Ludwig II (Louis II;Louis II. Britannia;Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; ; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886),At 00.28 hours: J.G. Wolf 1922, p. 16. Compare Ludwig's remark to Anton Niggl on 11/12 June 1886 about being born and going to die at 12.30 (Hacker 1966, p. 363 quoting Gerold 1914, pp. 91–93) also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886.
He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia and Duke in Swabia. Outside Germany, he is at times called "the Mad King" or Mad King Ludwig.
Ludwig ascended to the throne in 1864 at the age of 18. Two years later, Bavaria and its allies were defeated in the Austro-Prussian War. Despite his desire to preserve Bavaria's independence, the kingdom came under Prussian hegemony and joined the German Empire upon the unification of Germany in 1871. Ludwig increasingly withdrew from day-to-day affairs of state in favour of extravagant artistic and architectural projects. He commissioned the construction of lavish palaces: Neuschwanstein Castle, Linderhof Palace, and Herrenchiemsee. He was also a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner. Ludwig spent all his own private royal revenues (although not state funds as is commonly thought) on these projects, borrowed extensively, and defied all attempts by his ministers to restrain him. This extravagance was used against him to declare him insane, a determination that is now questioned.
Ludwig was taken into custody and effectively deposed on 12 June 1886; he and his doctor were found dead the following day. His death was ruled to be a suicide, a conclusion that is also now questioned. Today, his architectural and artistic legacy includes many of Bavaria's most important tourist attractions.
Early life
Born at Nymphenburg Palace, which is located in what is today part of central Munich, he was the elder son of Maximilian II of Bavaria and Marie of Prussia, Crown Prince and Princess of Bavaria, who became King and Queen in 1848 after the abdication of the former's father, Ludwig I, during the German revolution of 1848–1849.
His parents intended to name him Otto, but his grandfather insisted that his grandson be named after him, since their common birthday, 25 August, is the feast day of Saint Louis IX of France, patron saint of Bavaria (with Ludwig being the German form of Louis). In the early years, the family lived in the Wittelsbacher Palais in Munich, but after the father's accession to the throne in 1848, they moved to the Munich Residence.
Like many young heirs in an age when kings governed most of Europe, Ludwig was continually reminded of his royal status. King Maximilian II wanted to instruct both of his sons in the burdens of royal duty from an early age. Ludwig was both extremely indulged and severely controlled by his tutors and subjected to a strict regimen of study and exercise. Some point to the stresses of growing up in a royal family as cause for much of his odd behaviour as an adult.
Ludwig was not close to either of his parents. King Maximilian envisioned a strict upbringing that also included punishment and chastisement. When his advisers suggested that on his daily walks the King might like, at times, to be accompanied by his future successor, the King replied, "But what am I to say to him? After all, my son takes no interest in what other people tell him." The frosty father-son relationship was mutual; Ludwig later wrote, as a 30-year-old, to Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary: "My father always treated me de haut en bas [from above], at most deigning to offer some gracious cold words en passant."Strenge Zucht und gnädig kalte Worte, 2 February 2011, Süddeutsche Zeitung
Marie, a Prussian princess by birth, unlike Ludwig, later welcomed the Proclamation of the German Empire in 1871, which was to be ruled by her cousin Emperor Wilhelm I in 1871. Her aversion to Richard Wagner had already alienated her from her son. She also found his friendship with the actress Lilla von Bulyovsky inappropriate. Unlike Ludwig, however, Marie was very sociable, and her lively chatter displeased him. After his accession to the throne, he increasingly avoided her and even referred to her as "my predecessor's consort." He was far closer to his grandfather, the deposed and notorious King Ludwig I.
Nevertheless, Ludwig's childhood years did have happy moments. The family spent their vacations and many public holidays at Hohenschwangau Castle, a late medieval building near the (Alp Lake), which his father had transformed into a historicist fantasy castle. It was decorated in the Gothic Revival style with many frescoes depicting heroic German sagas, most notably images of Lohengrin, the Knight of the Swans. There, the mother and her sons undertook extensive mountain hikes while his father went hunting, something Ludwig never showed any interest in. The family also visited Lake Starnberg (then called Lake Würm) where they owned Berg Palace, a comparatively small hunting lodge from the Renaissance period, which - also remodeled in a historicist style - became one of Ludwig's favorite summer residences (and later the place of his death). When he was 16 years old, he attended the 1862 Fairytale Maskenfest, a costume ball themed around German fairytales.
As an adolescent, Ludwig began a friendship with his aide de camp, Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis, a member of the wealthy Bavarian Thurn und Taxis family. The two young men rode together, read poetry aloud, and staged scenes from the Romantic operas of Richard Wagner. The friendship ended when Paul became engaged to a commoner in 1868. During his youth, Ludwig also initiated a lifelong friendship with his similarly eccentric cousin Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria, the later empress of Austria and queen of Hungary.
