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Ludwig II of Bavaria: the fairy-tale King
Ludwig II of Bavaria, crowned at eighteen, was a king out of his time: he loved art, Wagner’s music, and fairytale castles, despising war and politics. Humiliated by Bavaria’s loss of independence to Prussia, he retreated into a fantasy world, building three monuments to illusion, Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, and Herrenchiemsee, which drove him to the brink of bankruptcy. He never married, lived in solitude, eating alone thanks to mechanical tables. His ministers declared him “insane” and deposed him. The day after his imprisonment, Ludwig and his psychiatrist were found dead in Lake Starnberg under unresolved circumstances. Today he is celebrated as the “Fairy-tale King”, and his castles, open to the public, attract millions of visitors, even inspiring Walt Disney.
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