Above all, Ludwig II set himself a monument as a passionate builder of the palace; he is popularly referred to as the fairy tale king.
His life
Ludwig II. Otto Friedrich Wilhelm of Bavaria was born on August 25, 1845 at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich Born as the eldest son of Crown Prince Maximilian and Crown Princess Marie Friederike.
He spent his childhood and youth mainly at Hohenschwangau Castle.
He spent the summer holidays between 1853 and 1863 in the Royal Villa in Berchtesgaden.
On March 10, 1864, at the age of 18, Ludwig was proclaimed King of Bavaria as Ludwig II.
Ludwig became engaged to Sophie in Bavaria on January 22, 1867, daughter of Duke Max in Bavaria and younger sister of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. However, he was never married.
His drive to Bayreuth at the dress rehearsal of the Festival in 1876 was his last halfway public appearance.
On June 10, 1886 he was incapacitated, after his incapacitation his uncle Luitpold took over the business of government as Prince Regent. Ludwig II died on June 13, 1886 in Würmsee, today's starnberger Lake, at Schloss Berg under mysterious circumstances.
Buildings
Throughout his life, Ludwig II mourned the epoch of the "Sun King" Louis XIV in absolutist France.
The palace buildings of Ludwig II can then be seen against the background that Bavaria was a constitutional monarchy at the time with severely restricted rights of the king and had lost its independence through the establishment of the German Empire in 1871 under the Prussian hegemony. Ludwig is considered a monarch in a wrong epoch.
The king ascended the Bavarian throne in 1864 at the age of 18, with no experience of life or politics, and faced a government and an apparatus of officials whose dealings he was unable to see through or even control.
Ludwig II did not face this political reality of limited powers, but created an idealistically transfigured fantasy world with his fairy tale castles and created his own worldview based on absolutism, accompanied by an increasing loss of reality and personal isolation.
Richard Wagner is the only real friend of the older Ludwig, they met for the first time in 1864, the year he ascended the throne: Ludwig II was an admirer of Wagner and his generous patron, Wagner was a dream come true for Ludwig, a fatherly friend and advisor.
The money for the buildings came from the king's private treasury, which was initially generously replenished by the Bavarian government up to the limit of state bankruptcy. In return, the king then signed the Bavarian laws without having any direct influence on government affairs, the government officials had a free hand. The Bavarian government for its part received funds from the Prussian Empire, Bismarck thus bought the Bavarian state to keep quiet in the young German Empire and made the Bavarian kingdom dependent.
Herrenchiemsee Castle
The island of Herrenchiemsee is located in Chiemsee. On you you will find the Herrenchiemsee Castle and the attached castle park, the most famous attraction of the Chiemgau region.
The palace was built at the instigation of the young Ludwig II from 1878 onwards as a monument to an absolute rulership idea and based on Versailles, it was the most expensive of his buildings. Ludwig didn't like the castle then, he only spent a few days here, the castle building has not yet been fully completed.
Royal House on Schachen
On the Schachen-Alpe on the north side of the Wetterstein King Ludwig II had a mountain villa built for personal use and a farm building for his servants at an altitude of almost 2000 m.
The mountain villa was extremely popular with Ludwig, he regularly celebrated his birthday and name day here on August 25th. the Ludwigfeuer lighted.
Neuschwanstein Castle
The lock is included Schwangau in the Ammer Mountains near Feet and is certainly Ludwig's most famous palace.
The foundation stone was laid on September 5, 1869, and it was built in the years 1869-1880 as the "New Castle" based on the architecture of the Wartburg in Eisenach, which had just been rebuilt at the time, with motifs based on designs by the Munich theater painter Christian Jank. In 1884 the main hall in the palace was completed as the first habitable part, it was intended by Ludwig as a preferred residence.
The interior and exterior of the palace, which was elaborately designed, brought Ludwig's finances, and consequently those of the Bavarian state treasury, to the brink of ruin. From 1885, foreign banks threatened Ludwig with seizure.
Linderhof Palace
Linderhof Palace is one of the smaller Bavarian royal palaces. It is in the Ammer Mountains approx. 15 km west of Oberammergau.
Linderhof Palace was built in the years 1872-1878 in the Rococo style as a "Royal Villa" after the originally planned representative palace complex was implemented in Herrenchiemsee based on the Versailles model.
