! Ludwig, dear Ludwig, the time has come for you to choose a bride!

Considering the publicity about the royal houses today, Ludwig would be hard pressed to enjoy any type of solitude. Either the dead body of some news reporter would be found in the castle yard every few days or Ludwig would have to sequester himself behind walls. However, in this respect his fate was a little more kind because he did not need any TV advisors, no gossip column writers or bodyguards to chase away camera people.

The court reporters had to submit to the censure of the ministers who had experience in such things concerning the royal houses and therefore the Munich public only learned from the newspapers what they were allowed to learn. The women in the market and customers in the beer houses delivered the gossip and rumors. The gossip already existed at that time, but not in the newspaper columns!

The continuance of the dynasty was, of course, a high priority with the Wittelsbach Royalty just as it was with the Hohenzollern and the Habsburgs. This subject was more important to the mothers of the bride and groom and their girlfriends, followed by the closer and more distant, and even feuding relatives.

Depending on financial positions, fatherly politics and propagation and the will to continue the dynasty by producing numerous offspring, every marriage-age blue-blooded maiden and those soon to be marriage material, had to be considered. Reports about these candidates were immediately analyzed, rejected, combined and not seldom jeered! At least there is some excitement again in the boring court existence!

Of course that is what happened with Ludwig II as well, who only had a few dull things to say to this delicate situation, like:

"I have no time to get married, that is up to my brother!"

Nevertheless some names were mentioned in court circles. For instance the two honorable ladies Countess Fugger and Baroness von Redwitz and even the cigar smoking Chief Court Mistress Countess von der Muehle, who could have been Ludwig's mother, were given close consideration at one time.

Another candidate that had been rejected numerous times because of the close blood relationship suddenly took on concrete forms in the summer of 1866. She was the sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria and Ludwig's second cousin - Sophie Charlotte!

At least in the eyes of the two mothers, Archduchess Ludovica and Queen-Mother Marie, Ludwig was seriously courting his cousin, presenting her with gigantic flower arrangements.

Sophie had a talent for music, a nice voice and preferred to play the piano with the modern composition of "Lohengrin" within her reach. Lohengrin-Ludwig had found his Lohengrin-Elsa, as he addressed her in his letters.

The 1866 defeat against Prussia and Wagner being expelled from Munich tore at Ludwig's nerves and Sophie was truly the only "true, participating soul mate" he could openly discuss his "God" Wagner with.

The mothers were not impressed with this Wagner-enthusiasm. They wanted to see a decent royal wedding and as soon as possible!. On August 12 Ludovica had enough of the uncertainties and Ludwig's wedding postponements. She confronted Ludwig during family tea about the seriousness of his commitment to Sophie. Ludwig was angered and left abruptly.

Ludovica just took the king's action as a modest infatuation and sent Sophie's brother Carl Theodor over to Castle Berg the following day to break the ice with a "man-to-man" talk with Ludwig, but to no avail. Following this unsuccessful negotiation, Sophie was forbidden contact with the king and Ludwig's last refuge to a person he trusted was lost.

The situation at year's end 1866/67: Richard Wagner was banned to Switzerland, Sophie was isolated by her relatives, Prussia's defeat, unpopularity in Munich because of Wagner & Co. and since his ability to rule was questioned for the first time by his relatives, the thought of abdication went through his head.

Maybe these following hasty events can now be better understood: During the court ball on January 19 1867 Ludwig happens to, maybe intentionally, meet Sophie Charlotte and again saw her two days later. At midnight he wrote the following words to her while at the Residence:

"Will you be my wife, share my throne? Become Queen of Bavaria?"

Not wasting time, he gave the letter to his mother in the early morning hours who immediately had it delivered to the Ducal Palace in Ludwigstreet. Highly excited, announced his engagement during court luncheon. In the evening they sat side by side in the royal box of the Court Theater.

Did a miracle happen or was it the fear of isolation combined with the sincere wish to fulfill his obligation as king? Probably for a fleeting moment he believed in all sincerity he could pull off being a bridegroom, but becoming a father?

As we know, he at least tried. During the official engagement ball on February 22 1867 Ludwig suddenly left after a short appearance. With a speedy gallop he had himself driven to the Court Theater and caught the last act of "Mary Stuart".

Then he continued to Castle Berg. His court secretary Lorenz Duefflipp sat across from him in silence when Ludwig said to him slowly and quietly:

"I would rather jump into Alpsee {lake}.....rather into Alpsee."

Chapter 6 - Secret Loves

Would Ludwig II and Princess Sophie become engaged today, the gossip columnists and society photographers would have meager times ahead of them. Ludwig would be as good as never seen with his bride and would not miss an opportunity to flee the curious gazes of Munich's public and his" loveless capital".

The ordeal of his upcoming wedding finally became so enormous that at Easter time he even planned a five week long trip to Italy with his mother. He suddenly did not care if he could only talk to her about Edelweiss and beach slippers and not ever about Tristan and Isolde. Only the outrage of his ministers kept him from this Easter excursion.

The only chance to catch a picture of the young couple would have been with a telescopic lens at Possenhof Castle on Lake Starnberg, where Ludwig off and on appeared out of nowhere and disappeared just as quick, to escape his nosy relatives.

"If you and Gackel {Sophie's brothr Carl-Theodor} were the only people at Possenhofen I would enjoy visiting more often, but the way it is now, one always has to be aware of a possible attack",

he wrote to Sophie. The couple was nothing to be envious of.

With the "attacks" he meant the so-called "royal guards" who had been stationed behind hedges and bushes by his future mother-in-law. These adjutants and ladies of the court had to keep watch over the moral behavior of the engaged couple and, of course, report to the nobility about the progress that was being made in regards to their affections for each other.

If Ludwig and Sophie were alone in a room the doors had to stay open so the guards in the room next door could immediately enter, should their affections overstep the boundaries of a shy kiss on the forehead. On the other side, if Ludwig had insisted on seeing his betrothed alone, come hell or high water, that could have succeeded only with the help of discreet confidants.

One night he appeared at Possenhofen unannounced and, as in a opera rehearsal, he had Sophie try on the Bavarian crown. That resulted in Sophie suffering a nervous breakdown:

"He does not love me, he only plays with me!"

When the official engagement photos were taken Sophie met Edgar Hanfstaengel, the son of the famous photographer Franz Hanfstaengel. As the discovered letters from Sophie to Edgar show, the two of them "fell in love during the photo taking event."

Edgar Hanfstaengel was a splendidly looking 25 year-old Munich resident and had already traveled far, in spite of his young age. He was high spirited and spontaneous, someone Sophie could discuss other subjects of interest with other than Siegfried and Brunhilde. In spite of the usual "watchdogs", the two managed a few undisturbed rendezvous with the help of a few ladies of the court. "It just happened", Sophie explained later in a letter.

In July 1867, when Ludwig was once again fleeing from his bride, the secret romance reached its climax. As "Count von Berg" Ludwig II had traveled incognito to the World Fair in Paris and could be found in the opera house each evening. While he was listening to the music by Gounod's "Romeo and Juliet", Sophie wrote in a letter to Edgar, her lover:

With horror I look upon the future, my wedding day stands like a black shadow before my soul - I want to flee from this merciless fate. Why couldn't we meet before my freedom was taken from me? My Edgar, I love you so sincerely. When I am with you I find it difficult telling you how deeply I carry you in my heart. So deeply, I am slowly forgetting all duties towards my king."

Sophie and Edgar were clearly aware of their differences of rank and consequent hopelessness of their relationship. Shortly after the first wedding date passed on August 25 and the new date of October 12 got closer, Sophie wrote in a desperate letter to Edgar:

"If my hot tears could only dampen the horrible fate of never, never to be yours again! I want to die in your arms, my name shall fade away. The world shall forget that a Bavarian queen bride exists! I kiss you thousands of times - don't forget me - if only you knew!"

Oh Sophie, if only she had known that Ludwig already had a secret lover! Richard Hornig, an elegant, athletic and educated young man, could not be overlooked. He became Ludwig's steady companion and private secretary for many years.

"A common man with the classical features of an Adonis with a magnificent black beard and athletic figure,"

Ludwig raved.

In 1885 Richard Hornig fell out of favor because he too was unable to solve the problems of Ludwig's accumulated debts. His knowledge of Ludwig's private life was an excellent source for psychiatrist Dr. Gudden's ill-famed medical opinion. To show his appreciation for Hornig's assistance in dethroning the king, Prince Regent Luitpold later elevated him to the rank of nobility.

Let's return to the bridegroom. He let the wedding date of October 12 pass and then decided a November 28 wedding could be possible - but already by November 7 his mind was made up. After months of frustration he decided to free himself from his promise. He called off the engagement and threw his bride's portrait bust out the window. The relationship was over and the fairytale king still owed his people a fairytale wedding.

On the same day he wrote to Sophie that he was not yet prepared

"for the love necessary for marriage."
The beautiful Sophie, a younger sister of Empress Sissi {Elisabeth of Austria}, felt humiliated, her father Duke Max became enraged and Ludwig felt liberated.

"{I feel as though I} recovered from a long illness",

he confided in his dairy. The wedding was an unbearable thought for the king.

"This dreadful event did not become reality",

he wrote with relief.

"Sophie written off,....I long for freedom...."

The public was told about "the situation" on October 11. The court was stunned, the public felt helpless. No, Ludwig did not want anything to do with his bride, Princess Sophie. Of course Sophie's romance with Edgar had ended as well and before year's end the scorned bride had a new groom, Duke Alencon from the House of Orleans.

Chapter 7 - Was King Ludwig Homosexual?

Even today this question still is cause for an outcry of indignation, because "a king loves women", as Ludwig's grandfather Ludwig I had often been heard to say.
No bishop or minister was offended that King Ludwig I entertained the prettiest daughters of some of Munich finest citizens in his bed or that a mistress by the name of Lola Montez contributed to his downfall.

