"Ludvig II of Bavaria - the "mad" king of swans" Top 5 Page for this destination Schloß Hohenschwangau Travelogue by codrutz

The Bavarian royal line is best known for Mad King Ludwig who built his fairy-tale castle in the Bavarian mountains during the 19th Century. Oddly enough, the romantic, whimsical castles built by King Ludwig II are today the country's most recognizable attraction. Ludwig was eventually declared insane and removed from office. His brother, Otto, also being insane, Prince Luitpold acted as regent. The princes were no doubt affected by a terribly repressive childhood at the hands of their strict father and his strange ideas about child rearing.

Ludwig was officially born August 25, 1845. He was actually born an hour earlier, on Sunday 24 August at 11.30 pm. The birth was kept secret for an hour. The reason for this was that Ludwig's grandfather, the reigning King Ludwig I, was also in Nymphenburg Castle at the time of the birth. It was his dearest wish that the child should be born on his own birthday, August 25. As Prince Ludwig arrived an hour early, they decided to wait an hour before announcing the birth, to fulfill his grandfather's wish.

King Ludwig I's eldest son acceded to the throne in 1864 upon the death of his father. Known as the "fairy tale king" Ludwig II built some of Bavaria's most-visited tourist attractions such as Neuschwanstein castle and Herrenchiemsee palace. Neuschwansteinis situated in the majestic mountains of the Allgau region of Bavaria. It is so beautiful that inspired Disney's famous Cinderella castle. Schwan, a term common to both castles, literally means swan and was favored by Ludwig as a symbol of purity. The birds played an important role in Richard Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" the operat that so enchanted Luwig as a teenager. Later, King Ludwig II, who developed a passion for art and music, developed a relationship with the composer/writer that helped to inspire d him to create his own imaginary world. His contruction projects ran up enormous debts and he had plans for even more building. The Government thought Ludwig was irresponsible and eccentric.

As a baby he was not suckled by his mother, but, as was the rule in European royal families of the time, by his wet-nurse. Over the years there were many rumours about this nurse; for example, she was said to have had syphilis and, through breast-feeding, to have infected the young Prince Ludwig. However, these rumours seem all to have been unsubstantiated and groundless.

There is only a basis for such rumours, if one accepts that King Ludwig became mentally ill. But there is no longer any real reason to believe this. Ludwig's mother not only denied the child her breast but also the heartfelt love that is so important for an infant. From a very early age Ludwig suffered from his mother's coldness and lack of love. Later he was to describe his royal mother, with whom he always behaved very correctly, as a selfish, opportunistic, materialistic and pleasure-seeking woman, whom he did his best to avoid as much as possible. He always kept himself well informed of his mother's whereabouts, so that he could arrange not to meet her.

Ludwig came to have little regard for his mother. As a young man, he did not even acknowledge her conversion from the protestant to the Roman Catholic faith, which she underwent in the church at Waltenhofen. He saw it only as a sign of her inconstancy and opportunism, which led her to adopt the religion of the majority in catholic Bavaria. His relationship with his mother remained a serious problem throughout his life and caused in him a strong mistrust of all things female, despite the fact that these were precisely what he yearned for.

Evidence of her own lovelessness was her aversion to the very word "love". At a symposium organised by Maximilian II in his study at the royal residence, at which the intellectuals of Munich showed off their learning and exchanged profound thoughts over beer and cigars, Queen Marie (who seems to have been there by accident) made the proposal that in future the word "love" should be replaced by "friendship" in all poetry.

This spiritually barren mother is described thus by Paul Heyse: "Despite tremendous efforts, it has proved impossible to interest the queen in literature and poetry. She is only happy with the most trivial chatter" To one woman Marie said quite frankly: "I never read a book and cannot understand how anyone can just sit down and read." When Ludwig was 6 years old, Queen Marie wrote the following lines about her son in her diary: "From an early age Ludwig has been fascinated by art; he loves building, especially churches, monasteries and the like."

The increasingly eratic 21-year-old Ludwig in 1867 surprised nearly everyone in Bavaria, including his family, when he announced his enggement to Princess Sophie, the younger sister of his cousin and longtime friend Emperess Elisabeth, wife of Austrin Emperor Franz Joseph. The Empress, a cousin and life-long friend, knew the King well. She was critical of the officials that deposed him. "The king was not mad," she said, "he was just an eccentric living in a world of dreams." He was, however, during the engagement showing signs of mental instability. As so often in his adult lif, there were problems with his spending. He is reported to hav spent more than a million gulden in the construction of a lavish wedding coach. He then apparently had second thouhts and asked his doctor for a certificate declaring himself unfit to marry. He also apparently told an official that he would drown himself before going through with the marriage. He seems to have amused himself by sitting before a mirror making faces at himself and declaring: "At times, I would not swear that I am not mad." He postponed the wedding date several times until, in October, he finally canceled it.

Bavaria had been a leader among the German states opposing unification. It was King Ludwig II, however, that after the Franco Prussian War (1870-71) invited King Wilhelm I of Prussia to become emperor (kaiser) of a new united German Empire. Ludwig was put under great pressure to do this. For Bismarck the protracted negotiations with Bavaria and the other German principalities drove him to distraction. [Ludwig, pp. 388-389.] Despite his Prussian ancestors, Ludwig disliked the Prussians and Prussian militarism. The German Empire ended Bavarian sovereignty. The liberal Bavarian kingdom was thus involved in the much more conservative Empire dominated by Prussia.

Ludwig was forced to abdicate the throne. This was of some concern to Chancellor Bismark as Bavaria was part of the German Empire. He drowned, along with his doctor, in Lake Starnberg. The circumstances of his death are not known. Many commentators assume that Prince Luitpold instigated the conspiracy to declare Ludwig and Otto insane. The view is that Prince Luitpold usurpered the Bavarian Crown. Others argue that nothing could be further from the truth. The Prince in fact waited and considered matters for nearly 3 months before accepting the advise of Prime Minister Lutz and the Cabinet to force Ludwig to abdicate.