Ludwig II mad and his magical castles
"All kings!"
- Kings can do everything?
I welcome you dear readers and I want to tell you an old fairy tale, which became a reality.
Are you ready to listen to me?
Then begin...
In a certain Kingdom, in a certain state, which was called Bavaria, in the Royal family on August 25, 1845, the heir was born, who was named Ludwig II.
Can you tell me what's so special about it? Think, was born the next monarch in a small Kingdom, which in those days was a dime a dozen.
It is, of course, so, but when Ludwig II grew up and ascended to the throne, he managed to, despite the fact that he lived in the world only 40 years, immortalize his name in history.
Probably, the boy of the Royal family had a nanny like the one that brought our poet Pushkin, because it is up to the end of his life believed in fairy tales, perfect love and tried to bring it all to life.
Becoming king in the incomplete eighteen years, he remained in the soul of a child hungry for stories.
And he thought, "What if I do something to live in a fairy tale? For example, a magic castle or even a few?"
And Ludwig II began to carry out his plan, creating several beautiful castles, which even centuries later delight the eyes of tourists who came to admire these wonders from around the world.
And after all, there is something to admire. Take at least the most favorite castle of the king - "Neuschwanstein", which translated into Russian sounds like "new Swan stone". Its construction lasted for 16 years, and only the last two years of his life Ludwig could enjoy it.
The castle is located near the Bavarian town of füssen, which in turn is surrounded by dozens of castles, which gives the surrounding area elements of fabulousness.
Before I continue my story about the king's castles, I want to introduce you a little bit to himself and his biography.
He was a tall, handsome, handsome man who, unfortunately, had not created his family and had not left any offspring...
At the age of fifteen, he became an ardent admirer of the Opera, having attended the premiere of Richard Wagner's Lohengrin.
Soon after the accession to the throne, the young king personally met with the composer and from that moment there was a strong friendship between them, which lasted for a long time.
Moreover, Ludwig financially supported Wagner, allocating him large sums for writing new musical works and for the construction Of the Palace of festivals in Bayreuth.
There was a lot of talk about the unconventional orientation of the king, that he abhorred female society. However, in January 1867, he was engaged to Sophia of Bavaria, the younger sister of Elizabeth of Austria, with whom he was almost all his life tied the bonds of strong friendship.
Yes, before the wedding, it never came, and the official version was guilty of this Ludwig, but in fact he just had a friendly service to his beloved, breaking off the engagement. He gave her the freedom she wanted so she could marry the man she loved with all her heart just 3 days after her engagement to Ludwig.
In fact, Ludwig and Sophia linked only a passion for the work of Wagner, nothing more.
After Bavaria became part of The German Empire in 1871, Ludwig, who turned from monarch to "Governor" of his lands, lived in the castle Neuschwanstein under construction as a recluse. There he watched the progress of construction, there he received his subjects.
The king's seclusion from the outside world, his departure from real life in the world of fairy-tale dreams, did their job. Obsessed with his dream, he was constantly in nervous tension, which could not but affect his lifestyle. Increasingly and more often he was awake at night, and slept during the day, for which he received the nickname "Moon king".
According to information from various sources, he was loved for his good temper and good attitude to his subjects, on the contrary, he was scolded for humiliation towards servants and Ministers.
Anyway, but the end of the "lunar" king was sad.
Carried away by the construction of several castles, he wasted all the money that was in the Treasury, made a lot of debts, which caused the anger of high-ranking Imperial officials, who declared Ludwig crazy and sent to his castle June 10, 1886 nurses to forward him to a psychiatric clinic.
For three days the guards and the locals defended their king, but as a result of the betrayal of several of his subjects, Ludwig was lured out of the Palace and taken away, as it turned out, to certain death.
The very next day, on arrival at the clinic, during a walk of the king with Professor of psychiatry Bernhard Alois von Goodden, he was killed. His corpse along with a dead Professor found in the lake on the hospital grounds. It was officially stated that the king allegedly committed suicide, and the doctor died trying to save him. But in this version of no one believed...
Fairy-tale castles of the "moon" king are still pleasing to the eye of tourists coming in. Among them are the most famous:
- House on mount SCHACHEN (1869-1872), - Alpine wooden house, where, since the mid-1870s, he celebrated all alone their birthdays. The attraction of this house is the "Turkish room", decorated in Oriental style.
- Linderhof (1874-1878) - on the site of the previously "Royal house" of his father Maximilian II. The world's first thermal power plant was built to illuminate this castle.
- Herrenchiemsee - Ludwig's plan was to be a copy of Versailles Palace, was left unfinished. After the death of the king, it was built by the heirs of the monarch.
However, the most famous and famous was and remains Neuschwanstein castle, a fairy-tale castle created by the "moon" king under the impression of Wagner's operas "Lohengrin" and "tannhäuser", as an illustration to legends and fairy tales, the house where their heroes still live.
Near the castle in the middle of the mountains there is Swan lake, which, as the contemporaries of Tchaikovsky write, inspired him to create the famous ballet.
A copy of this castle - Sleeping Beauty castle, located in Disneyland Paris. It can also be seen in several feature films.
The moon king himself is not forgotten. A lot of songs and ballads were composed about him, several films were released, books were written.
I hope you liked my story, and the information contained in it was useful.
Thank you for your attention, see you soon!
With respect to you I, your @mrfantastis.
rusteemteam!
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