June 13, 2011 marks the 125th anniversary of the death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, a death declared suicide by drowning – a verdict hard to support when no water was found in his lungs, according to the University of Cambridge, which has recently acquired the catalogue of a state exhibition held at Herrenchiemsee to commemorate his death. At the request of the royal Wittelsbach family, Ludwig’s sarcophagus may not be opened, and thus, modern forensic technology cannot be applied to solve the mystery and remove the suspicion of murder that surrounds his death. Nevertheless, there is no disputing the facts that Ludwig’s extravagant castle-building bankrupted the Bavarian state, that the government deposed him, declared him insane, placed him in the care of a psychiatrist and that both men were found dead in Lake Starnberg the following day.
The Fairy Tale King
Ludwig was sometimes referred to as the Fairytale king, a title better worn by his father Maximilian, who was very taken with fairy tales and even invited Hans Christian Andersen to visit his castle. Ludwig’s obsession was the world of heroic legend which has inspired Wagner’s operas. He came from a line of eccentrics who loved display, and who tried to influence the arts and contemporary culture. His grandfather, Ludwig I, apart from being a notorious lover of beautiful women, was a lover of classical Greece and the German Middle Ages. He used these themes to inspire his buildings and administrative direction.
Ludwig II clearly saw, from his forebear’s example, that eccentricity and castle-building were the symbols (and joys) of kingship. He embarked on ‘overseas research’ visiting royal palaces. He was taken on a tour of ruined castles in Britain by an architect. His choice of a stage set designer to draw up initial ‘plans’ of his castles shows the overall direction his concepts would take. His castles were not utilitarian: they were display pieces, not only for spectacle but for ‘modern’ gadgetry. Thus, the deliberately medieval Neuschwanstein had lifts, telephones and electric bells to summon servants.
Ludwig II and his Castles
Neuschwanstein is famous, but only one of his projects: he also extended the Royal Residence in Munich with an extensive winter garden on the roof which featured a lake; he built the Rococo-style Linderhof Catle not far from Neuschwanstein; he bought the island in the middle of the Chiemsee, where he built a Versailles look-alike; and he had purchased a site for another building endeavour, Falkenstein, when his money… and luck… ran out.
In theory, Ludwig built his castles with his own funds: in practice, he quickly ran into debt, bankrupted the Bavarian government and demanded that they solve his problems by borrowing heavily from other royal families. As well, Ludwig refused to address matters of state and buried himself in private pursuits. He became an embarrassment.
Deposition of Ludwig II of Bavaria
The Bavarian government’s solution was to find a constitutional means to depose him. They decided to declare him insane, put together a body of ‘evidence’ gleaned mainly from servants, and persuaded a panel of four psychiatrists to sign a document stating that he was incurably insane and unfit to rule. Three of the four had never met him and none of them actually examined him. In 1886, at 4 a.m. on June 12, King Ludwig was forcibly removed from Neuschwanstein and taken to Berg Palace on the shores of Lake Starnberg, where he was placed in the care of Dr Berhard von Gudden, chief of the Munich asylum.
Death of Mad King Ludwig – Suicide or Murder?
It is highly questionable whether Ludwig was truly insane; similarly, his alleged suicide, after murdering Dr Gudden, is difficult to believe. It is claimed that the day after his removal to Castle Berg, he asked Dr Gudden to accompany him on a walk in the castle grounds at 6 p.m. Staff went searching for them when they had not returned two hours later and, at 11:30 p.m., both men were found floating in the lake. According to Catarina Von Burg, the autopsy revealed no water in Ludwig’s lungs (a strange drowning!) and revealed that Dr Gudden was strangled. The claim is made that no wounds (for example bullet holes) appeared on the bodies.
There are many rumours, unverifiable statements (such as that reported by von Burg of his boatman who claimed to have seen the King shot as he tried to escape to a boat), accounts of contemporary suspicions, and much resistance from the Wittelsbach family to an opening of the casket or release of private documents. It can only be said that a dead king could raise less popular sympathy and resentment than one locked away in a castle.
Amazingly, after a profound show of respect for the dead king and a state funeral, his castles were thrown open to the paying public within three months of his death. They proved to be excellent money-makers for the state.
SOURCES:
Von Burg, Katarina, Ludwig II of Bavaria, Royal Books, 1989.
Cambridge University Library: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/german/spotlight4.html [accessed November 28, 2011]
Neuschwanstein: www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/ludwig/biography.htm [accessed November 28, 2011
Hohenschwangau: http://www.hohenschwangau.de/453.0.html [accessed November 28, 2011
