This would have been one of the most painful days in Ludwig's life. Starting in the early morning, the peasants that surrounded Neuschwanstein were ordered back to their farms by the government forces, and one by one Ludwig's servants and lackeys switched over to the other side, leaving him with a few remaining loyal servants. The police force that guarded the gates of Neuschwanstein were replaced by Prince Luitpold's forces, and all through the village posters and announcements were being put up proclaiming the Regency. Ludwig was no longer King.
Up in the Castle, Ludwig began to talk of suicide. His one remaining faithful servant, a boy named Weber, was told, "...... look for my head in the waters of the Pöllat". (The waterfall that is next to Neuschwanstein.) He wanted the key to the highest tower in the Castle, that he could throw himself from the top of it. He was told the key could not be found. "Do you believe in the immortality of the soul?" he asked Weber. "Because I do."
At one point he said something that is very revealing. "Had they only deprived me of my Crown, that I could have survived. But to deprive me of my reason, take away my freedom, and treat me as they treat my brother, that is intolerable. From that fate I will escape. They are hounding me to my death." And at another point, he said, "Drowning is a fine death. There is no mutilation of the body." He then wished to take a stroll down to the Alpsee that afternoon, obviously with the intention of drowning himself. Weber told him he could not leave the Castle, as it was now guarded by Government forces.
As night fell, he informed Weber that he wished to escape now. But it was too late. For his loyalty and kindness, Ludwig went to his study and handed the Weber 1,200 Marks in gold. "This is all I have left. You were the most faithful of them all. I won't need it anymore." The boy burst into tears, and Ludwig, deeply moved, gave him a diamond and sapphire clasp as well. Then, something that proves he was not totally mad, he wrote a note saying that if the clasp had to be returned to the Royal Treasury, Weber was to receive 25,000 Marks in compensation.
In the afternoon of 11th, a second Commission left Munich, again reaching Neuschwanstein at midnight.
June 12th, 1886
As soon as the 2nd Commission arrived, Mayer, one of Ludwig's remaining servants, came running down from the Castle to say Ludwig was about to throw himself from a window. The coach to Berg had been ordered for 4:00 am, and the group went up to the Castle. Gudden thought out a plan for trapping Ludwig. He had been asking for the key to the highest tower all night - Mayer was to tell him it had been found. Several police officers were to wait halfway up the tower, and after Ludwig had entered it, the rest were to go up at his rear, trapping him. This plan worked, and the King was placed under arrest halfway up the main tower of Neuschwanstein. (Tours of the Castle use this tower today to reach the various floors. Keep this in mind when you visit the Castle.)
He was told by Gudden that he had been found mentally ill, and he had been replaced by Prince Luitpold as Head of State. He was to be taken to Berg at 4:00 am.
"How can you declare me insane?" Ludwig had demanded. "You have never examined me." It had not been necessary, Gudden replied, there was plenty of documentary evidence.
The journey to Berg took 8 hours, all the while in the pouring rain that had been falling for the past few days. Ludwig rode in a coach with no doorhandles in the inside, and several asylum wardens riding with him. At Seeshaupt, at the head of Lake Starnberg, the horses were changed. Ludwig asked for a glass of water, which was given to him by the Inn-keeper's wife. The glass was preserved as a family heirloom.
The party arrived at Berg at midday, and Ludwig walked through the little castle where he had spent many happy times early in his reign examining everything. It was here that he had first entertained Wagner in 1867, as well as many of his special friends.
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