But what uproar is heard when a Bavarian king loves men! Could you imagine a beauty gallery of King Ludwig's handsome stable boys in the Bavarian King's castle? Without a doubt it existed! But during these times there were no talk shows that one or the other of Ludwig's favorites could have appeared on. And there were no newspapers that would immediately have printed the complete memoirs of a rejected stable boy on the front page!

So what! Ludwig did not have the fortune to be born at a later time and he should have hidden his sexuality a little better in the 19th century. There was no chance for a prominent king like Ludwig to rid himself of this flaw through an open confession in the newspapers or on TV!

Historians time and again ask the question if Ludwig II was even aware of his homosexuality and if yes, to what degree. Of course none of them were present but all know Ludwig's letters to his boys, written in 1866 to Karl Hesselschwerdt, in 1867, during the time of his engagement {to Sophie} to Karl Hornig, the affair with Kainz and so on. With deep respect the House of Wittelsbach then calls it "homophile fanaticism".

The monarch had no time for women; the fairytale king was homosexual. Ludwig fought this tendency for a long time and everyone in his immediate surroundings understood to keep a code of silence about the king's sexual preference. In spite of all precautions, the royal impulses could not completely be kept a secret.

The Prussian secretary to the ambassador, Philipp Count Eulenburg, always eager for hot gossip, reported to Berlin in 1885 that the king

"is sailing full steam ahead on the sea of love".

The sexual desires of the Wittelsbach Royal belonged, as the diplomat remarked in his report, to the "rascals on horseback", meaning the officers, the cavalrymen of the light brigade, good looking young men just as the king liked them. The delicate services they let themselves be talked into, earned them the title "The Gay Ones" in Munich's beer houses. Stable commander Karl Hesselschwerdt played the central role in Ludwig's intimate life. He supervised all court servants. Ludwig wrote him radiant letters of love. Of course the king expected greatest discretion and asked that the letters be burnt after they were read. Hesselschwerdt however did no such thing. He did nothing to prevent his master's letters being circulated.

The commander was not just there for the king's pleasure but also as go-between for new contacts. In harsh tones Ludwig ordered his friend to describe the exact anatomy of the "pleasure boys" in question.

"Karl, you have to be more detailed the next time I want to know something",

begins one official instruction. The king demanded a detailed report about the physical attributes of the candidates.

A letter written by the Bavarian Minister of Justice Eduard Count Bomhardt states that Chief Stable Master Baron von Lerchenfeld once felt moved to remark:

"In Franconia and Swabia rumor has it that His Majesty performs lewd acts with his stable handsand that His Majesty is a "spinach poker"."

Ludwig II left diary-style notes, all of which or part of had already fallen into the hands of the men who dethroned him by 1886. Because they presented such a devastating image of the king's psyche, these notes were made available to only a few people at the time. The notes were considered "strictly confidential", as were many other documents concerning the end of the king, that had long disappeared. Hence the name "Secret Diary".

Following the end of the Bavarian Monarchy a certain Edir Grein published the diary entries from the years 1869 to 1886 through a Liechtenstein Publishing Company in 1925. When the letters "Edir Grein" are placed in a different sequence one arrives at the name "Riedinger" - and that was the name of Minister Lutz' stepson! The same minister who played the most instrumental role in the fall of King Ludwig II.

The original entries were supposedly destroyed during the Second World War. What are left are the published copies of the dairy. It is doubtful that the text consists of the original writings. In all probability the text was falsified through elimination, additions and re-arrangements so they would sell better. Remember who the publisher was. Next to the already mentioned letters, this diary presents the main source for the suspicion of the king's alleged homosexuality.

On April 30 1880 Ludwig II meets the 23 year-old actor Josef Kainz, the king's last great passion. It also proved to be a tragic comedy of misunderstandings and disappointments.

Kainz was a much too modern actor for the demands of the Munich Theater. However, Possart, the director, insisted on keeping him and he had a splendid idea. Knowing about the king's partiality for good looking young actors he managed to have a few pictures of Kainz presented to the king and his plan worked. Ludwig went to see Kainz as "Didier" in Victor Hugo's play "Marion Delorme". That same night he presented Kainz with a sapphire ring. After a very cautious correspondence on the king's part, who feared others would read his letters, Ludwig invited him to Linderhof Castle. At 2 o'clock in the morning the king received Kainz in the sparsely illuminated "Blue Grotta". At first Ludwig was disappointed. Gone were the fascinating eyes and the soft voice the king had expected of the actor. Nevertheless, a friendship was formed between the two men.

Kainz quickly learned how to regain Ludwig's sympathies and recited all roles he had played to the point of exhaustion. After all, Ludwig had not only fallen in love with Kainz but with the roles he played as well!

For two full weeks Kainz was allowed to remain at Linderhof, from where daily excursions took place. Kainz writes in his memoirs:

Above Linderhof, in front of the Puerschling mountain cabin, the king suddenly placed his hand on my shoulder and whispered in a trembling voice: 'I hope nothing will ever come between us."

However, their ways soon parted. For the new production of Schiller's "Wilhelm Tell" the king had the grand idea to travel with Kainz to Switzerland to visit the original theater stages. On June 26 1881 the court train left for Switzerland with a small staff and a complete kitchen. To remain incognito in Switzerland, they traveled with false passports.

On the Ruetli {mountain} Ludwig insisted the alpenhorns to be sounded numerous times, but found the scenery much different than Schiller's description:

"One can tell that Schiller has never been to Switzerland!"

he explained to Kainz.

In any case, both of them had a passionate love for the arts. It is not known if they had other common interests, but it can be assumed. Their friendship was intense but did not last long. Ludwig was bothered by the rude familiarity the actor displayed towards him.

Poor Kainz became so exhausted from the constant citations and Ludwig's night habits, that he fell asleep during one of their nightly boat trips and another time refused to rise at 3:00 a.m. to recite the "Melchtal-Monolog". The king could not accept this and the relationship ended. What remained of Ludwig's last love are two unusual dual portraits, taken during their secretive Switzerland journey. They never met again.

Chapter 8 - Desired but Untouchable: Ludwig II and the Ladies

"He strutted like a golden pheasant in a hen house",

Count Eulenberg recalls of King Ludwig II, when the ladies of the court, whom Ludwig despised, cluttered around him.

"Women! Even the smartest ones debate without logic!"

That was Ludwig's opinion about the weaker sex - but the king could have been more accommodating instead of debating since there are more interesting things a young man would like to do with a lady - but that's a different story. In other words, Ludwig never had to fear losing his throne because of some female affair, as his grandfather did. That danger did not exist for Ludwig II!

Because of his handsome looks he was pursued by king-crazy females half around the world, starring at him through their opera glasses. In order to avoid these intrusions the king ordered separate performances to be presented in the Court Theater. Nevertheless, some women managed to get closer to the king other than just during the catholic Corpus Christ Procession.

Pledges of Love on Lilla's Busom

Lilla von Bulyowsky came from Hungary and was a very talented actress. Her role of fame was her performance as Mary Stuart. When Ludwig saw her perform in this play for the first time he was so moved by the fate of the Scottish Queen that he had the door to the All Saints Church opened in the middle of the night so he could pray for the assassinated Mary.

His friendship with Lilla dragged on for over six years and Lilla even spent several days as the king's guest in Hohenschwangau. In his bedroom she recited Goethe's "Egmont" and was allowed to sit next to the king on the edge of his bed. That led to Ludwig's confession that he had never been with a woman and that at night he breaks into tears and dreams of Lilla. We merely know from Lilla's stories that Ludwig had placed his head on her naked shoulders - the rest is unknown. But there is another version of the end of the "Egmont" performance:

1. Lilla pushed the king's head to the side

2. Lilla jumped up, screaming for help.

3. Ludwig fell asleep and was gently awakened by Lilla after the curtain had fallen after
"Egmont".

The friendship came to an end when Ludwig discovered what her intentions were.
"This Bulyowsky hussy can go to hell!",

were the king's last words in this affair.

When Scheffsky went Swimming at the Residence

Sheffsky not only used her mouth to sing her tunes, she was also known as a blabbermouth throughout Munich. Ludwig loved both her talents even though the Munich rumor mill usually left him cold. Scheffsky was allowed several audiences in the infamous winter garden on the roof of the Residence, but Ludwig kept his distance.

He was not in the least impressed with her corpulent figure because in general the king only allowed women with boy-like figures near him. That was why Scheffsky was only allowed to talk to the king or sing for him while hidden behind some bushes.

Palm trees surrounded the artificial lake and exotic birds in the Winter Garden. At one time Ludwig even had a young elephant trample through the garden's bushes, merely on a trial basis. A strange looking canoe rocked back and forth on the lake from which Scheffsy was asked to sing her best aria. The canoe however was not really suited for a heavy weight like Scheffsky and before she was able to hit the High C the boat had capsized and Scheffsy was taking a bath in the mirror smooth lake. Since King Ludwig was not a lifeguard, several lackeys had to pull the performer "on shore".

Even Ludwig laughed loudly about this almost unbelievable event. Ludwig was said to have been the father of Scheffsky's child and in appreciation for that she presented Ludwig with an Indian carpet, supposedly a flying carpet that had once belonged to an Indian maharadscha.

It is not known if Ludwig ever used it. Known is that Scheffsky bought the carpet for 300 Marks in a Munich department store and that she had the Privy Purse reimburse her with 1,500 Marks. Following this little episode, Ludwig had her thrown out of the theater, or more politely spoken: Scheffsky fell out of favor.

Ludwig's Soulmate Sisi

At the time Ludwig II was found dead in Lake Starnberg in 1886 a lady was staying nearby who had stood by him through all phases of his life, who understood him and showed feelings for him like no other contemporary. She was his cousin Elisabeth, the Empress of Austria. Rumors that Sissi {as she was also called} had tried to rescue Ludwig from Castle Berg on the night of his death or that she had organized an escape plan have never grown silent. After all, she was only a few kilometers away across the lake at Possenhofen, her parents' estate and childhood home, during the night of his death.

