Shownotes Transcript
On the 13th of June, 1886, the body of Ludwig II, the so-called Mad King of Bavaria, was found floating in two feet of water on Lake Starnberg, Germany. The official verdict given by authorities was suicide by drowning. But the suspicious circumstances surrounding his death and the strange events that took place in the lead-up to it
have led many to believe it was no suicide, and that he was in fact killed by his own government, who have covered up his murder for over 100 years. Was Ludwig II of Bavaria mad? And was his death the tragic result of suicide, or as many now believe, the murder of a crown monarch?
Timing is everything. He was forced to be removed from Neuschwanstein. Within 24 hours, he was in the castle of Burg and he was dead. There is a theory that he was actually involved in an escape attempt. The death of King Ludwig, to my mind, certainly looks like it could have been a murder. And I find it very strange that we still can't see the bones of King Ludwig. Because I think they'll probably show that Ludwig was shot.
You're listening to Forbidden History, the podcast series that explores the past's darkest corners, sheds light on the lives of intriguing individuals, and uncovers the truth buried deep in history's most controversial legacies. I'm Janine Harony, and this is the Madness of King Ludwig II. It's one of Germany's most enduring mysteries.
A king loved by his people, but hated by his government. The death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria has been the subject of intrigue and investigation for over a century. How did a king, once famous for his eccentric behavior and fairy tale castles, end up being declared insane, removed from his throne, and found floating face down in shallow water?
near the shores of a remote lake. Today, Ludwig is commended and celebrated for some of the most famous and important landmarks in Germany. Ken Hollings is a writer and broadcaster.
There are three really famous ones. There's Neuschwanstein, which is the beautiful Romanesque Gothic structure. There's Linderhof, which is like a smaller Baroque palace nestling in the Bavarian countryside. And then finally there's Herrenkiemsee, this huge tribute to the Versailles of Louis XIV.
These architectural triumphs were so fantastical that it is said Walt Disney famously based Sleeping Beauty's castle on Ludwig's Nauschwanstein. Nowadays, these exquisite buildings bring in billions of euros worth of tourism to Germany each year. But ironically, these are also the reason for Ludwig's downfall.
With Bavaria on the brink of financial ruin in 1886, Ludwig's government advised him to cease building any more. But for Ludwig, it was impossible. In order to understand his obsession, we must first understand the man. Who was King Ludwig II of Bavaria?
He was described by the French poet Paul Verlaine as the last true king of Europe, and I think to an extent that is accurate. He was certainly the last true king of Bavaria as it had existed for a large part of the 19th century. Born in Munich in 1845, Ludwig was the eldest son of Maximilian II of Bavaria and his wife, Princess Marie of Prussia.
From the first moments of his existence, he had an audience. His mother, Queen Marie, went into labor in August, and the delivery was witnessed by at least four male courtiers who were there to ensure the bloodline and the authenticity of Ludwig's birth.
Knowing his son would one day be king, Maximilian put him into a strict regime of study and tutoring to mold him into a strong and capable ruler. His whole day would be timetabled out right up until, I think, 8, 9 o'clock at night, by which time he had free time. But the rest of the time it would be spent in language, it would be spent in exercise, it would be spent in learning Latin and mathematics. So he was already being
groomed, for want of a better word, for the moment when he would ascend to the throne. His childhood home was Castle Hohenschwangau, near the town of Fussen in modern-day Germany. His parents are said to have kept Ludwig at arm's length, deferring to a hand-picked team of governesses, nurses, and servants who guided him through early childhood.
It was then he developed his passion for poetry, classical music, and opera. He would spend his free time absorbed in these subjects. Even as a child, he would lock himself away from the outside world, a habit that would go on to be the main cause of his troubles in later life. Guy Walters is an author and historian.
Ludwig was a very effete figure. He was very good looking in his youth. He, you know, had a very romantic aura to him. He would have been a much better poet or painter or musician than he would have been a king. After a brief and unexpected illness, his father, King Maximilian II, died in March of 1864.
Ludwig, barely 18 years old at the time, was crowned King of Bavaria shortly afterwards. His model for being a king was Louis XIV, and he was intrigued by the fact that Louis is the French version of Ludwig. And so for him, the absolute monarch, the one who ruled by divine right, the one who says, "I am the state, l'état c'est moi," that was the king Ludwig wanted to be.
