Mother Queen Marie of Bavaria

As with his father, Ludwig’s relationship with his mother Marie (1825-1889) was not without its problems. She certainly did take a lively interest in her children’s upbringing and visited them in their nurseries every day. During her summer stays in Hohenschwangau she often went on mountain hikes with them. Ludwig loved his mother, but often felt misunderstood by her. The queen is described by contemporaries as friendly and affable, but did not care for art, literature and music, her son’s main interests. This was another reason why the later king called her stupid. Her interests lay more in hiking and mountaineering. Marie was in fact one of the first female alpinists. She never neglected her duties as queen and performed many patronage and charitable tasks.

The relationship with her son did not get any easier in later years. Marie never tired of reminding Ludwig II of his royal duties – especially during the times when the king escaped more and more into his dream worlds. She opposed his friendship with Richard Wagner and, unlike him, welcomed the founding of the Reich. Marie died at Hohenschwangau Castle (Schloss Hohenschwangau) in 1889 and was buried in the Theatine Church (Theatinerkirche) in Munich.

The photograph by an unknown photographer shows the queen as a bust portrait. She is wearing a dress and a pearl necklace. The photo was probably taken around 1860.

Stefan Schnupp