The relationship was not always tension free. Ludwig insisted on spending time alone with his cousin and even Sissi's little daughter Valerie went on his nerves.

One of the most bizarre rendezvous between the soul mates took place in 1881 on a fishing boat on Lake Starnberg. Sissi picked up Ludwig at his Isle of Roses {located in the center of the lake}. The black boy Rustimo, one of Sissi's companions, accompanied them. There, in the middle of the lake Rustimo sang exotic songs to them while playing his guitar.

Sissi was convinced that Ludwig had committed suicide but had strong criticism for the government and Prince Luitpold and accused both of being responsible for his death. Time and again she demanded revenge and retaliation for the death of King Ludwig II.

Marie Dahn-Hausmann

Ludwig II admired the actress Marie Dahn-Hausmann when he was still Crown Prince. Marie, who was several years older than the king, literally worshipped him after he had called her his soul mate once.

Elisabeth Ney and the King's Child Number Two

Another woman close to the king was Elisabeth Ney, a sculptress. She created the only life size sculpture of Ludwig II. With compass and ruler in hand she was allowed to measure Ludwig's head, something he managed to tolerate! For eight months she lived at the Residence and worked on his sculpture and as she wrote in her diary, became pregnant by the king. She immigrated to Texas where the royal child Arthur was born. However, the child died at age four of yellow fever. She cast her dead child in plaster and placed it in a child coffin that she took with her on all her travels. She burnt the body itself and spread the ashes in the Mississippi.

Chapter 9 - Ludwig and the Nights of the Full Moon

Price Luitpold, Minister Lutz and their gang later were outraged about the manner in which King Ludwig II conducted his royal household! Every last detail they could lay their hands on and that was given to them by disloyal lackeys - more or less fantastically embellished and made up - was welcome fodder for Professor Gudden's insanity declaration!

The entire time Ludwig II reigned they could have cared less how he conducted his court, as long as he signed everything that was placed before him. They even had documents sent to him via canoe to the Roseninsel just so he would not bother them with his problems in Munich.

Not until the royal finances had grown over their heads were their voices heard:

"The king is crazy, he fantasizes!"

Ludwig had introduced French court ceremonies into his castles as it had existed under the reign of Ludwig XIV. The deep bows of his servants must have seemed most peculiar to his visitors. The servants had to hold this position even while moving backwards, until they had left the room.

Since Ludwig II placed great value on the outer appearance of his servants he had pictures of them presented to him before they were hired into his service, so he could chose the ones he found best suitable. Since no other person before him had used this method Ludwig II became the inventor of the portfolio picture. If that's not enough, he was also the first to sign his photographs and therefore invented the autograph!

During Ludwig's times no catering services were available that could have provided a 12 course meal per helicopter to one of his distant mountain retreats. Because of these long hikes the king's kitchen had to be very mobile and all kitchen equipment and food had to be sent ahead so the meals would be ready as soon as the king arrived at one of his retreats.

In his memoirs Theodor Hierneis, Ludwig's cook wrote in detail about the king's culinary preferences. All meals had to be cooked until they were soft because the king's teeth had suffered over the years. Understandably Ludwig was a fan of soups. The clear, gold-brown consommés with additions of rice, noodles, pieces of liver and ham dumplings were always welcome. He often ate fish, especially trout, seafood filets in wine sauce or baked in herb butter or mayonnaise, followed by specially prepared beef. Most of the time it consisted of a fine piece of roast beef that had to cook for three to four hours and then was served in four finger thick pieces. Ludwig also had a liking for cooked lapwing and seagull eggs. He would only eat the yokes, discarding the whites.

The king was not a big drinker, loving the quality of the wine better than the quantity. Next to his place setting sat a carafe of Palatine wine and one with light Bordeaux. In between meals he preferred mountain-grown Rhine Wine. Champagne was only served on special occasions.

Hierneis was very familiar with Ludwig's famous "hidden table", a submersible table the food was placed on one floor below and then elevated through the dining room floor above through a trap door that would open mechanically. The main reason for this arrangement was so the king didn't have to deal with the servants. Nevertheless, on one occasion Hierneis stood face to face with the king when he placed a forgotten menu on the table after the food had already been transported upstairs to the dining room. Ludwig asked the cook what "Filet Mignons de veau d'Allemagne" was. The cook replied that it was a very tender calf vilet in the German State colors, filled with truffles, bacon and red tongue. Ludwig was not impressed.

"Can't this food be prepared a la Baviere?"

he asked.

Hierneis had no answer, food in blue colors {colors of Bavaria} were unknown to him.

For the court kitchen as well as the rest of the personnel, the king's different lifestyle often presented an unpractical situation. But where is it written at what time a king has to go to bed, when he can work and at what time he is allowed to be hungry? No one gets excited when an artist paints a picture at three o'clock in the morning but Ludwig going for walks at this hour was another reason for his throne robbers to declare the king insane! No one gives it a thought when the young Wittelsbachs of today hang around in Munich's discos until all hours of the morning but Ludwig's sleigh rides at three o'clock in the morning. According to his ministers this was another sign of his insanity.

Normally Ludwig II slept until two or three in the afternoon, ate breakfast about six in the evening and as a rule had his lunch served at one or two in the morning. At sun-up he had dinner and went to bed at about eight in the morning. If this was the routine of an insane man, consequently all night shift workers must be insane as well!

The diplomats did not invent the fact that Ludwig II often had them wait for hours before an audience. That little game is played with the same amusement today, but Dr. Gudden saw this as another piece of evidence of the king's insanity.

How heart broken today's Yellow-Press princes would be if they couldn't let themselves be photographed in their soaped up SUVs with their Porsche motors? Yet none of these vehicles compare to the magnificent travel comfort Ludwig's coaches consist of! They were masterpieces of the most famous sculptures, goldsmiths and technicians. Everyone who wants to take the trouble to visit the Marstall Museum in Nymphenburg Castle can admire their uniqueness.

Such glittering gold fairytale sleighs were perfect for gliding through the snow covered mountain landscapes during full moon. How popular would a leader of state be today with such a hobby?

The cook Hierneis tells of one such fairytale travels from Hohenschwangau to Fernstein:

"It was a beautiful starlit winter night. The king always picked such nights to ride to Fernstein because he could ride in the large golden sleigh pulled by four horses. Two grooms, dressed as outriders in heavy blue or red velvet Rococo costumes, white braided wigs, cuffed boots and vessel hats, were seated on the saddled horses."

Magnificent saddlecloth decorated the horse harnesses, their heads were dressed in fluttering peacock feathers, matching the colors of the jockeys. When white horses were pulling the sleigh the outfits were blue and when the king ordered black horses red outfits were chosen for the horses.

In lightening speed these nightly rides seemed like an apparition, a fairytale picture that left an unforgettable impression on the few who witnessed it like something not from this world.

Small wonders that the full moon was Ludwig's favorite constellation. As a fan of modern techniques he not only had the court opera illuminated with electric lights but his bedroom in the Residence as well in the form of a full moon night lamp.

When the moon lamp experienced some difficulties, stable master Hornig had to call "customer service":

"The moon in His Majesty's bedroom is not shining as beautiful as before. His Majesty wants to have it repaired."

Chapter 10 - King Ludwig as Technique Freak

King Ludwig II had the image as a romantic fairytale king but in reality he was a fan of the most modern techniques. Electricity in the form of light driven by motors, chemical processes to produce his artificial lights, daring steel constructions - Ludwig had entered the approaching technical era. His dream to fly over Alpsee {lake} in a flying machine would have become reality.

Today he would probably be sitting in the Blue Grotto listening to the newest CDs of Richard Wagner, looking at a Josef Kainz video and an electronic light organ would finally overwhelm him with the color of lapislazuli-blue he always begged his chemical experts to produce.

All chemical analysts in the kingdom had been driven to despair because they were unable to create the correct blue with their projectors. With Wotan and Parcifal they tried their best: Methylenblue, Cyaninblue, diphenylaminblue, aninlinblue, triphanylparaosalinilinblue, stearinsaeureblue, styritblueI - nothing was exactly to Ludwig's liking.

"Begin the rehearsal once again so I can convince myself that is has been perfected. If at last successful I will proclaim you prime minister in August."

Unfortunately the documents don't tell us if these promotions actually took place and if the blue color schemes in the Blue Grotto finally met Ludwig's approval.

We should not forget and be forever grateful to today's conglomerate of Schuckert/Siemens for installing 24 ultra modern dynamo machines for the production of electricity for the night light in the Blue Grotto. With that installation Linderhof Castle became Bavaria's first power company!

At the king's urging the Court Theater had electricity installed as well and on January 18 1885 the "Trumpeter of Saeckingen" went down in history as the first electrically illuminated performance in the history of Munich's theaters.

Ludwig's servants felt it was in their own interest to provide Dr. Gudden with a heap of absolute garbage regarding the king, in hopes that the more dirt they would provide, the more it would benefit during the change of power. It certainly worked well for Richard Hornig, who was raised to the rank of "nobility" by uncle Luitpold in appreciation for his assistance in bringing the king down. They refrained this time from lying about the part that they had to scratch on Ludwig's door to acknowledge his orders, because the king had installed a super modern electric doorbell that he used to summon his servants!

Ludwig also rode in the first electrically illuminated vehicle in the world. His baroque sleighs were equipped with an apparatus that fed electricity to the crown of the putty and therefore provided light. It could well be that these lamps were, independently of Edison, invented in Bavaria.