But as king, he remained a solitary man, absorbed by his books and creativity. However, public duties were unavoidable, and his quirky ways did not go unnoticed. For example, he developed a unique way of walking, where, with a very straight back, Ludwig would rigidly thrust his leg out, and then bring it down in an abrupt manner. Guy Walters again.
Some of his local Bavarian subjects would regard him as a somewhat absurd figure because he used to have this very funny walk that he thought was his regal walk. So he was in many ways an actor. He was trying very hard to play the role of king. And so he lived in this very sort of gilded world in which he was very detached from the people that he effectively ruled over. His flamboyant nature was evident from the outset.
In particular, his obsession with beauty, going beyond the realms of reasonable. There's a story of how if a particularly plain or unappealing member of staff or servant walked into a room, he would actually avert his gaze. He'd look at a painting or a particularly beautiful statue rather than having to look at this rather plain individual.
But someone who Ludwig did deem beautiful and inspiring was the German composer Richard Wagner, famous for his epic operas such as the four-hour cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. Author and journalist James Sherwood.
When King Ludwig came to the throne, he was only 18, and one of his first commands was to invite Richard Wagner, the composer, to come to Bavaria and to compose. And they became very intimate, but I think it was more of an avuncular relationship. In a way, King Ludwig was Wagner's muse. You know, the Ring Cycle would not have been written without King Ludwig of Bavaria. Wagner himself
When the Ring cycle of operas is completed, it actually says this would not have been possible without Ludwig II.
The works of Richard Wagner would go on to become one of the foremost sources of inspiration for Ludwig's future construction projects. But while the king paid close attention to building his cultural and artistic legacy, the Bavarian government were growing increasingly frustrated by his disinterest in the running of the country.
They thought that marriage may settle the errant king and also provide an heir to the throne for the continuation of the dynasty. But after a brief engagement to his cousin, Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, relationships were not a priority for Ludwig. With many citing his alleged sexual orientation as an explanation, rumors spread in Munich that he had engaged in affairs with soldiers who guarded him. Guy Walters
He's gay. He's not openly gay, but he certainly doesn't want to have sexual relationships with women, and it's almost certain that he does with men. So he is a person who is not only born at a time when kings are going out of fashion, but his own sexuality is simply not acceptable during this time and at that place.
Being Roman Catholic, it's been suggested that Ludwig wrestled with his sexuality and was unable to make inner peace with it. However, some scholars believe this is just idle gossip and that in reality, Ludwig simply wasn't capable of having close relationships.
It says a lot about our culture, our society, that we insist upon pigeonholing people as being of one gender or another, one sexual persuasion or another. And the idea that someone, frankly, is not interested or is repelled by it, that somehow upsets us and we feel that he has to be something. For all his charisma,
I think he was profoundly reticent, profoundly shy. I think the role of the king weighed heavily upon him. So he was very formal even with close friends. So I think it was very difficult for him to have emotional, physical relationships with anyone.
It was soon noticed that Ludwig was not going to be a conventional monarch, as he paid little attention to the usual mundane matters of government. Instead, he had become obsessed with the idea of building a fantasy world around him, a world that separated him from his people and kept out the government he had come to loathe. Could it have been this decision to shut himself away that would later lead to his death? Ken Hollings again.
He poured massive amounts of money into these projects and became increasingly criticized for, first of all, spending all that money on them, secondly, spending all that time there or around them or supervising them rather than looking after the affairs of his people.
Many believed that his lack of awareness and responsibility demonstrated his incapacity to rule. But was Ludwig really so detached from reality? Or was his passion for building castles a response to a political shift?
-King Ludwig's extravagance has only really came out after 1870, when Bavaria was annexed by Prussia. So his power was effectively removed, and he removed himself from government.
In 1866, Bavaria lost a war against Prussia. Ludwig II was no longer a sovereign ruler. It is said this was the beginning of his misfortune in life. And from this moment, he began planning his grand castles and buildings.