Early reign
Crown Prince Ludwig was in his 19th year when his father died after a three-day illness, and he ascended the Bavarian throne. The new king was seen in public for the first time at Maximilian's funeral on March 14. At , Ludwig was exceptionally tall, especially for the time. Although he was not prepared for high office, his youth and brooding good looks made him popular in Bavaria and elsewhere. He continued the state policies of his father and retained his ministers. His real interests were in art, music, and architecture. One of the first acts of his reign, a few months after his accession, was to summon the composer Richard Wagner to his court. Also in 1864, he laid the foundation stone of a new Court Theatre, now the (Gärtnerplatz-Theater).
Ludwig's personality was at odds with serving as a head of state. He disliked large public functions and avoided formal social events whenever possible, preferring a life of seclusion that he pursued with various creative projects. After making regular public appearances and traveling the country for official visits in his early years, he later increasingly withdrew to his castles in the countryside, which, however, did not lessen his popularity among the populace. He last inspected a military parade on 22 August 1875 and last gave a court banquet on 10 February 1876.
His mother had foreseen difficulties for Ludwig when she recorded her concern for her introverted and creative son. He rarely visited his mother at Nymphenburg Palace anymore and only travelled to Hohenschwangau Castle when she was absent. He also increasingly avoided contact with other relatives, such as his first cousin Ludwig (the future King Ludwig III), who was half a year older, as he felt their boisterous manner within the family was not subservient or respectful enough. However, he retained a loving and caring affection for his younger brother Otto, who was suffering from increasing mental illness. But even after his withdrawal from public appearances, the king enjoyed traveling in the Bavarian countryside and chatting with farmers and labourers he met along the way. He also delighted in rewarding those who were hospitable to him during his travels with lavish gifts. He is still remembered in Bavaria as ("Our Cherished King" in the Bavarian dialect).
Austro-Prussian and Franco-Prussian Wars Unification with Prussia took center stage from 1866. In the Austro-Prussian War, which began in August, Ludwig's government supported the Austrian Empire against Prussia. Initially, the king had wanted to remain neutral and keep his country out of the direct fighting. However, Austria insisted on adherence to the alliance obligations agreed upon within the German Confederation. Austria and Bavaria were defeated, and the Kingdom of Bavaria was forced to sign a mutual defence treaty with Prussia. Ludwig, who had little interest in military matters since childhood, left war policy to his ministers, withdrawing from public life with his friend and aide-de-camp Paul von Thurn und Taxis to Berg Palace and Rose Island in Lake Starnberg. The leadership of the country effectively passed to the Council of Ministers.Sylvia Alphéus and Lothar Jegensdorf, „Im Schatten des Krieges“ (In the shadow of the war), chapter 6, p. 127–145, provide a source-based account of Ludwig's behavior during the Austro-Prussian War. At the end of 1866, Prime Minister Karl Ludwig von der Pfordten was replaced by Chlodwig, Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, who, while supporting Prussia's claim to hegemony in German politics, rejected Bavaria's accession to the new federal state, the North German Confederation.
When the Franco-Prussian War broke out in 1870, Bavaria was required to fight alongside Prussia. After the Prussian victory over the Second French Empire, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck moved to complete the unification of Germany. In November 1870, Bavaria joined the North German Confederation, thus losing its status as an independent kingdom; however, the Bavarian delegation under Minister President, Count Otto von Bray-Steinburg, secured privileged status for Bavaria within the empire (). Bavaria retained its own diplomatic corps and the Bavarian Army, which would come under Prussian command only in times of war.
In December 1870, Bismarck used financial concessions to induce Ludwig, with the support of the king's equerry, Maximilian Count von Holnstein, to write the , a letter endorsing the creation of the German Empire with King Wilhelm I of Prussia as Emperor. Nevertheless, Ludwig regretted Bavaria's loss of independence and refused to attend Wilhelm's 18 January proclamation as German Emperor in the Palace of Versailles. Ludwig's brother Prince Otto and his uncle Luitpold went instead.
In the Constitution of the German Empire, Bavaria was able to secure for itself extensive rights, in particular regarding military sovereignty. Not only did the Royal Bavarian Army retain, like the kingdoms of Saxony and Württemberg, its own troops, war ministry, and military justice system but was excluded from the empire-wide regimental renumbering of the army regiments and would only come under imperial control in times of war. Bavaria also kept its light-blue infantry uniforms, the Raupenhelm (until 1886), the light cavalry, and some other peculiarities. The officers and men of the Bavarian Army continued to swear their oaths to the King of Bavaria and not the German Emperor. Nevertheless, the uniform cut, equipment, and training was standardised to the Prussian model. When field-grey uniforms were introduced, only the cockade and a blue-and-white lozenge edging to the collar distinguished Bavarian units. Nevertheless, the king felt his sovereignty was diminished by the fact that an emperor now stood above him. He always made him feel it. When Wilhelm I passed through Munich on his return from a private trip, Ludwig forbade his mother from receiving her cousin at Nymphenburg, on the grounds that the royal family was not obliged to do so, as it was not a state visit.