One of the main arguments in psychiatrist Dr. Gudden's obligatory medical opinion that declared the king insane, was Ludwig's desire to fly. Ludwig II had expressed the wish to his engineer Brand to invent a machine that could fly across the Alpsee by Hohenschwangau. This "craziness" was regarded as being totally out of the realm of any normal thinking person. Friedrich Brand did all he could to create a "peacock flying machine" and architect Dollmann did his utmost to create a landing and take-off pad in the court yard, but the time for such venture was premature. Only five years after Ludwig's death, Otto Lilienthal was the first person to lift off the ground in some sort of contraption.

They also thought it insane that, when Ludwig was really upset, he did not touch his eating utensils but picked up the chicken breasts and ate them with his fingers:

"Majesty plays with his food."

What wasn't mentioned is that Ludwig had the most modern dumbwaiter built in Neuschwanstein. Let alone the latest in grill techniques, the "Rumfordgrill" that grilled Ludwig's ducks on a spit that adjusted the distance to the fire automatically depending on temperature.

The rooms at Neuschwanstein Castle were not heated separately because the castle had a modern central heating system. The "Calorifere Furnace" also provided optional humidity in the castle and a heat pump provided steady hot water.

Standing on the Odeonplatz {Square} looking towards the Residence, no one would imagine that Ludwig II had started one of the "most enchanting places at the foot of the Himalayas" here. The mountain range was inside Ludwig's imposing winter garden on the rooftop on the courtyard side of the Residence. In addition to Neuschwanstein this would probably be one of the major tourist attractions today had it not been destroyed during World War II or at least been rebuilt again.

The winter garden was approximately 240 feet long and 50 feet wide with a lake of approximately 65 feet in length and 36 feet in width, with canoes and swans gliding through the water. At the foot of the Himalayas panorama that had been painted by a pupil of Piloty, a small waterfall splashed over a grotto. Between a fisherman hut braided from sage grass, stood a Maurish Kiosk and all around the lake grew banana plants and palm trees. Parrots were in abundance and even a small elephant once trampled through there.

There isn't enough time to describe King Ludwig's II many accomplishments. He was seen only as a crazed romantic and not as a promoter and supporter of the most modern endeavors of his century.

Chapters 11 + 12 - Ludwig's Building Frenzy

Building was Ludwig's great passion. In his castles he realized part of his dreams which had no boundaries. The monuments of his desire were in no way built for the enjoyment of his subjects, they were strictly built for his own pleasure. At the time of his interdiction he gave orders to have them destroyed.

Gigantic Debts - How the Ministers Drove Ludwig to Ruin

Disgusted with every day business and the lack of his ministers' imagination, weary of the sobering reality, frustrated with the political lack of power he felt himself damned to, Ludwig II built his dream world and that required much money, very much money. In any case, more than he had. At the end a huge money crisis loomed over the Monarch. His personal crisis developed into a state crisis that resulted in his interdiction and his death. 20 Million Marks in debts, that was the end result of the Fairytale King's unhappy life.

What was the state of affairs with the Monarch's finances? For his Privy Purse, his personal budget, he received 4.25 million Marks per annum from the state budget. However, most of this money was not his to do with as he pleased. From this amount he paid the entire court expenses, the personnel, representation costs, upkeep of the castles and the allocations for each member of the royal house.

That left him with a whole 914,000 Marks for his favorite hobby, his buildings. This money was not near sufficient for these projects that he perused with a passion. He invested twice as much, 1,8 Million Marks per year and that was the norm. Small wonders that this resulted in disaster.

In spite of these financial problems Ludwig II saw no reason to limit himself. He made it perfectly clear that a reduction in money for his castle projects were out of the question. Should the building be stopped "the foremost enjoyment in my life will be gone". That's what he let his ministers know and threatened several times to replace them. From a legal standpoint he was in a position to do so. He saw himself as an absolute monarch who was not willing to have anyone interfere with his business.

It was not just the expense that flowed into the castles Linderhof, Neuschschanstein and Herrenchiemgau that burdened the royal budget. It was also the opulent assistance he rendered his friend Richard Wagner.

In the spring of 1884 Finance Minister Emil von Riedel spoke of a very serious situation. The cabinet budget was nearing a catastrophe. Workers and business people threatened the court with court proceedings to collect on outstanding debts. The reputation of the monarchy was threatened. The mighty Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck intervened from Berlin to avoid a state crisis with unavoidable consequences for the ruling political system. He made money available for the royal Munich coffers from the Welfenfond. Chief stable master Max Count von Holnstein who had Ludwig's trust, acted as go-between in these transactions and received 10% commission for his services. Between 1873 and 1885 a total of five million Marks flowed into Bavaria but that amount was a mere drop in a bucket.

The "Berlin Stock Market News" published poisonous attacks against Ludwig's
spending habits and insinuated that only a mentally disturbed individual would place himself into such a severe dilemma. Ludwig had inquiries made under what conditions the Bank of England would be prepared to extend credit to him. The Rothschild Bank in Paris was mentioned as well. Following extensive negotiations the Bayrische Hypothek- und Wechselbank" made 7,5 Million Marks available to rescue the royal purse.

Even that shot in the arm was insufficient. By spring of 1886 the Fairytale King had reached debts in the enormous amount of 20 Million Marks because he refused to cease his building frenzy. Not one project was stopped.

How did Bavaria's most important politician of the time, Baron Johann von Lutz, react? He was Prime Minister, belonged to the liberals and was opposed by the conservative patriotic majority of the Provincial Diet, whose members had long urged his resignation. Lutz and his cabinet sat back and watched for things to come and they had their reasons. The threatening financial catastrophe of the royal Privy Purse fit just fine into their strategy. That stragedy involved not saving the king but to let him come to financial ruin because that would enable Lutz to succeed in having the monarch declared incompetent.

To initiate this process Lutz needed the consent of the Royal House of Wittelsbach. Since King Ludwig's brother Otto could not be considered as ruler due to his mental illness, the government leaders turned to Prince Luitpold. Following Prince Otto, the king's uncle was next in line to the throne. He finally gave in to Lutz' scheme after much hesitation. The later Prince Regent would rather have seen that his nephew moved to abdicate, but Lutz did it his way. With the consent of the royal family he ordered a psychiatric opinion. The result of this was already decided before the doctors were able to give their unethical diagnosis. The Ludwig II tragedy began to drift towards the end.

Chapter 13 - The Four Leaders of the Pack

This was the situation in May 1886 before the violent death of King Ludwig II: a bank loan of over 7,5 Million Marks extended his construction debts to the year 1901. In Ludwig's opinion the rest of his debts and future expenses for his intended constructions should be covered by the state. Not in his dreams did the king consider postponing completion of the constructions in progress or halt new plans. On the other hand Prime Minister Lutz and the entire cabinet demanded an immediate and absolute end of construction.

Of course Lutz was aware of the dangers of this demand but his "love for the president's chair was common knowledge", as the Austrian Ambassador reported to Vienna. Lutz and his entire cabinet ran the danger of being dismissed at any time via telegram from the king, who was at Hohenschwangau. Lutz and his cabinet were well aware that the Bavarian public would have fully sympathized with such dismissals. After all, they had failed by looking the other way for years in respect to the money problems. Now, that the debts had become overwhelming, they suddenly screamed in unison:

"Construction standstill",

because they couldn't think of a better solution! The king would have been justified to dismiss his incompetent ministers.

The solution to the problem, which until now had only been discussed behind closed doors throughout Munich, was no longer:

"Who will pay for this?", but

"The king has to go!"

Even Bismarck in far away Berlin criticized the Bavarian ministers because in his opinion the royal financial problems should have been solved by the Provincial Diet. He advised the king to dissolve the Diet and appeal to his people for help with payments for his castles. Ludwig disregarded this advice.

Since Ludwig II was not willing to put a stop to his constructions, would not abdicate on his own and could not be dethroned, the ministers saw no other way but to have him declared insane in the interest of the crown and fatherland, then have him declared incompetent and appoint his uncle Luitpold as regent.

Now Dr. Bernhard Gudden enters the plan. Gudden grew up in the Rhineland,was a well
recognized scientist and author of numerous publications and as chief for the Dristrict Insane Asylum of Upper Bavaria had cared for years for the king's severely mentally ill brother, Prince Otto.

As early as March 23 1886 Gudden had made a blurred diagnosis without having examined the king and had offered the ministers Lutz and Crailsheim his services to declare King Ludwig II mentally ill and even produced a written opinion how he felt the king's interdiction could be made possible. Following a few witness testimonies about Ludwig's condition he declared the king

"as genuinely mentally disturbed, but talented with an extraordinary ability to hide his mental illness when he wants to".

Does that now mean that Ludwig was crazy only when he felt like it?

In order to build a basis for his idiosyncratic medical diagnosis Gudden now had to gather the corresponding evidence that was readily provided by lackeys that had fallen out of favor in hopes of rewards. According to this collection of evidence King Ludwig was mentally disturbed because:

he took nightly sleigh rides

he let diplomats wait before granting them an audience

he avoided Munich and only arranged for three court festivities per year

he was anti social

he did not like walking through Munich (reluctance to appear in public)

he preferred attending mass in his private chapel at Berg instead of visiting
the church his subjects attended

he was horrified of attending court dinners with his family

he preferred to socialize with the common country people instead of educated ones

The list of royal peculiarities could go on for pages but they exclusively addressed his "private affairs" since the government business was "always promptly and correctly taken care of", as the Prussian ambassador reported to Berlin. Bismarck, who knew the peculiarities of other crowned heads of Europe only too well, agreed with this:

"Too bad he has such peculiarities, but that's the way he is. Even today he has a better understanding of government business than all of his ministers put together."

On June 8 1886 the king's official interdiction was declared in all secrecy and Count Toerring-Jettenbach and Count Holnstein were named as guardians. To chose Holnstein of all people as guardian is proof of the brutality that was now placed on
Ludwig. The king's former trusted aide had cashed in on a fortune from the Welfenfond provisions and after falling out of grace he moved with much fanfare into the camp of the throne robbers.