I don't think any other king in Europe in the late 19th century built as many palaces as King Ludwig. It was quite extraordinary. In fact, it was more than extraordinary. It was quite obsessive. So he was building a palace for every fantasy. One project that did just this was the Neuschwanstein Castle, which was commissioned by Ludwig as an homage to Richard Wagner. The romantic castle set high in a valley
overlooks an idyllic lake and forest surrounded by the majestic mountains of Tyrol. The dramatic design was inspired by the operatic works of the composer. Ludwig even employed Wagner's set designer as one of the architects. The opulent interior is adorned with images of the Swan Knight, a legend that Ludwig is said to have identified with.
It was also ahead of its time, with the latest technology in operation and home comforts in mind. Ludwig had installed hot air central heating, running water on every floor, and an electric bell system to summon his servants.
The project took thousands of tons of building material and over 300 craftsmen working around the clock to try and complete it by the deadline, 30 of whom lost their lives in the process. But what about the financial cost? The Bavarian government are getting increasingly concerned about Ludwig's expenditure and they're realizing that it's out of control. Castles cost a lot of money to build.
King Ludwig initially funded his palaces with sovereign wealth, but when that was exhausted, he turned to moneylenders in Europe. And when that was exhausted, it became very problematic. By 1885, Bavaria was on the brink of a financial fallout.
Ludwig had managed to amount a debt of over 14 million marks, nearly 350 million euros in today's money. The concerned Bavarian Prime Minister, Johann von Lutz, urged Ludwig to economize. But rather than curb his spending, Ludwig made plans for even more elaborate and decorative construction projects.
When von Lutz demanded he cease with any further building work, the king responded by threatening to dismiss the entire government. Guy Walters again. You are now running into serious hostility between the royal household and the political world.
Ludwig would quite often be very capricious about his ministers and would often fire them for, shall we say, the flimsiest of pretexts, even if they'd served him faithfully. But the entire government? Was this even constitutional? Under Bavarian law, the king had the right to fire his ministers and install a new government of his choosing. However, there was also another law.
If it could be proven that the king was not mentally fit to rule, he too could be removed from power. Guy Walters. Both the Bavarian government and Ludwig have an ace up their sleeve. Now, the Bavarian government's ace is the ability, if they can get Ludwig declared mad, they can depose him.
However, Ludwig too has an ace and he has the power to get rid of the government. That's obviously not something you can do lightly, so he knows he can't just play it straight away. So it's now going to be a case of who's going to blink first. Is it the government or is it Ludwig? In fear of losing their positions, the government decided to act first.
The Prime Minister of Bavaria, Johann von Lutz, hatched a plot to have Ludwig declared mentally ill and removed from the throne. To replace Ludwig, he made a deal with his uncle Lutpold, who he promised to declare Prince Regent of Bavaria, so long as he agreed to keep von Lutz in the position of PM.
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But having a king declared insane is no easy task. He would need help. Dr. Bernhard von Gooden was one of the most respected psychologists in Germany during the 19th century. He had also treated members of Ludwig's family in the past. James Sherwood again.
Dr. Gooden was a pioneer in psychiatry and he'd been brought in to assess King Ludwig's brother, Prince Otto, who he actually did declare insane. Dr. Gooden was asked by Lutz to assess King Ludwig. Johann von Lutz played his ace first by asking Dr. Gooden to gather as much data as possible.
then compile a report declaring King Ludwig was unfit to rule Bavaria. This would then allow the government to depose him. But Dr. Gudden had a problem. How could he diagnose Ludwig without alerting him to the plot? Dr. Gerhard Imler is the director of the Bavarian State Archives in Munich. Gudden legitimated this method of compiling a medical report without seeing the patient.
by the fact that the king lived an extremely recluse life. The king only met with a very small number of servants. Not even the ministers had personal contact with the king. They only wrote letters to each other.
At the Bavarian State Archives, they hold a vast collection of papers relating to the life of King Ludwig II, including Dr. Gooden's psychological report. Here we have the medical report written by Dr. von Gooden and signed by three other doctors of medicine, which states that the king is mentally ill.
In the report, it states observations which are cited as proof of the king's madness. When a servant needs to go to the king,
He is not allowed simply to go through the door or to knock at the door, but he has to scratch at the door. And he is not allowed to speak anything. He has to try to make himself understandable by signs with his hands.