Linderhof Palace was the only one of Ludwig's palaces that he actually lived in as a place of retreat and seclusion and that he used himself constantly. The surroundings of the palace park contain the king's private collection with kiosks and huts. Ludwig had decreed that the castle, as the most important part of his private area, should be blown up after his death; today's development as a destination for mass tourism for visitors from all over the world is not in his favor.
Falkenstein Castle
Ludwig's last big dream for Falkenstein Castle at the ruins of Falkenstein Castle Pfronten was never realized.
Stations
Nymphenburg Castle
The future King Ludwig II was born as Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm of Bavaria on August 25, 1845 at Nymphenburg Palace in Munich - Neuhausen born.
The Nymphenburg Castle is considered one of the most beautiful castles in the world and belongs together with the Nymphenburg Palace Park to the most famous sights of Germany. The castle is also worth seeing Amalienburg, the beauty gallery of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and the porcelain factory Nymphenburg, which can only be visited after prior written registration. On the north side of the castle park is the Botanic Garden.
Castle Hohenschwangau
The lock is included Schwangau in the immediate vicinity of the castle Neuschwanstein. It was bought by King Maximilian II, when he was still crown prince, as a ruin of an old castle and rebuilt. Most of the furnishings date from this period. The palace served the royal family as a summer residence and was Ludwig II's nursery. There is a combined ticket for visiting both palaces in one day.
Royal villa in Berchtesgaden
The Royal Villa is in Berchtesgaden and west of the market center, on Kälbersteinstrasse above Luitpoldpark, it was built under King Maximilian II as a summer residence and completed in 1853, Ludwig II often stayed here as a teenager. However, as early as 1857, after an incident in the park, Ludwig II developed a strong aversion to Berchtesgaden, so that after his father's death (1864) he did not visit the villa for a long time.
King Ludwig II memorial in Mountain on Lake Starnberg
King Ludwig II died on June 13, 1886 in Lake Starnberg at the castle park in Berg under circumstances that have not yet been clarified.
June 9th: Ludwig II is due to an insane doctor Dr. Bernhard from Gudden Werneck prepared report as “mentally disturbed” and “incurable” mentally incapacitated and declared incapable of government. The doctor has never seen or examined the king at this point.
the 10th of June: Prince Luitpold of Bavaria takes over the reign.
June 12: Ludwig II is captured in Neuschwanstein Castle and then interned in Berg Castle.
June 13th (Pentecost Sunday): The king finds his death in Lake Starnberg under circumstances that have not yet been clarified: Around 6.45 p.m. the king and Dr. Gudden opened the castle for one last Sunday stroll towards the lake, this time Gudden strictly forbade the keepers to go along. When the two have still not returned to the castle at around 8 p.m., all available gendarmes and men with lamps and torches are sent out to search. Around 11 p.m. the corpses of Ludwig, who was known to be a very good swimmer, and that of the doctor were found floating about 20 meters from the bank in the shallow and less than a meter deep water.
June 19: Burial of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in the Munich crypt Michael's Church, according to the tradition of the House of Wittelsbach, his heart is placed in an urn in the chapel of grace in Altoetting kept.The myth about King Ludwig II was already formed during the lifetime of today's psychiatrists as unworldly, but not insane esteemed monarchs. "I want to remain an eternal mystery to myself and others", Ludwig once wrote to his governess. There are numerous rumors about the circumstances of death, which have not yet been clarified, ranging from an attempt to escape to the shooting of the king.
One of the arguments for a hidden fatal gunshot wound, for example, is the fact that Pastor Michael Beck was not allowed to turn the king around during the anointing of the dead.
To commemorate the king's mysterious death, a cross was placed in the water at the spot in the lake where the king's body was found. The water here is quite shallow in the entire bank area and not deeper than a meter.
On the rather steep lakeshore there is the Votive Chapel. The foundation stone was laid at the instigation of Prince Regent Luitpold exactly ten years after the unfortunate events. The memorial chapel was designed as a domed structure in the early Romanesque style according to plans by court chief architect Julius Hofmann and inaugurated after four years of construction.
Every year, the chapel is the meeting place for the "loyal to the king" who gather for a memorial service in the votive chapel on the day the king died.
In front of the portal of the votive chapel, the staircase leads to the Gothic death lamp, it was erected by Queen Marie in 1887.