For the cabinet everything had gone as smooth as expected. Ludwig II had been taken out, his orders had become worthless, and no one had to follow his directions. Minister Lutz had avoided his threatening dismissal he had saved his neck. Prince Luitpold, the highest-ranking Wittelsbach royal after the king, had become Prince Regent. He had played along with the intrigues of the ministers who were fighting for their survival.

Now, what to do with the dethroned king? In co-operation with the cabinet, psychiatrist Gudden and the Prince Regent, a game plan was formed. Ludwig, who was alone in Neuschwanstein when his political death sentence was declared, was at first destined to be locked up as a mentally ill patient in Linderhof Castle. At least for a year.

Chapter 14 - 40 Steins of Beer

- And off to Catch the King

In the afternoon of June 9 1886 a delegation named the "State Commission" set off on their momentous journey to perform the humiliating deed of informing the rejected Wittelsbach royal of his interdiction and to render him powerless. Since they were prepared to take Ludwig into custody in case he would not cooperate freely, the general public soon called this delegation of "fine" men the "Coup de Grace Commission".

It was a ghostly sight. They functioned in the capacity of secret conspirators, these eleven men, who arrived at Hohenschwangau Castle during the night of June 10 1886 towards 11 o'clock at night and they were plenty nervous. Will everything go according to plan? After all, no one had any experience in arresting a king. Much could go wrong because the interdiction of Ludwig II had not been announced to the general population. Would the public's sympathy for the monarch lead to violence? The nerves of the eleven people of the State Commission who had traveled to the mountains to accomplish their task were stretched to the limit. The delegation consisted of Minister Krafft von Crailsheim, Lieutenant Colonel Karl Theodor von Washington, psychiatrist Dr. Bernhard von Gudden and his assistant Dr. FranzCarl Mueller. Four orderlies equipped with straight jackets and chloroform accompanied them.

To summon up courage, the gentlemen first had a seven-course meal served to them in Hohenschwangau Castle. "Souper de Sa Majeste le Roi" was sanctimoniously written on the menu of the feast that the commission fortified themselves with. They were served noodle soup, trout in Hollandaise Sauce, chicken a la Marenco and goose liver bowl, grilled venison and asparagus and vanilla creme with raspberries.

To rid themselves of their anxieties the members of the commission had themselves supplied with plenty of fine drinks. With the consumption of 40 steins of beer and ten bottles of champagne they hoped to lose their last inhibitions in order to perform their difficult task.

Ludwig, oblivious to what was about to happen, had eaten his noon meal at his customary time at 1:00 o'clock in the morning and gave orders to Osterholzer, his personal coachman, to harness the horses for a ride. In the stables Osterholzer suddenly found himself face to face with Count Holnstein.

Mistake number one now occurred. The coachman was told to unharness the horses:

"We prepared a different coach for the king."

Osterholzer replied:

"I only follow the king's orders!"

Holnstein answered:

"The king is in no longer in the position to issue orders!"

Osterholzer, bewildered and sensing danger, ran to the king and stammered what just happened, advising the king to flee at once. The king remarked:

"What are you saying? Why should I flee?"

Osterholzer did even more - he offered to help the king to escape into Tyrol. Ludwig ignored his pleas but did the obvious. He alarmed the local police department whose members still had no clue about the king's interdiction and therefore still owed allegiance to the king.

At four o'clock in the morning they were ready. The State Commission went into action. They tried to gain access to Neuschwanstein Castle but were held back by the gendarmes and the Volunteer Fire Department and during the scuffle one of the orderlie's from the asylum dropped a bottle of chloroform that shattered on the ground.

As re-enforcement, Baroness Truchsess now stepped into the arena in front of the castle and began to beat the members of the "Arrest Commission" with her umbrella:

"You should be ashamed!"

and she immediately punished Baron von Crailsheim with:

"I will never play piano with you again!"

The "Coup de Grace" had failed.

"We really embarrassed ourselves!",

Dr. Gudden remarked correctly and without accomplishing their task he and his cronies returned to Hohenschwangau.

With the help of the gendarmes the king now goes into action. The members of the State Commission are taken into custody and held in Ludwig's Neuschwanstein Castle. Not until noon the next day, on June 10, did the locals in Fuessen find out what had taken place in the meanwhile in Munich, namely the proclamation of the Prince Regent and the interdiction of Ludwig. The State Commission, their nerves tattered, was able to slip away.

In the meanwhile Ludwig's aid-de-camp, Count Duerckheim-Monmartin. Ludwig's last loyal friend arrived at Neuschwanstein and Ludwig told him:

"The whole situation is just a question of money. If someone would place a few million Marks on the table before me, let's see who would find me insane!"

Ludwig II, shocked by the events during the night, thought of suicide. Supposedly he was trying to decide whether to throw himself from the castle tower or to demand poison for himself. In the end he was unable to make a decision. He had a telegram dispatched to Berlin to ask Bismarck's advice. The German Chancellor recommended he leave at once for Munich and to show himself to his subjects. That was the opinion of the pragmatic Prussian. However, Ludwig was unable to decide on this move. Humiliated and depressed he did what he usually did. He took no action but waited for things to approach him.

Chapter 15 - Was Ludwig Really...

Was Ludwig Really mentally ill or was he a Victim of Intrigue?

The legendary Fairytale King, pained by thoughts of escaping the world, extremely introverted, at the same time wasteful and addicted to beauty, was everything else but normal and didn't fit any mold. Does that, however, mean he was mentally ill? That question has not been unequivocally answered to this day - even if the famous psychiatric diagnosis made by legendary psychiatrist Berhard von Gudden accused him of such. His "expert" judgement that led to the last act of the Ludwig tragedy has come under heavy fire. Was this royal Wittelsbach, with his tendency for melancholy, a victim of a far-reaching intrigue?

Against the opposition of the Munich professorship but upon the persistence of the royal circle of ministers, psychiatrist Bernhard von Gudden was designated professor at the university in 1872 and at the same time became Director of Psychiatry of the Upper
Bavarian Insane Asylum. His professional qualities were non-controversial in his capacity in the area of psychiatry. People however were offended by the fact that he was easily convinced to grant favors.

On March 23 1886 a decisive meeting took place with Prime Minister Johann von Lutz. The head of the government who was moving towards the king's interdiction, dealt Gudden a clear order that said in no uncertain terms, that a scientifically given opinion was to prove Ludwig mentally ill and not able to handle the business of governing the country. Even before the psychiatrist began his work gathering evidence material, he was certain of one thing:

"The monarch is 'indisputably nut's!"

Some ten weeks later he was done with his assignment, assisted by his son-in-law Dr. Hubert Grashey and two other specialists. On June 9 he announced his findings to the ministers and in the presence of Prince Luitpold, who already had been considered as Prince Regent. His destructive verdict: paranoia. The concept of schizophrenia did not belong to the psychiatric vocabulary until 1911.

The historian Professor Wilhelm Liebhart, an authority in Ludwig research, accuses Gudden of severe errors in the assembly of his opinion. A deciding factor of his criticism:

"Why did he not examine the king personally?"

Without exchanging as much as one word with his patient, this "healer of souls" felled a harsh verdict that was based on testimonies of court employees who had fallen out of the king's good graces. These witnesses were questioned exclusively by government employees who were utterly ignorant in the area of psychiatry and who had no business rendering a judgement of Ludwig's difficult mental structure.

Not one doctor was present when the frustrated court employees were finally able to air their anger towards the king. An objective view of their testimonies did not take place, none of the witnesses were sworn in. That only took place after the king's death. Historian Liebhart:

"They were only interested in giving damaging testimony against the king!"

To sum it up, Gudden's opinion was based on highly contestable testimonies. The scientific value of his paper does therefore not stand up to serious critics.

It can not be refuted that the king was easily agitated, that he had a tendency to be irritated easily, that he had attacks of frenzy that often resulted in wrong actions. Under conditions of depressed anger he occasionally beat his employees. The valets were tormented and had to dress in Turkish garb and crawl on their knees when the king felt like it. Historian Franz Herre describes scenes of horror:

"Cuss words hailed down, slaps in the face and kicking. Now and then his bath water was poured over an unsatisfactory servant."

For a solid year one valet who had fallen out of good graces was only allowed near the king with a facemask. Majesty could not stand to look at the face of this servant. Professor Liebhart adds:

"At times Ludwig took morphine and he had a tendency for alcoholism. The king was addicted to narcotics as well as his building passion. He proved to have no boundaries in this regard."

Is this, however, schizophrenia? The modern psychiatry would in all certainty have arrived at a different conclusion. It appears that Ludwig II was prone to irrational behavior and suffered from neurosis. He was a sure case for the psychoanalyst's couch but not a case for the insane asylum. The determination for his interdiction arose from highly inconsiderate and preconceived opinions of a government dependent partnership of doctors.

The Munich psychiatrist and neurologist Johannes Kemper, who has studied the mental condition of the monarch intensively, arrives at the conclusion:

"Ludwig was able to reflect upon himself to the end. King Ludwig II did not suffer from schizophrenia."

Ignorance is not a word that can be contributed to Germany's Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. This sober Prussian head of government, of all people, highly valued the visionary Ludwig. In his valuation of the supposedly crazy Bavarian monarch he reached the conclusion:

"Fools in high positions are rather made than born. Had German officers been trusted with King Ludwig's education instead of ignorant professors, the king probably would have kept both feet on the ground he was born from and would not have climbed the fog clouded Parnass."

Had Ludwig really lost his marbles? 157 years after the birth of the Fairytale King it becomes increasingly more certain that the king was not at all mentally ill. The attestation of the psychiatrist who declared the king crazy becomes more and more controversial. His diagnosis was the result of government orders. The outcome of the psychiatric opinion was already written in stone before the medical judge began his research into Ludwig's mental state. The opinion was based on a business between government friends that fit nicely into the political landscape of the time.

Chapter 16 - "Professor Dr. Gudden - Was Ludwig II Insane?"