And when the servants serve the king his meals, they are not allowed to look at the king, but also not to look at the meal. Dr. von Guten thought that they are all proof of the king suffering of a certain mental illness, which at that time was called paranoia.
Today, scientists would call it "paranoid schizophrenia".
But how could Dr Gooden diagnose Ludwig with such a serious condition without even meeting him? All this stuff has to be done remotely, it has to be done through hearsay, it has to be done with interviews carried out in secret, and therefore it's not probably the most reliable form of psychiatric evaluation one might hope for. So, was King Ludwig II actually mad? James Sherwood again.
A monarch's behavior would only be looked on as odd if he actually wasn't a monarch. Because if you have absolute power, you can be indulged in any way you wish to because you were a king, not because you were a madman. I don't think Ludwig was mad. I think that Ludwig was eccentric. I think that his behavior was well within the realms of acceptable human behavior.
But despite submitting what would now be deemed as an unfair and biased report, Gudden had given the government the evidence they needed to have Ludwig declared insane. On June 10th, 1886, at 4:00 AM, Dr. von Gudden arrived at the impressive Neuschwanstein Castle to deliver a deposition which would formally remove Ludwig as king and have him placed in custody.
supporters of the king were surprised and saddened to witness Ludwig's reaction. Eventually Ludwig knows that he's not going to win and he gives up, frankly. He allows himself to be detained and arrested and he knows that his monarchy is effectively over. Some people have claimed that his lack of action was a sign of his mental instability.
But a recently discovered letter, now in the possession of the Bavarian State Archives, is said to be the last letter ever written by Ludwig. It shows that far from him being indifferent to the situation, Ludwig was well aware of the plot and was actively trying to stop it. Dr. Gerhard Imler again. About one year ago, this archive was able to acquire Ludwig's
probably last letter he wrote in his life. We have it here. He wrote this letter to his cousin, Prince Ludwig Ferdinand, to whom he had a quite friendly relationship. Most beloved cousin, forgive the bad scripture. I am writing this in haste. Today I found myself confronted by two of my ministers who tried to obtain my application.
This is a most disreputable conspiracy. Who is behind this? I don't know, but I presume it to be Prince Lütpold. Keep all of this temporarily to yourself, but please endeavor to find out what you can from the people you trust. I have heard the rumors of my sickness. These are falsities, solicited from people by way of payment, and not one word of it is true.
We must shine a light on this with rock-solid trust and deep love. Your cousin Ludwig. He asks him to explore the situation in Munich and to inform him who else is a member of the conspiracy the king perceives which is going on against him. So this letter shows that the king wrote it. He was in a quite clear state of mind.
But help never came. And after a short standoff, Ludwig was taken into custody. As per his agreement with the government, Ludpold was made Prince Regent to rule in his nephew's absence. Ken Hollings again. Ludwig was shocked. He staggered. He nearly fainted. He thought that this moment was still a long way off. He thought he still had cards to play.
Ludwig was taken to Burg Palace, on the shores of Lake Starnberg in Bavaria. There he was to meet with Dr. Gooden, who had been appointed by the government to be the king's personal physician. And this is where they were to meet their untimely end: Guy Walters.
The official course of events is very straightforward. Both Gooden and Ludwig decide after dinner, like a couple of gentlemen, they want to take the air and have a bit of a constitutional along the shores of Lake Starnberg. True crime writer Anne-Marie Ackerman is at Castle Burg to follow in the men's footsteps.
On June 13th, 1886, King Ludwig II and Dr. Gooden came through this gate at about 6:35 in the evening and walked along this path. They didn't return from their walk at the time that was expected. And the personnel at Castle Berg immediately started a search party
And it took several hours. Their search efforts were frustrated by the fact that it was raining that night, windy, stormy. Although it was already June, it was dark because of the storm. And it took several hours until one of the members of the search party decided to search the shoreline. He saw something floating in the water.
They found both their bodies floating face down in the water. They were only a few meters apart. That was at around 10:30 at night. The members of the search party jumped overboard, pulled the bodies aboard one of the dockers on the boat, immediately started artificial resuscitation on the king, and it was really clear that the king was dead.
