Clara Tschudi

“ Ludwig’s need for solitude was, without doubt, the result of enigmatical depths in his nature. As a youth he had suspected, and as a man of riper years he felt, that it was impossible for him to be otherwise than a recluse and a stranger in life. Despite his high position, despite his beauty and gifts of mind, he was in his inward self helpless and tired of existence. His friendship for Richard Wagner was the bright spot in his life. ”

“ The one a man of will and action, who in the course of a few years had set Middle Europe in fire and flames—a warrior as well as a statesman, ruthless, cold-blooded, undaunted at the table of council as well as in the turmoil of battle, and at the time here mentioned in the full strength of his manhood. The other—King Ludwig—still so young in years, vacillating and shy, a hater of war, a dreamer, who enjoyed life most in the solitude of nature and in the world of fancy. ”

“ More than one trustworthy chronicler of the events of this time has hinted that the Duchess had a serious inclination for another, and that it was the desire of her parents for the marriage with her cousin which influenced her decision in favour of it. Although Ludwig was hardly her first love it was impossible that she could have been insensible to his beauty, which fascinated all women, or to the charm of his manner and personality when in his best moods. All who knew Sophie as a girl speak enthusiastically of her liveliness and buoyancy. ”

“ The news, which was quickly spread, filled the capital with dismay and lamentations. Immense crowds of people penetrated into the courtyard of the Palace, and gazed up at their ruler’s windows.
Snow and rain fell heavily. The wind howled, but no one seemed to notice it. No longer was it possible to expect news which might bring consolation. All were thinking the same thought: “Our good King is dying!” The sorrow over the whole country was indescribable. ”

“ Both Ludwig and Elizabeth were eccentric in their sympathies and antipathies. Elizabeth was unhappy in her marriage; she sought a panacea for love in friendships with women. Ludwig could suddenly, and apparently without reason, take up with men who were far inferior to him in character. Both, as a rule, were disappointed in, and quickly tired of, these favourites for a day. Both the King and the Empress fled to the world of books, and when they met their literary interests bound them still faster together. A result of their mutual affection was that they exercised influence one upon the other. ”

“ On the evening of Whitmonday the body of Ludwig II. was conveyed to Munich.
The hearse, which was drawn by four horses and was accompanied by his servants and by priests, arrived at the capital at half-past three in the morning. Great numbers of country people followed his coffin weeping. Nobody believed he had been mad, but that an innocent man had been persecuted. In the hearts of all there lived the memory of the beloved King, who had promised so much, whose peculiarities they had condoned, and who, despite all, had continued to be the pride of the Bavarians. ”

“ The homage of the people made a deep impression on Ludwig. “Shall I go to the window once again?” he asked, after showing himself many times, as the shouts outside became louder and warmer. He was received with ovations in the evening, when he appeared at the performance of Wagner’s Die Walküre. The shouts of hurrah for the King continued to ring. Day after day, till far into the night, the crowds surged backwards and forwards. One cannot know how the dice may fall,” said the Bavarian Minister of War. “But this I can already say for certain: the army will come out of the battle with honour!” ”

“ Disappointment was great when it was made known that the Queen-mother intended to enter the Roman Catholic Church. Her relatives in Prussia were also painfully surprised; her sister, the Princess of Hesse-Darmstadt, even journeyed to Hohenschwangau at the last minute for the purpose of endeavouring to dissuade her from her resolution. The German Emperor, whose heart she had ever been very near, made representations of a like nature. But life had brought too many trials for her to be led away by the pressure of others from what she felt to be a matter of conscience. ”

“ But now when I am about to satisfy my longing, Bürckel comes with his objections; the propriety of which I cannot but acknowledge.” “Bürckel, however, is only an adviser,” observed Kainz; “your Majesty is lord and master!” “Yes,” sighed Ludwig, “but it is not always so easy to be King as it appears to be.” “If it is difficult to your Majesty you can give up the sceptre into other hands,” remarked the actor. The answer displeased the King, who rose to his feet, thus giving the actor a hint that he must be more careful in the use of his expressions. ”

“ CHAPTER XXVII King Ludwig and the Artists of the Stage and Canvas
A French journalist who saw Ludwig II. in his youth, has said: “His beauty belongs to the romantic type. His dark eyes are dreamy and full of enthusiasm. His handsome face, elegant personality, and dignified bearing at once win admiration and sympathy. He is in possession of all the graces of youth, its illusions and enthusiasm; but at the same time he offers an example of that need for change which belongs to youth. His subjects look upon him as a fool. ”

“ Ludwig’s health sometimes failed and prevented him from enjoying the festivities as much as he might have done; he was unable now and then to appear at some entertainment which had been given in his honour. But he was never-failing in his amiability, and he visited all the places where there had been battles with the enemy, laying flowers with his own hand on the soldiers’ graves, and rewarding those who had helped to nurse the wounded.
On the 30th of November he arrived in the most glorious winter weather at Nuremberg, welcomed by crowds of people and shouts of “Long live the King!” ”

“ Ludwig swooned with the strength of his emotions. Later in life he was heard to say how painfully it had impressed him that he had been greeted as the Sovereign as he left his father’s deathbed. “The Lord has taken a good [19] king away from us! Let us pray that He will give us as good a king again!” said the Archbishop to the assembled courtiers, who were waiting outside. All fell on their knees; tears and sobs filled the room. The capital and the kingdom were weighed down by the pain of their loss. ”