Interview with the King's Psychiatrist

Psychiatrist Dr. Bernhard Gudden was with King Ludwig II at the end of his life. From his pen stems the psychiatric opinion that formed the basis for the king's interdiction and consequently led to his fall.

Professor Gudden did not only see himself as an excellent psychiatrist but also as a clairvoyant since he declared Ludwig II insane without seeing him or having examined him personally.

What then was the justification for branding the king "crazy"? In a fictitious interview we posthumously speak with Professor Gudden by his graveside in Munich's East Cemetery. The answers given here are identical with his testimony in the before mentioned psychiatric opinion.

Question: "Professor Gudden, is King Ludwig II insane?"

Dr. Gudden: "His Majesty is in an advanced degree of mental illness. To be exact, his Majesty suffers from the type of mental illness the psychiatrists are experienced with, a mental illness called paranoia (craziness) by name.

Question: "There were cases of mental illnesses in his family. Didn't his Aunt Alexandra believe that she had swallowed a whole piano?"

Dr. Gudden: "His Majesty the King's mental illness already existed at the time of his birth through inheritance. His brother, King Otto I, suffered from this illness as well. One must also remember the illness of his blissful aunt, Princess Alexandra."

Question: "How did the king's madness express itself?"

Dr. Gudden: "The overwhelming ill-like fantasy came to light - as Hornig testified - because His Majesty picnicked outside during freezing weather and snowstorms and imagined being at a warm southern beach enjoying the sun."

Question: "Is it true that the king called Minister Lutz and his government employees "good-for-nothing and dirt bags?"

Dr. Gudden: "His Majesty spoke of his ministers and their noble employees with the utmost disdain. The ministers were called pack, mobs and vermin."

Question: Supposedly he disliked Munich and the people of the court who saw themselves as superior."

Dr. Gudden: "He felt the same way about the unavoidable court banquets that His Majesty was feared as though he was going to his slaughter. The Almighty often drank between eight and ten glasses of champagne before these events and he was distressed for weeks in advance. From witnesses we hear that he often expressed himself very unfavorably about his guests."

Question: "Is it true that he would have loved nothing better than to see these "parasites" banished?"

Dr. Gudden: "During the banquet His Majesty often hid from his guests behind bouquets of flowers and center pieces. The noisiest music was expressly ordered. Often His Majesty gazed wildly from one spot to another and now and then he pounded his sable on the floor in anger."

Question: "But when he was home alone he enjoyed his meals. He supposedly even ate grilled chicken with his fingers."

Dr. Gudden: "Servant Mayr insinuated that he observed the king eating in a very unappetizing manner and he often soiled his clothes."

Question: "Since TV had not been invented at the time, how did Ludwig II spend his free time?"

Dr. Gudden: "Stable Master Hornig, who had been in the king's surroundings since 1867, explained that in the beginning the king had a great need to be with people. He talked about get-togethers in the forests with his stable hand, where games were played like "Hide the Ring" and others. On later occasions he spent time with him on the Schachen {mountain retreat} in a room that was furnished in a Turkish setting and while sitting in an oriental manner joined His Majesty in drinking sorbet and smoking turkish pipes. In the Hundingenhause at Linderhof {Castle} the personnel rested on furs while drinking beer from large drinking horns, according to old German customs."

Question: "...and when did it appear that Ludwig had really lost his mind?"

Dr. Gudden: His Majesty the King loved going for nightly rides dressed in the costume of Ludwig XIV with crown and scepter, gave orders to the well educated privy councilor von Loeher to find a land where he could rule in absolutism and that could be traded for Bavaria. This order, of course, led to nothing!"

Question: "How did Ludwig II stay fit? Was he familiar with jogging or aerobics?"

Dr. Gudden: "The sworn testimonies of Hornig, Hesselschwerdt, Welcker and Mayr have proven, that His Majesty often danced by himself, made jumping movements and attracted attention by stretching his arms and shaking his hands while hastily running back and forth in his room."

Question: "Ludwig was very interested in new technique. At the time, cell-phones were unknown. How did he communicate with his servants?"

Dr. Gudden: "At later times the orders were usually given through the closed door and the servants had to acknowledge the king's orders by scratching on the door."

Question: "Did the king have problems with the Chinook winds like so many natives?"

Dr. Gudden: "In regards to his physical condition witnesses report that he often experienced pain in the back of his head and therefore used an icepack on his head, even during meals."

Questions: "Ludwig's dislike of the Prussians is well known but how did it manifest itself?"

Dr. Gudden: "For the past ten years Stable Master Hesselschwerdt received repeated orders to hire a gang of people and together with them take the German Crown Prince prisoner during one of his occasional visits in Mentone, throw him in a dungeon and keep him alive with only bread and water. He was to suffer thirst and hunger and be torn with yearning for his loved ones."

Question: ""Little is known about Ludwig's connections to China."

Dr. Gudden: "Servants who were being punished had to kneel or lay on their stomachs. This punishment was incorporated after the king read about the Chinese court formalities."

"Question: "Since the ministers denied his request for more building subsidies Ludwig II became quite inventive."

Dr. Gudden: "An adjutant was dispatched to His Majesties the Kings of Sweden and Norway as well as to Brazil in the attempt to obtain a bank loan. Others were to go to Brussels, to Constantinople to the Sultan and to the Schah of Teheran to raise money. He also gave orders to break into the banks at Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Berlin and Paris."

Question: "In the Munich airport stands a life size statue of King Ludwig II. What involvement did Ludwig have with modern air transportation?"

Dr. Gudden: "In his overgrown fantasies and void of any thoughts of reality he expressed the brilliant wish to give Brand, his mechanic, an order to produce a flying machine for rides across the Alpsee and Hohenschwangau."

Question: "Professor, the details of Ludwig's II life speak for themselves. What conclusions did you come to?"

Dr. Gudden: "Because of his illness His Majesty's free will is wholly unbalanced. His Almighty has to be prevented from exercising any government business and that this restriction shall not be for just one year but shall remain so for the rest of his life."

Chapter 17 - King Ludwig II is Taken into Custody!

Although King Ludwig II had been interdicted and had fallen, he was still alive and therefore presented a great danger to the throne robbers Luitpold and Minister Lutz. Even Count Duerckheim-Monmartin was correct in the assumption that the conspirators in Munich would confiscate any mail. Bismarck was devastated. He at once dispatched a telegram, encouraging the king to immediately go to Munich, show himself to his people and go before the Provincial Diet.

Duerckheim's activities had of course become known in Munich. Bavaria's new ruler Luitpold, gave the order for Duerckheim's immediate return to Munich or face being arrested for high treason. Since Ludwig II was not insane at all, he sent his last loyal friend back"

"...otherwise your career and your future will be at stake!"

Upon his return to Munich Duerckheim was immediately taken into custody and charged with high treason. The complaint was then withdrawn because the king's removal from the throne did not become official until after Duerckheim's return. Luitpold and Lutz were in such a hurry with the arrest that Bismarck had to call their attention to this little formality!

After publication of the king's insanity, officers from Munich replaced the local gendarmes who had remained in Neuschwanstein. Ludwig II had been trapped.

Linderhof Castle had first been chosen as the royal mental asylum but later was decided against. Apparently there was substantial fear of a rescue attempt by the local people who felt absolute loyalty for their king. More so because they always had profited in Ludwig's presence, for instance clearing the snow of the 47 kilometers of trails for Ludwig's moonshine rides or being employed in various other capacities.

At the end, Castle Berg on Lake Starnberg was chosen as the royal prison that Assistant Psychologist Dr. Grashey had turned into an insane asylum. The advantage was that Castle Berg was located closer to Munich and could therefore be guarded more efficiently.

"Do you believe in the immortality of the soul?",

the captured king asked his valet Alfons Weber in Neuschwanstein.

"To be flung from the highest station in my life into emptiness means my life is lost. It is something I can not bear."

The view from Ludwig's window: The Poellatschlucht {Poellat Ravine}. His persecutors later feared that the king would throw himself from the tower. In reality a jump from any of the castle windows would have been fatal.

"I can endure being removed from my throne, but being declared insane I will not survive....my blood will stain all who betrayed me."

These, however, were not the king's last words. First he presented the diamond brooch he always wore on his hat to Weber, his last servant. He confirmed for him in writing that the brooch was a present, in case his greedy relatives would demand the return of the present. Then Ludwig told him:

"When my hairdresser Hoppe arrives tomorrow to fix my hair, he can look for my head down below in the Poellat ."

Ludwig's sense for gray humor was known and no head flew down. Instead his valet Mayr opened a bottle of champagne, followed by a few glasses of rum, to strengthen the nerves.

In the meanwhile the second "arrest commission" had been assembled in Munich, minus the cowardly ministers and minus a personal letter from the new regent, Prince Luitpold, to his nephew. It would have been unnecessary anyway, for the "gang of four" the case was already decided. The new "arrest commission" arrived in Hohenschwangau at midnight, the night from the 11th to 12th of June. Ludwig's valet Mayr informed them that Ludwig had asked for the key to the large tower numerous times, surely with the intent to throw himself from it. Although the planned arrest was not to take place until four o'clock in the morning, it was now decided to apprehend him at once.

Silently the troops of the commission posted themselves in front of the king's chamber, wardens and police grouped around the door, escape routes were blocked. Now Lorenz Mayr, the trusty valet, announced that he had finally located the key to the tower and the unsuspecting Ludwig opened the door.

"Suddenly we heard heavy foot steps and a man of imposing heights stood in the doorway and spoke in incoherent sentences with the servant, who was bowing before him. Along with us, the wardens who were stationed above and below, stepped towards the door to block his passage."

That is how psychologist Dr. Mueller remembered it.