For over 100 years, debate has raged about exactly what had happened on that fateful walk along the lake, with many suspecting that Ludwig had been the victim of foul play. James Sherwood again: "I think when we're assessing King Ludwig's death, the timing is everything that he was forced to be removed from Neuschwanstein. Within 24 hours, he was in the castle of Burg and he was dead."
The official verdict, released by the government, concluded that Ludwig had committed suicide by drowning. But what do the findings tell us? Anne Marie Ackerman again. After the bodies were recovered, the physicians discovered that Dr. Gooden was missing half a fingernail. They later discovered that half a fingernail in Ludwig's overcoat. Apparently what happened here
is that Ludwig dashed into the water and Gudden tried to grab him and in this struggle lost part of the fingernail. One theory is that Ludwig, now genuinely maddened by the fact he's lost his power and his status, gets into a fight with Gudden on the sides of the lake and during the struggle perhaps drowns Gudden and then drowns himself or perhaps even the other way around and that is what the official inquiry will suggest.
What interpretation is put on that is another matter. For example, they both drowned and yet they were found floating in water that was really not deep enough for a grown man to drown in. One of the most contentious issues about the case concerns the fact that Ludwig was found floating on the surface of the lake, which some believe indicates that his lungs had not filled up with water prior to his death.
This is something that usually is confirmed in the autopsy report. At the Bavarian State Archives in Munich, Dr Gerhard Imler reads the official autopsy report from the coroner. The doctors don't say anything explicitly about the cause of the king's death, but they describe his mortal remains as the corpse of a man who had drowned in water. Dr von Ziemssen
who wrote the report didn't say anything explicitly about water in the lungs. Some people believe that the autopsy report, which was commissioned by the government, may have left out vital information pertaining to the real cause of Ludwig's death. But if Ludwig didn't die from drowning, what exactly did happen?
Many claim that both the government and Prince Lippold had no intention of ever letting Ludwig leave his confinement, as they feared that if he could prove he was not insane, they would be put on trial for treason. Guy Walters: I think there are a lot of conspiracy theories out there that are outlandish and strange, but I think that the death of King Ludwig
To my mind, certainly looks like it could have been a murder. And I find it very strange that we still can't see the bones of King Ludwig. Because I think they'll probably show that Ludwig was shot. And if Ludwig was shot, there would have been a witness in the form of Dr. Gudden. And so therefore, Dr. Gudden would have had to have been bumped off as well. Jakob Little was Ludwig's personal fisherman who worked on the lake.
And there's a theory that he was involved in an escape attempt. Jakob is said to have left behind a written account of what happened that day. Anne-Marie Ackerman. After Ludwig's death, he never talked about what happened that night. There's some evidence that Jakob Little confided in his diary, and he wrote that he was waiting for...
in a boat for King Ludwig and as Ludwig approached his boat and was climbing in, was shot in the back by the armed guards. The autopsy doesn't show any gunshot wounds, but the autopsy was commissioned by the government, which could have been the same body that would have shot King Ludwig. So of course they're not going to find proof of their own foul doing.
Some experts believe that instead of King Ludwig being the victim, he was in fact the murderer. The theory suggests that a struggle broke out as Dr. Gooden tried to prevent Ludwig from escaping, but things turned violent. And in a fit of rage, Ludwig killed the man who was responsible for his downfall. Horrified by what he'd done, Ludwig decided not to flee. Instead,
he walked out into the lake and took his own life. Should we simply accept the official verdict given by the government? With so much conflicting information and so many unknowns, will we ever really know what happened that day by the lake? Or will Ludwig remain in death, much as he did in life, a mystery? "I doubt that we will
ever find out what happened to him. And that's why I think this is Germany's greatest unsolved mystery. It's a drama. It's an opera in itself. And who wouldn't want to be the star of that? Certainly Ludwig would have loved it. If you accept it's implausible that two middle-aged men can walk along a lake and end up dead after an hour, then you're going to have to accept the fact there would have been a cover-up.
The only way we can get to the bottom of it is to have a look at Ludwig's bones. And if there's any gunshot wounds on his bones, then that will suggest that the report was a cover-up. But until we can do that, it's always going to be a mystery. Next time on Forbidden History...
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