 Votive Chapel |  Death lamp and lake with cross |
Resting places
King Ludwig II of Bavaria rests in the Munich crypt Michael's Church (Pedestrian zone). The princely crypt under the choir is the final resting place for 41 members of the Wittelsbach family.
According to the tradition of the House of Wittelsbach, his heart is placed in an urn made of gold-plated silver in the Chapel of Grace in Altoetting kept.
Hiking trails
King Ludwig was also a lover of the mountains. But a king doesn't walk, at least not great distances. In the king’s territory there are several routes which, at Ludwig’s instigation, open up particularly promising mountain peaks as carriage or at least horse-friendly routes. There are also some other pure hiking routes that have been safely documented as Ludwig's historical hike.
Hiking in the original footsteps of the fairy tale king is easy on these routes and the peaks are always easy to reach.
- Ducal estate: The first summit pavilion on the panoramic foothills of the Alps in the Walchensee Mountains was built at the instigation of Ludwig. The ascent runs roughly along the ascent route from the Kesselbergsattel. The "driving route" of Ludwig is in places still clearly recognizable as a flatter and more winding route at the steep places.
- Upper Soiernhaus (1,562 m) in the Soiernkessel am Soiernsee in the Soierngruppe (Karwendel):
- In 1866 it was built by the master carpenter Schwarzenberger from Lenggries as a royal hunting lodge on behalf of Ludwig. The hunting lodge was taken over by the German Alpine Association from 1921. The paths in the area were prepared horse-friendly (Lakaiensteig), and a dragon boat was brought up to the Soiernsee. The remains of a lake pavilion can still be found today, and a lake stage is said to have been built back then.
- The Hans Mertel Hut (1,560 m) used to be the stables in the times of the king, today the mountain rescue service and the Hochland section (self-catering hut for AV members) are housed here.
- Pürschling, today August Schuster House (1564 m): the hut was regularly visited by the king on the approach from Linderhof.
- The royal house on Schachen can even be reached by bike.
King Ludwig Karwendel tour
- Around Vorderriß near the Ahornboden, King Ludwig had the Reitsteig to the Moosenalm laid out. He needed it to hunt on the Scharfreiter. At that time there was no hiking trail to the summit in the Karwendel Mountains. Today the Reitsteig is the start of the multi-day hike through the Karwendel in the footsteps of Ludwig. You can hike the Karwendel tour in three days. Information about King Ludwig Karwendel tour.
King Ludwig Way
The hiking trail was established in 1977 and leads in five or seven daily stages from Starnberg to Füssen. The cornerstones of the route are:
- Berg Castle: everything came to an end here on June 13, 1886 with the mysterious death of Ludwig II.
- High Peissenberg (988 meters above sea level)
- Ammer Gorge
- Steingaden (Welfenmünster)
- The Royal castlesNeuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau
Info on: http://www.koenig-ludwig-weg.de/
various
- The Museum of the Bavarian Kings was born on September 9, 2011 in Schwangau opened, it shows the history and the most important personalities of the Wittelsbach family from their beginnings over a period of almost 800 years until today. One of the main focuses is Ludwig II.
- A King Ludwig fire is available every year on August 24th, the eve of the king's birthday and name day, in Oberammergau.
- Also in Oberammergau is there König-Ludwig cross-country skiing every year on the first weekend in February. In terms of the number of participants, it is now the largest popular ski run in Germany.
Royal worlds
The musical theater piece "Ludwig II. - Longing for Paradise" was presented in the Festspielhaus in Feet premiered in June 2011 and on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of death.
Info: http://www.die-koenigswelten.com/
literature
- : King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his castles. Imhof, Petersberg, 2011, ISBN 978-3865686831 ; 64 pages. The focus is on Ludwig's magnificent palace buildings and their aftermath.
- : Ludwig II. King of Bavaria - Myth and Truth. Brandstätter Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3850334075 ; 112 pages. Insights into the splendor and misery of Ludwig's short life.
- : Ludwig II: a king between rumor and truth. people, 2011, ISBN 978-3862220090 ; 224 pages.
- ; HdbG (House of Bavarian History) (Ed.): Götterdämmerung. (Articles): King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his time. Primus Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3896787415 , P. 272. published on the occasion of the Bavarian State Exhibition 2011 in the New Herrenchiemsee Palace.