“ After the breaking-off of his engagement, the fair sex played but a small part in the King’s life. He seems to have looked upon women with the same eyes as the poet Holberg, who in one of his letters writes that he regards them as “pretty pictures”—to be looked at, but not to be touched! Those who knew Ludwig are entirely agreed that he never felt real love for any woman, not even for his betrothed wife, though at one time he appeared to do so. To Richard Wagner, he said at one of their first meetings: “You do not like women either, do you? They are such bores!” ”

“ His enthusiastic admiration for the composer of Rienzi, Der Fliegende Holländer, Tannhäuser, Lohengrin, Tristan und Isolde, and the above-mentioned operas, has caused the name of Ludwig II. to be honourably connected with the history of music.
Little more than twenty years have passed since his death, in the year 1886. But the prophetic words which he uttered on the 4th of August 1865, in a letter to Richard Wagner, have become reality. “When we two are no more, our work will serve as a shining model for posterity. It will delight centuries. ”

“ Ludwig was incapable of repressing his displeasure, which increased the more when he discovered that all the houses along the banks of the lake were decorated with flags in his honour. “It is swarming with people here. I wish to live unknown and alone for myself!” he exclaimed. At the landing-stage the hotel carriage was standing with four horses harnessed to it; and some members of the Swiss police were also discovered to be drawn up for his reception. This was too much for the shy Monarch. “I will certainly not go ashore here,” he cried. “I will not make myself a sacrifice to ovations.” ”

“ Friedrich Wilhelm IV. of Prussia was Queen Marie of Bavaria’s first cousin, the son of her sister. There was in Ludwig’s tastes and turn of mind much that resembled this Prussian King, who in contrast to the greater number of the Hohenzollerns took a greater interest in science and art than in the profession of arms. ”

“ The summer mansions of Berg and Herzogenstand which he had inherited from his father, even his favourite place of residence, Hohenschwangau, no longer satisfied him. It was his intention to build a new castle in the neighbourhood of the latter, high up on a rocky site. The foundation-stone of Neuschwanstein was laid in 1869. Of the various castles built by Ludwig this is the one which is the most satisfactory in the impression it affords. From whatever side the spectator sees it, the effect is beautiful and imposing. ”

“ They were burdened with the same morbid tendencies. Even in their exterior there was similarity between the two cousins, who were gifted with such unusual and spiritual beauty. Neither of them had known the joys of youth; the sceptre had been placed in their hands while they were yet undeveloped children. The power which too early both had become possessed of had in both developed an unwillingness to sacrifice a tittle of their convenience. Ludwig never opened the door to the deep and unusual qualities of his personality; Elizabeth, too, kept her inmost thoughts in conscious shade. ”

“ Bismarck scouted the idea, remarking: “The King of Bavaria lives in a world of dreams. He is hardly more than a boy who does not know his own mind!” The Prussian statesman, it need hardly be said, was careful not to say this directly to Ludwig. He wrote a long and exceedingly deferential letter to him, in which he emphasised how necessary it was that the Imperial crown should be offered to the King of Prussia, and that it was for the King of Bavaria to take the first step. ”

“ It was with feelings of joyful expectation that the master accepted the young King’s invitation. He arrived at Munich at the beginning of May (1864) , and was received with consideration. His personality made a strong impression on Ludwig, who assured him of his favour and warm interest. “The unthinkable, and the only thing that I required, has become a reality. Heaven has sent me a patron. Through him I live and understand myself!” exclaimed the poet-musician to friends who were awaiting him on his return from the Palace. ”

“ Their inherited nervous sufferings were the sorrow-laden undercurrent of their lives. Insanity which was inherent in their race was to both of them a threatening spectre, which, sooner or later, would attack them too. But in the case of Ludwig this fear had in a greater degree than in the case of Elizabeth weakened the power of will. Proud almost to the verge of megalomania, they were, nevertheless, friendly towards the country people they met with. By nature they were exceedingly generous ”

“ He thought to see in this a confirmation of the current of public feeling. The following morning he sent Wagner an autograph letter, which ran as follows:—
“My dear Friend,
“Greatly as it pains me, I must ask you to comply with the wish I expressed yesterday through my secretary. Believe me, I was obliged to act thus! My affection for you will last for ever. I ask you, also, always to keep your friendship for me. It is with a good conscience that I dare say that I am worthy of it.... Who has the right to part us?... I know that you feel as I do, that you can perfectly measure my deep sorrow. ”

“ The master’s imagination, poetry, his attractive manner, all transformed the royal enthusiast’s admiration into blind admiration. The elder man exerted a superhuman power over the youth, and his proximity had a positively electrifying effect on the King. Their life together became a decisive event in the lives of both. Full of pity for him, and happy in the consciousness of being able to assist him, Ludwig wrote on the day following their first meeting: “Feel assured that I will do all that lies in my power to make reparation to you for your earlier sufferings. ”

“ A strict system of economy formed a part of Maximilian’s curriculum. The royal princes were only allowed the plainest food. Sweetmeats the Crown Prince tasted only through the generosity of his nurse Liesi, who was in the habit of buying sweets for her favourite out of her own pocket—a kindness which Ludwig always remembered, and which he rewarded as soon as he became King. When the princes grew bigger they were allowed pocket-money, to the amount of about a shilling a week—hardly a princely appanage. Otto one day hit upon a means, as he hoped, of improving his financial position. ”

“ The severance not only left behind it a profound feeling of loneliness, but also, in his sensitive heart, a bitterness which boded ill for the future. [50]
“His too great love for me,” wrote Wagner, on the 26th of December 1865, to Frau Wille, “made him blind to other connections, and therefore he was easily disappointed. He knows nobody, and it is only now that he is learning to know people. Still I hope for him. As I am sure of his enduring affection, so I believe in the development of his splendid qualities. All he requires is to learn to know a few more people. ”