Then finally Dr. Gudden was able to exercise his authority, speaking with unsurpassed deceit:

"Majesty this is the saddest duty of my life. Majesty has been evaluated by four psychiatrists and due to their diagnosis Prince Luitpold has assumed the regency. I have orders to accompany Majesty to Castle Berg, in fact, tonight yet. If Majesty wishes, the carriage will be here at four o'clock {in the morning}.

Ludwig replied:

"What do you want, what is the meaning of this?"

After the king had recovered from the first shock he asked Dr. Gudden:

"How can you declare me insane, you have never even examined me?"

Of course Ludwig II had no idea that the throne robbers were not at all interested in an examinations by unbiased physicians. But he did know who was behind all this:

"Well then, Prince Luitpold has blissfully succeeded. For that he would not have needed such elaborate intelligence. Had he said just one word I would have abdicated and gone abroad. Tell me, how long is this treatment to last?"

Dr. Gudden now played his last trump card and with that proved himself a willing tool. The treatment had to last until the new government became fully legal according to law -
Maybe life long - but at least one year.

The dethroned king surrendered to his destiny. A carriage was waiting for him, already equipped for transportation of someone insane. The carriage could only be opened from the outside and had peek holes that made a steady observation possible.

The departure took place at four o'clock in the morning without resistance. The shackles and gags that had been provided were left unused.

"Sticherl, farewell, keep my rooms as a sanctuary, don't let them be profaned by curiosity seekers because I spent the most difficult hours of my life in them. I will never return here."

His servant Stichler watched as the ghostlike convoy left.

Wrapped in a dark coat, his hat pushed deeply down his forhead, the humiliated King of Bavaria left his dream castle. As he was leaving he told his last servant:

"When I am gone burn everything down."

It was the final farewell from the Fairytale Castle where Ludwig tried to make his romantic dreams a reality, although in vein.

The journey took eight hours. Just once did Ludwig's escorts find it necessary to let their prominent prisoner leave his carriage for a short rest. At 10:30 in the morning the horses were changed in Seehaupt and at 12:30 in the afternoon the convoy had reached its destination. In Castle Berg the doors slammed shut behind Ludwig II.

"I will not survive this humility",

moaned the royal prisoner.

The Munich bureaucrats had acted quickly. Within a few hours Castle Berg had been transformed into some sort of a psychiatric lockdown. Doors and windows could only be opened from the outside. Peepholes were everywhere, allowing anyone to watch the supposedly insane patient around the clock.

From Possenhofen Castle across Lake Starnberg, Empress Elisabeth of Austria followed the events. She knew the throne robbers personally - she knew them all!

Chapter 18 - Imprisoned, Humiliated

Imprisoned, Humiliated - Ludwig Fears of Being Poisoned

Heavy rain clouds hung over Lake Starnberg. There was an irritated, even tense mood in Munich. The military and police were on heightened alert. The people were informed per public statements of the latest decisions. King Ludwig II was interdicted and dethroned and imprisoned in Castle Berg. The instigators were all but popular, hated would be a better word. How would the Bavarians react to such a power move? There was fear of revolts and rescue attempts. It was Whitsuntide Sunday, June 13 1886.

The Austrian ambassador Bruck reported to Vienna about the existing mood in Munich:

"All lower classes are in support of the king. Merchants, contractors, servants and workers express violent views against the government, particularly against the commission. They don't believe in the king's illness."

Of course it does not come to a rebellion or revolt. Although the people showed sympathy for the king, they accepted his fate. And what was the king doing? The supposedly crazy Wittelsbach royal remained calm.

The son-in-law of Dr. Gudden, Professor Hubert Grashey, had done his duty and had transformed the new permanent home of King Ludwig II into a high security facility. The room between the living room and bedrooms was converted into a room for the experienced orderlies who were under orders to keep steady watch. The dismissed monarch, who so loved his solitude, was under constant observation. All doors were equipped with peepholes. Doors could be opened from the outside, not the inside and therefore prevented the king from moving about freely.

Ludwig entered his beloved Castle Berg, now his prison, fairly composed although he was outraged about the peepholes in the doors.

I can't even bathe in privacy."

Then he inquired about the orderlies. He was especially concerned that no Prussians belonged to the staff and what religious affiliation they had.

Exhausted from the arrest and the long journey Ludwig went to bed at three o'clock in the afternoon and asked to be awakened towards midnight. Dr. Mueller, who was on duty, had a different opinion because the king was to get used to the fact that day was day and night was night. After all, the staff did not want to work around the clock.

The king kept his composure. While at Castle Berg, which had been converted into an insane asylum, there was no indication that pointed to the king's mental illness. To the orderlies amazement their prominent prisoner remained entirely calm. There were no attacks of madness, no crazy talk. Ludwig had the opportunity for the first time since his imprisonment to speak with Bernhard von Gudden, the man who had secretly declared him insane. He had a reserved and factual conversation with him and his colleagues, although Ludwig drilled them with questions. Why, he wanted to know was he never examined before the doctors declared him insane? Why, he further inquired, didn't any of the responsible physicians find it necessary to talk to him before issuing a judgement. Why, he accused, did the medical personnel declare him insane strictly based on the testimony of witnesses.

The Iron Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was one of the first who declared the interdiction proceedings as scandalous. According to his estimations Dr. Bernhard von Gudden had searched for the damaging material

"in toilets and wastepaper baskets."

The Prussian Chancellor went even further. He called the witnesses

"corrupt and bribed domestics."

In the morning of June 13 1886 Ludwig had the first detailed conversation with Dr. Gudden and then with his son-in-law Dr. Grashey, about their peculiar diagnosis.

Following this conversation, Dr. Grashey allowed himself the remark that he didn't feel the prominent patient to be hopelessly incurable. That resulted in a hefty reprimand from his boss and father-in-law Dr. Gudden.

Afterwards Ludwig expressed the wish for a walk through the Castle Park. His escort was Bernhard von Gudden who did not leave his side. But apparently the psychiatrist regarded this leisurely stroll as purely bothersome. Utterly unnerved he telegraphed to Munich in the afternoon:

"This gentleman exhausts me with all his questions",

Although the dethroned monarch made every effort to appear relaxed, he was not able to hide an inner uneasiness. Was it hysteria or did he have a concrete suspicion? He was worried about an assassination attempt. Anyway, that was documented in many protocols of conversations. His biggest fear was being poisoned.

Towards three o'clock in the afternoon Dr. Mueller arrived for an audience. He was to be Ludwig's primary physician and he delivered the following dialog:

Ludwig: You are a psychiatrist?"

Dr. Mueller: "Yes, Your Majesty."

Ludwig: "Do you like your work?"

Dr. Mueller: "With my life and soul, Majesty!"

Ludwig: "You are in the employ of my brother. How is he?"

Dr. Mueller: "There has not been any noticeable change in the last years, Majesty."

Ludwig: "Am I correct, just like you reported to me about my brother you now report
report to Prince Luitpold about me?"

Dr. Mueller: "I have not received orders to that respect."

Ludwig: "Well then write that I am not doing so well. People are glad to hear that I
am not well."

Dr. Mueller: "Majesty, I am convinced that Prince Luitpold as well as all the
Bavarian people will be happy to hear that the king is feeling better."

Ludwig: "Yes, but it is very easy to pour some kind of medicine into someone's
soup so a person never wakes up again. Are you here permanently?

Dr. Mueller: "I will share this duty with a colleague who has not yet been chosen."

Ludwig: "Well, I am sure he will find some medicine to remove me from this world
unnoticed."

Ludwig's steady fear of an attack on his life does not only show itself during this conversation. Dr. Gudden had long noticed this. He had mentioned it earlier in the day to Dr. Grashey:

"The king fears for his life, he is afraid of weapons and when excited he talks of suicide. He becomes dangerous when he gets excited and has a habit of consuming large quantities of rum and other alcoholic beverages."

It was apparent that Ludwig did not let his fear of being poisoned diminish his appetite. A few days before his death he weighed nearly 250 pounds. The beautiful sight of this slender and taut Fairytale King had long become a thing of the past. Poison or not, he definitely did not let that thought ruin his eating pleasure - although he had only four teeth in his mouth at age 41.

At 4:30 in the afternoon his servant Mauder served dinner that Ludwig apparently enjoyed. He drank half a liter of beer, two glasses May Wine, three glasses Rhine Wine and two small glasses of brandy, followed by coffee. After he finished his meal he called for Dr. Gudden to accompany him on the walk, as they had discussed around noon.

For six hours now it was known - and surely not only around Lake Starnberg - that Ludwig and Gudden would be in the castle park that evening. In six hours many telegrams could have been sent but only one is known to have been dispatched. Gudden sent it at 6:00 p.m. to President Lutz.

"Everything is going wonderfully well here."

What really was going so well? There is a large conflict between Gudden's diagnosis of insanity and this remark. The diagnosis was based on the opinion that the king was a raving maniac, had uncontrollable fits of anger, suffered from hallucinations and above all, was unable to think rationally.

This late afternoon lunch was to be Ludwig's last meal. He ate alone. Psychiatrist Gudden, security chief Washington and all other noble guards had their meal served in an aide-de-camp pavilion. Until now none of them had taken their eyes off their prisoner. Now, that Ludwig and Gudden were on an unsupervised walk they found it appropriate to withdraw from their duties. Was Ludwig's fear of a plot not so far fetched?

The dinner that was planned for 8:00 p.m. was never served. At that point in time Ludwig II was already dead.

Chapter 19 - The Death of King Ludwig II

All was well until 6:45 p.m. That was the point in time the dethroned king, together with Dr. Bernhard von Gudden, began their walk through the park while the rain was coming down. Fortified by a delicious meal, Ludwig now went on his way with Dr. Gudden to immediately commit suicide!!! Dr. Mueller had suggested for Schneller, one of the wardens, to follow from a distance but Dr. Gudden decided:

"No wardens are allowed to follow!"

