It was from this time onwards in his life that Ludwig began planning and building his castles. The task of being king was far too great for a young man in his early 20's. This is possibly the most important fact that we must keep in mind when dealing with Ludwig. At the age of 20 he signed the order for mobilising the army and joining the Seven Weeks War, and thereby ordering thousands into battle. The traumatic episode of his failed engagement occurred when he was 21. But tragedy was still about to descend on the young King. Two years after his broken marriage plans, Prussia went to war with France, and since Prussia now effectively controlled Bavaria's army, Ludwig ordered his troops into battle once again into what became known as the Franco-Prussian War. During this war Ludwig withdrew from the real world and into a world of make-believe. The plans for both Neuschwanstein and Linderhof date from this period, and the foundation stone for Neuschwanstein was laid now. (In 1869.)

"The Dream King"

Ludwig was quickly changing in both mind and body. Photographs show how his appearance changed from a slender youth to a huge man in just a few years. He began to spend all his time in the mountains, at Hohenschwangau and Linderhof when it was ready to move in to, and his small mock-Gothic castle at Berg, beside Lake Starnberg. He refused to see his ministers and preferred the company of the mountain people. In fact, the only time he stayted in Munich was the annual investiture and banquet given in the Residenz for the Knights of the Order of St. George, Bavaria's highest Order of Chivalry Ludwig was the Grand Master of this Order. From paintings of these dinners, we can see Ludwig enjoyed himself immensely. 

 The famous "Private Performances" also date from around this time. Sitting alone in the Residenz Theatre or the Court Theatre in Munich, the King would attend plays, concerts and operas put on for him alone. Plays were commissioned by the King to take place in settings designated by him. These settings were invariably exotic; the Himalayas; the court of Louis XIV; Tibet, Imperial China etc.

The final trauma for Ludwig occurred shortly after Prussia's victory in the Franco-Prussian War. Bismark requested Ludwig's approval for Bavaria to enter a unified German Empire with Prussia as leader. After several days procrastinating, Ludwig agreed and wrote a letter inviting Wilhelm II to become Emperor of a united Germany. Bavarian sovereignty became an idea rather than a reality, and Ludwig a figurehead in a constitutional monarchy.

These incidences, then, were responsible for his reclusive existence, and his alleged "madness". The world had never been kind to him, and he withdrew from it into a world of his own making. This was the reason for his castles.

From the early 1870's until his death, Ludwig concerned himself with three major things -

* Building his castles

* Wagner's operas

* The theatre

You will be able to find out about these in their sections of this site.

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