Ludwig was eighteen when they made him King of Bavaria in 1864 — tall, dark-haired, and completely uninterested in power. What he wanted was music. Weeks after his coronation, he sent composer Richard Wagner a letter that read like a love confession: "I want to lift the yoke of daily toil from your shoulders forever. You are a god to me." He was eighteen. Wagner was fifty-one. It was the beginning of one of history’s most reckless and beautiful obsessions.
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Lost & Found·2/3·1′
The place
Neuschwanstein Castle
The Madness of King Ludwig II
A king who wanted beauty, not power, and built fairy tales in stone until his kingdom took him away
19th century (1864-1886)Neuschwanstein Castle
Moral of the Story
“The world punishes those who choose beauty over power — but their creations outlast every throne that judged them unfit to rule.”
Characters
K
King Ludwig II of BavariaR
Richard WagnerB
Bavarian ministersD
Dr. Bernhard von GuddenSource
McIntosh, Christopher. The Swan King: Ludwig II of Bavaria, 2012; Blunt, Wilfrid. The Dream King, 1970; Bavarian State Archives