Disempowerment and death

The last years

In the years following the founding of the German Reich in 1871, Ludwig II withdrew more and more from his duties as king. Although he dutifully did the paperwork until just before his deposition, he did not receive his ministers or his secretaries. He also avoided the general public in Munich and Bavaria, neglecting what was expected of a king in the 19th century. Instead, what he considered art became his purpose in life, especially the private performances and his building projects in Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein.

Although Ludwig had a generous income from state emoluments, proceeds from the royal property and Bismarck’s annual payments from the "Guelph Fund", this money was not enough to cover the ever-expanding building costs for the royal castles and palaces. The debts accumulated, and by 1884 they had reached 8.25 million marks. A bank loan for 7.5 million, guaranteed by the royal family, and a special payment by Bismarck of 1 million marks paid off these debts for the time being, but Ludwig could not accept the consequences – the temporary suspension of construction work and future frugal budget management. One year later the king’s debts amounted to 6.5 million marks again. Various tradesmen threatened to sue.

The king’s debts, as well as his lifestyle, fuelled rumours in Bavaria. Ludwig had not been popular outside the vicinity of his castles for some time. Now newspapers at home and abroad were openly speculating about the king as a debtor and in inns people were even whispering about the sexuality of "Mr Huber", the local nickname for the king. Ludwig’s personal crisis therefore gradually turned into a crisis of state at the beginning of 1886.

Friedrich Röhrer-Ertl

Incapacitation and death

The worsening debt crisis from 1884 onwards had convinced the senior minister Johann von Lutz and his colleagues by March 1886 at the latest that intervention against the king was necessary to prevent damage to the monarchy and the royal family. Ludwig’s abdication or his deposition were the alternatives.

The Bavarian constitution of 1818 provided for the establishment of a regency in the event that the Bavarian king was unable to hold office for more than a year, although many constitutional questions remained unresolved in the details. Since Ludwig’s younger brother Otto had been considered incurably mentally ill since 1876, only Prince Luitpold, King Ludwig’s uncle, could assume the regency as the closest male relative; however, he initially refused.

On 23 March a meeting took place between Lutz and Bernhard von Gudden, who had been the director of the Upper Bavarian district lunatic asylum since 1872 and the physician in charge of Prince Otto since 1876. The latter saw parallels between his patient Otto and King Ludwig; the king was "genuinely insane" and incapable of governing. The respected and self-confident psychiatrist Gudden, who certainly acted out of inner conviction, therefore became the driving force in the royal crisis. His judgement was accepted by both the royal ministers and Prince Luitpold. The path to the deposition of King Ludwig II was set. Luitpold’s regency was proclaimed on 10 June 1886.

Friedrich Röhrer-Ertl

Ludwig II’s funeral

As much as the sudden death of Ludwig II in Lake Starnberg had surprised the government, court and society, what followed was in keeping with the long-established funeral rituals of the Wittelsbach dynasty.

Ludwig’s corpse, which the death mask had been taken from on 14 June, was taken to Munich, where an autopsy was performed at the Residence on 15 June. This served, on the one hand, to establish the cause of death (with the finding of death by drowning); on the other hand, the king’s heart was removed and a cast of his right hand was made.

Ludwig was laid out in the Residence’s Court Chapel from 16 to 18 June. The corpse wore the costume of the Grand Master of the Wittelsbach Royal Order of Saint Hubertus with collar (chain of the order) and ceremonial sword; a bouquet of jasmine had been placed in his right hand, which had been picked by his cousin, Empress Elisabeth of Austria. The general public thronged in huge crowds; those who were privileged enough could have a look at the corpse from the galleries of the court chapel.

The funeral was held in St. Michael’s church. The funeral procession took a long detour through the centre of Munich to allow as many people as possible to express their sympathy. Finally, the consecrated coffin was lowered into the main crypt, where Ludwig II rests to this day. About two months later, on 16 August 1886, the king’s heart was taken to the Chapel of Grace (Gnadenkapelle) in Altötting.

In addition to this central funeral service, there were numerous other mourning events throughout Bavaria. In addition to the churches, it was above all the Israelite communities that commemorated Ludwig II. Last but not least, many people also sought a personal pilgrimage with people travelling in droves to Lake Starnberg after the king’s death, to visit the death site in Berg in rowing boats. Flowers, as well as splinters of wood from boats and garden benches, were removed as mementos. The mythologisation of Ludwig had begun.

Friedrich Röhrer-Ertl

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