The
year was 1886. Bavaria's king, Ludwig II, had been declared legally
insane. (He was, everyone acknowledged, “deeply peculiar,” but
people are STILL arguing about whether or not he was actually
clinically insane.) He was removed from the throne and sent to live
in a castle by a lake. Just a few days after the insanity ruling, he
went for a walk with his psychiatrist. They never came back, and
after hours of searching, the servants found both men's bodies
seemingly drowned in the shallow waters of the lake.
Were
the deaths accidental? Their bodies were found in only waist-deep
water, and the official autopsy report stated that there was no water
in Ludwig's lungs. Some say that Ludwig probably died of natural
causes; on the other hand, there were indications that he was
depressed and suicidal—but, in either of these cases, how did the
psychiatrist die? There were signs that it was murder-suicide or
murder-and-accident—with Ludwig killing his psychiatrist and then
drowning himself on purpose or by accident. But there were also
theories and rumors that the men had both been murdered by enemies.
Was Ludwig trying to escape his castle prison? Some people said that
loyalists were making plans to put him back on the throne; if these
rumors were true, the psychiatrist could have fought Ludwig as he
tried to swim out to the loyalists' boat.
I
guess we will never know.
However
King Ludwig died, many in his kingdom were relieved that he was no
longer on the throne. He had been spending money like crazy, building
amazing fantasy castles with lavish furnishings and splendid gardens.
Although he had paid with his own money—and ruined himself
financially—King Ludwig had also borrowed more and more money, and
his massive debt posed a financial danger to the entire kingdom. When
he died, the work order for yet another crazy-ornate throne and other
as-yet-undone furnishings were immediately canceled. And, after just
over one month, the castles began to be opened to paying tourists!
As
it turns out, Ludwig's castles have become very profitable. With
admissions fees and merchandise, the castles have paid for themselves
many times over and have attracted millions and millions of tourists
from all over the world!
(Just
one of the castles, Neuschwanstein, attracts 1.3 million visitors a
year!)
Celebrate
fantasy castles!
Take
a tour of all of King Ludwig's castles.
Here
is a long video of Neuschwanstein, the castle that inspired Walt
Disney's Sleeping Beauty's Castle.
It might be tough to watch the entire 13 minutes of this slow,
reverent look at the castle, but just watching the first bit is
lovely, and maybe you can daydream if you find the middle part
repetitive—because at about the nine minute mark, the video cameras
go inside the castle. Not only is this unusual—video cameras
are normally forbidden inside this castle—it's also pretty
awesome!!
My
favorite of King Ludwig's castles is Linderhof, partly because of
this grotto. The furnishings of Linderhof are varied and opulent and even a little
bit crazy! (Here's an example of crazy: Apparently King Ludwig became
so private, he didn't even want his servants seeing him, so he had an
elaborate lift put in so that the servants could set the dining table
(for one, naturally), serve the food, pour the wine, and then hoist
the fully-laden table up into the private dining room! (Now that's
doing things the hard way!) Check out this assortment of images of
Linderhof.
 |
| When walking around Linderhof, you always see the unexpected--like this "Moroccan House," a guest house tucked away among the trees. |
Check
out this short video, which includes 3-D renderings of Ludwig's plans
that didn't get built.
Also
on this date:
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