Louis II of Bavaria

Ludwig Otto Frederik Wilhelm von Wittelsbach (1845-1886) was king de Bavière of 1864 with 1886 under the name of Louis II . Insane for some, brilliant for others, it remains in the history like the guard of arts and a builder of extraordinary castles.

Birth and Family

Louis II of Bavaria was born the August 25th 1845 with Nymphenburg close to Munich.

He is the son of the king Maximilien II of Bavaria (1811-1864) which he succeeds, and of Frederique Francoise Auguste Marie Hedwige of Prussia (1825-1889), known as Marie of Prussia .

He is also the first cousin of Elisabeth de Wittelsbach empress of Austria, more known under the nickname of Sissi.

Biography

Its political reign

Louis II reaches the throne at the 19 years age. The Bavarian ones accommodate with jubilation this young king with the attractive beauty.

At the beginning of its reign, it with the task to manage the daring policy of Bismarck. Its chancellor Ludwig van der Pfordten arranges Bavaria at the sides of the Austria in 1866.

But the Battle of Sadowa in 1866, then the French defeat of 1870 will complete the integration of its kingdom to the incipient Germany. It calls then Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst with the chancellery; this one follows a policy pro-Prussian and Bavaria lined up at the sides of the Prussia during the Guerre of 1870.

At the request of the Prussian chancellor Bismarck, it signs the letter proposing to king de Prusse the imperial crown in December 1870.

The governments then sought more and more with the évincer capacity and to prepare a coup d'etat.

Deposited by a coup d'etat of the government in 1886, he is declared insane (his homosexuality driven back being most probably at the origin of his psychic problems) and his/her cousin Luitpold de Wittelsbach is named regent on June 10th, 1886.

Engagement broken

He becomes engaged to his cousin the princess Sophie of Bavaria (1847-1897), duchess in Bavaria (sister of Elisabeth, known as “Sissi” (immortalized with the screen by Romy Schneider), empress of Austria and queen of Hungary and Bohemia). Their engagement is officialized on January 22nd 1867 but the marriage is deferred on several occasions. Sophie Maria later with Ferdinand Philippe Marie of Orleans (1844-1910), duke of Alençon, wire of Louis Charles Philippe Raphael of Orleans, duke of Nemours, and grandson of Louis-Philippe Ier.

Its artistic reign

He is the admiror and the patron of Richard Wagner, in particular by financing the Palais of the festivals of Bayreuth ( Festspielhaus ) thus allowing the development and the hegemony of the Germanic culture. Influenced by Wagner, it makes build superb castles of eclectic styles, and whose world influence remains perceptible nowadays, with the feet of the Bavarian Alps of which most famous is the castle of Neuschwanstein, which was finished only several years after its death.

He is regarded by Verlaine as the “only large king” of this century.

The death of the king

After declarebeing declared insane in June 1886, Louis II is interned with the castle of Berg, in the south of Munich, where he dies three days later, like his doctor Bernhard von Gudden (a famous psychiatrist), in circumstances ever elucidated: their bodies are found in the Lac of Starnberg, near the bank. Officially, the king committed suicide after having strangled his doctor; however, the assumption of the assassination or the escape bid were evoked.

Louis II of Bavaria was buried in the Saint-Michael church with Munich. A ceremony is held each year on June 13rd in the small built vault at this place.

Its successor is the king Othon Ier of Bavaria.

Castles

Louis left large all plans and drawings for other castles whose construction was considered

Ludwig in fiction

Cinema

Manga

  • Ludwig II ( Ludwig II of Bavaria, the insane king in the shade of the blue moon ), Manga Japanese in 3 volumes, scenarized and drawn by You Higuri, going back to 1996. It is published in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten Publishing, and in France by Generation Comics

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