Gudden insisted on being alone with Ludwig on this walk. If Ludwig had something up his sleeve he would have with certainty inquired who would be coming along on their walk - but not a word was mentioned. Dinner was planned for eight o'clock at night. When the two had not returned by that time, the park was searched. The three-armed gendarmes Georg Klier, Max Lech and Ludwig Resch, who were patrolling the park at the time of the walk, later testified they had neither seen nor heard anything.

At 8:30 the gendarmes reported:

".....that the center gate at the park was locked but fresh carriage tracks were found on the lawn leading into the direction of Munich."

These carriage tracks were never explained and were never mentioned again in the investigative reports.

Should such information be left out during an investigation into the death of the Bavarian King?

What reason existed to simply "forget" about these tracks?

Who drove to the entrance of the park and back again at the time of the king's death?

The gate in question was the main gate and it is questionable that it really was unguarded?

Who was on duty here?

Shortly before 11:00 p.m. Ludwig's and Dr. Gudden's lifeless bodies were finally found near the shore of Lake Starnberg. Ludwig's watch had stopped at 6:54 p.m., that of Dr. Gudden at 8 p.m. The king was in shirtsleeves minus his jacket, Dr. Gudden was fully dressed. Dr. Mueller made resuscitation attempts but declared the king and Dr. Gudden officially dead at the stroke of midnight.

What happened during this rainy early summer evening at Castle Berg and the shores of Lake Starnberg remains one of the biggest mysteries in Bavarian history and to this day is cause for the wildest speculations. Apparently several horse carriages that were to be used as escape vehicles, were seen in Leoni, Ambach and Seehaupt.

Was the Austrian Empress Sissi, who was staying in Feldafing across the lake at the time, possibly involved in an escape attempt? After all, Sissi belonged to the few people Ludwig trusted blindly. Although they never had a love romance, they both had a deep bond. They were soul mates. Was the Viennese Empress a collaborator?

Although it has never been confirmed, it is not completely out of the question that Sissi took part in a planned rescue attempt, one that failed of course. Following Ludwig's mysterious death, the Empress had no doubt the Bavarian King was the victim of a murder plot.

Chapter 20 - A Walk without Return

A Walk without Return - The Mystery of the 195 Minutes

How did the Fairytale King really die? There is no definite answer and it is therefore not surprising that speculations run wild. Everything that happened in and around Castle Berg on this Whitsuntide Sunday in 1886, was mysterious. Much was hushed up, feeding of course the rumor mill.

In question is a time period of 195 Minutes. What really happened during that time? For 117 years serious historians and fanatic King Ludwig fans, criminologists and monarchs, filmmakers and musical composers, have tried to answer this question. Today only one thing is for certain. The death of Bavaria's Fairytale King will forever remain a mystery. Much of the conflicting information has come from known documents and does not establish concrete evidence. Ludwig II died the same way he lived - shrouded in secrecy. That weakens the evidence but strengthens the myth.

The fact remains in spite of the rainy weather the imprisoned King Ludwig II insisted on walking through the castle grounds on June 13 1886 at 6:45 p.m., along with his psychiatrist Bernhard von Gudden. An attendant who was to follow from a distance was sent back by von Gudden with the harsh remark:

"I don't want any attendants to follow."

Because of the cool weather both men wore coats and each carried an umbrella. Ludwig and his doctor took the direct path leading to the lakeshore. Dinner was to be served at 8:00 p.m., which was the latest the men were expected back.

Shortly after 8:00 o'clock Dr. Franz Mueller, who had been appointed the king's physician, became concerned. He had the gendarmes search the park - without results. Now the doctor, together with the castle manager Leonhard Huber, began a personal search and finally the entire household was alarmed and equipped with lanterns. The entire park was searched during heavy rains - again without results.

Suddenly the first clue appeared. The king's coat was seen floating in the lake, very close to shore. Shortly thereafter his umbrella and his hat were discovered in the water. A little later the search team came upon Gudden's hat and umbrella.

It was then that Dr. Franz Mueller decided to search the lake. The fisherman Jakob Lidl was requested to make his boat available for the search. In the meanwhile it was 11:00 p.m. and pitch dark. Before long they came upon a ghostly scene. The king's body was floating on top of the lake, his face in the water. The body of Gudden was found a few meters away. Doctor Mueller began resuscitation attempts, massaging the king's chest. Help had come too late. At the midnight he declared Ludwig II, King of Bavaria, dead.

What happened during the 195 minutes between the time that they began their walk and the discovery of the bodies?

The official version, issued by the government and the court, was quickly formulated. It was announced that the king entered the lake with the intent to commit suicide. When the slightly build psychiatrist Gudden stepped in to prevent this, a fight broke out between the two in the water, during which the doctor died. Afterwards Ludwig threw himself into 12 degree Celsius water and drowned.

To convince everyone of this theory the entire court personnel was put under oath. All witnesses to the horrible event of this night were sworn to unconditional secrecy. The gendarmes were immediately transferred to Northern Bavaria. The goal of these precautionary measures was so no immediate assumptions would be made. Of course that goal was never accomplished. The speculations began at once, grew wilder and blossomed. Ludwig became a cultural figure.

Four court commissioners from Starnberg attended the first post-mortem examination under the leadership of Chief of the Court Judge Jehle. No injuries indicating a struggle were found on the dead King Ludwig. However, on the Gudden's face scratch wounds were found above the right eye and a contusion on his forehead. A fingernail was torn off. Historians ask why the king was uninjured in spite of the fact that he supposedly had been involved in a struggle with his psychologist?

Peculiar as well is the fact that hours went by after the first official inquest, before choke marks were discovered on the throat of Bernhard von Gudden. They were not noted by the physicians but by the Prussian secretary to the ambassador, Philipp Count Eulenberg, who had arrived at Castle Berg during the night. Were these choke marks administered to the dead Gudden at a later time only to strengthen the fight theory?

Massive doubts of the official version always arise when it concerns the comparison of Gudden's and Ludwig's watches. Ludwig's chronometer stopped at exactly 6:54 p.m., nine minutes after beginning his evening walk. The hands of Dr. Gudden's watch stood at 8:00 o'clock when his body was recovered. More than one hour separates the death of the two men, providing the watches kept correct time. How could the monarch have killed his doctor at 8:00 p.m. if he had been already dead for an hour?

The carriage tracks are part of this unsolved mystery as well. They were discovered by the gate of the park and were leading into the direction of Munich. Security Chief Baron von Washington had these tracks examined during the night but was unable to explain them. Two possibilities were offered. Either the carriage neared the gate to assist Ludwig in an escape attempt or the vehicle brought the killer to assassinate the king.

Had the monarch entertained the thought of escape shortly before his death, to flee from his prison? This speculation can not be discarded. The historian Ludwig Huettl tells us:

"At 2:30 in the afternoon Chief of Staff Friedrich Zanders was summoned by Ludwig. He had promised Gudden not to talk to the king of any possible escape attempt and not to cause him hope for an escape."

This staff member later testified that the appearance and misdemeanor of the supposedly mentally ill king surprised him just a few hours before the tragedy. He reported that Ludwig was energetic and lively as in his best days.
Is this the behavior of a mad man who has decided to commit suicide in the lake? Hardly! The suicide theory can be questioned, especially since neither the government nor the court saw it fit to have the exact cause of death of the Bavarian King examined by an independent commission.

Chapter 21 - How Did King Ludwig II Die?

Ludwig's body was transferred to Munich. 1-1/2 days following the night of his death the autopsy took place.

No significant injuries were found on the king's body, except a small skin scrape above the right knee and a small abrasion above the left knee. No other injuries were determined that could have pointed to a physical altercation.

The medical examiners also reported negative findings on the king's hands and fingers. The overcoat and jacket the king had worn were undamaged. Neither body nor clothing showed any signs of a fight.

Dr. Gudden's body was checked only for appearance but not dissected (!). Several scratch marks were found on his forehead and nose. The nail on his right ring finger was halfway torn off. A large black and blue mark was found above his right eye, as well as blue spots assumed to be finger marks, on his throat.

Where or on whom did Dr. Gudden tear off his fingernail? No significant injuries were found on Ludwig's body or his clothing. This question was apparently just as trivial as the examination of the carriage tracks that were never examined or kept silent about!

In the morning, two Superior Court judges traced the tracks in the lake and confirmed footsteps that could only have come from two people who were walking side by side. This hot evidence was never compared with Ludwig's or Gudden's shoes, nor did the thought occur to anyone that all night long dozens of gendarmes and search teams had trampled along the shore. Or did the Superior Court judges want to establish a false trail?

What do the medical examiners have to say regarding Ludwig's autopsy findings? Prime evidence in a drowning death is the "ballooning" of the lungs, a characteristic inflation. This is caused by a cramp in the bronchial tubes caused by the water that is entering. The lungs don't deflate after death as is the case of other death causes, but they remain inflated.

No ballooning of the lungs was found during the autopsy on Ludwig's body and the findings of the chest cavity conflicted with the classical picture of a drowning death. The ballooning could only be altered during lengthy recovery efforts. Although such efforts were made on the king, there are no conclusive testimonies about the intensity and length. All reports about this are tainted by the parody of the event itself.

Although from a medical standpoint death by drowning seemed unrealistic, exactly that was proclaimed the official cause of death: "Death by Drowning". Demands continue to be heard to open the casket.

However, the actual request should be:

"Open the archives!"

Certainly more was recorded and examined than what can be learned from the documents that were made public. Certainly more witnesses were questioned than what was reported. Certainly more evidence was wiped out than secured and of course the remaining time before the end of the monarchy in Bavaria was busily used to destroy all documents that did not fit into the official version of the cause of Ludwig's death.
Anyone pointing out the gaps in the archives receives the answer:

"Destroyed during the Second World War."

So the hope to someday able to read more conclusive source materials will most likely forever remain a dream.

I ask myself the question:

"Who benefits from the death of King Ludwig II?"

A career politician of Minister President Lutz' caliber, who in order to solve his financial