LUDWIG THE SECOND
KING OF BAVARIA
BY
CLARA TSCHUDI
AUTHOR OF "MARIE ANTOINETTE," "EUGÉNIE, EMPRESS OF THE FRENCH,"
"MARIA SOPHIA, QUEEN OF NAPLES," ETC. ETC.
TRANSLATED FROM THE NORWEGIAN
BY
ETHEL HARRIET HEARN
"Certains caractères échappent à l'analyse logique."
George Sand.
WITH COLOURED PORTRAIT
London
SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. LIM.
NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO.
1908
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. Descent and Education 1
II. Fundamental Traits of Ludwig's Character 11
III. "Le Roi est mort! Vive le Roi!" 17
IV. A Plan of Marriage 22
V. King Ludwig and Richard Wagner 25
VI. Ludwig's First Visit to Switzerland--Richard Wagner
leaves Munich 40
VII. The Political Situation--The Schleswig-Holstein Question
--The War of 1866 53
VIII. The King makes the Tour of his Kingdom 58
IX. Ludwig's Betrothal 63
X. The King goes to Paris--Disharmonies between the
Engaged Couple--Ludwig meets the Emperor Napoleon and the
Empress Eugénie in Augsburg--The King breaks his Promise
of Marriage 75
XI. After the Parting with Sophie--Episodes from the King's
Excursions in the Highlands 81
XII. The Empress of Russia visits Bavaria--The Duchess Sophie's
Engagement and Marriage--An Unexpected Meeting with the
Duchesse d'Alençon--A Last Attempt to forge the Links of
Hymen around Ludwig 86
XIII. Ludwig and the Artistes of the Stage--Josephine Schefzky 92
XIV. Prince Hohenlohe--Political Frictions 99
XV. A Meeting between Bismarck and Ludwig 108
XVI. Outbreak of the War with France 111
XVII. During the War--The German Empire is Proclaimed 118
XVIII. The Bavarian Troops Return to Munich--King Ludwig and
the Crown Prince of Germany 131
XIX. A Visit from the Emperor Wilhelm--Ludwig Withdraws more
and more from the World 138
XX. Prince Otto's Insanity--The King's Morbid Sensations 145
XXI. The Review of the Troops in 1875--Crown Prince Friedrich
of Prussia 151
XXII. King Ludwig and the Empress Elizabeth 158
XXIII. King Ludwig and Queen Marie 164
XXIV. State and Church--Ignaz von Döllinger--Ludwig's Letters
to his old Tutor 168
XXV. Ludwig II. in Daily Life 175
XXVI. Ludwig and Richard Wagner--The King's Visit to Bayreuth 180
XXVII. King Ludwig and the Artists of the Stage and Canvas 187
XXVIII. Private Performances at the Hof Theater at Munich 193
XXIX. King Ludwig and his Palaces 197
XXX. King Ludwig's Friendships 204
XXXI. The Actor Kainz 209
XXXII. A Journey to Switzerland 214
XXXIII. King Ludwig and his Servants 221
XXXIV. The Mad King 225
XXXV. The Last Meeting between Mother and Son 230
XXXVI. Pecuniary Distress 234
XXXVII. Plots 239
XXXVIII. Preparations to Imprison the King--The Peasantry Assemble
to his Rescue 244
XXXIX. A Friend in Need--Ludwig's Proclamation 250
XL. The King's Last Hours at Neuschwanstein 257
XLI. Schloss Berg--The King's Death 265
XLII. Conclusion 272
LUDWIG THE SECOND
KING OF BAVARIA
CHAPTER I
Descent and Education
At the birth of Ludwig II., enigmatic as he was unfortunate, of whom
I propose to give a sketch, his grandfather, the eccentric Ludwig I.,
was still King of Bavaria. His father, Maximilian Joseph, was the
Crown Prince. The latter had wedded, in 1842, the beautiful Princess
Marie of Prussia, who was only sixteen years of age at the time of
her marriage, her husband being twenty years her senior.
To all appearance the marriage was a very happy one. Maximilian was
an intelligent and right-thinking man, devoted to public duty, but
he had indifferent health, and, like the greater number of his race,
was the possessor of a sensitive nervous system. For some years it
appeared as if the marriage would be childless. At the beginning
of the year 1845, however, the people of Bavaria were informed that
the Crown Princess was enceinte, and on the 25th of August, on the
birthday of the reigning King, a hundred and one guns proclaimed the
birth of a prince at the château of Nymphenburg.
As a matter of fact, the princely infant had seen the light two
days earlier, but the event had been kept a secret in order to give
Ludwig I. a pleasant surprise, the King having expressed a wish that a
possible hereditary prince might come into the world on that day. The
child was named after him, and he held it himself at the font.
The old King at that time was at the height of his popularity. Soon,
however, a turning-point set in: the dancer Lola Montez invaded
the lovesick Monarch's life, causing a violent insurrection in the
Bavarian capital. Then came the democratic rising of 1848, general
all over Europe, which threw fuel on the fire. Ludwig was compelled
to abdicate, and was succeeded by his son, Maximilian Joseph, who
ascended the throne under the title of Maximilian II.
Shortly after these political disturbances took place the young Queen
was brought to bed of another son, who was named Otto. [1] The effect
on her of the alarm and excitement caused by the aforesaid events,
was such that he came into the world three months too early. The
physicians declared that it was impossible for the child to live,
but they proved to be mistaken in their opinion.
Both the Crown Prince and his brother were unusually good-looking,
and it was a brilliant sight when the popular and beautiful Queen
walked about the streets of Munich, with her handsome boys beside
her. Maternal joy and pride shone from her eyes, and the glance
of the people was directed with genuine admiration on her and her
children. Otto was the one who most resembled his mother. Being,
moreover, lighthearted and accessible, he was also the one to whom
the prize of beauty was awarded by popular opinion. Ludwig's beauty
was of a more uncommon and intellectual type, a noteworthy feature
of his face being the large, brilliant, and dark-blue eye. The boys
were always dressed each in his particular colour, which the Queen
herself had chosen. Otto in red, and Ludwig in blue--the national
colours of Bavaria. Not only were Ludwig's clothes blue in tint, but
also, as far as was possible, his various other small possessions
and necessities; such, for instance, as the binding of his books,
his drawing portfolios, and his volumes of music. This hue always
continued to be his favourite colour.
Possessed of good sense in many ways, Ludwig's parents seem to
have been deficient in their insight into the difficult matter of
bringing up their eldest son. The father was too strict, and made
demands on the Crown Prince with which his abilities and strength did
not allow of his complying. In season and out of season he reminded
him that some time or other he would be a king. He was thoughtlessly
punished whether he deserved it or whether his delinquencies were of
so insignificant a nature as to demand a certain indulgence. Ludwig
was not allowed to be a child. All his toys were early taken from
him. He had, for instance, a tortoise of which he was particularly
fond, but it was not long before this too was removed by the King's
especial order. The Queen made no attempt independently to combat
this unnatural bringing up; nor does she or the King seem to have
been alive to the fact that the peculiarities of the Crown Prince's
character required handling with caution.
He was simultaneously the object in other quarters of a directly
opposite and still more pernicious treatment. His nurse "Liesi"
adored and spoiled him. When he became a little older he was given
a French governess, who seems to have had a positively unfortunate
influence upon him. Her great admiration was the French Roi Soleil,
Louis XIV., and she made no secret of forming her pupil upon this
model. Well-known utterances of the Grand Monarque, such as "L'état
c'est moi!" "Tel est notre bon plaisir," and the like, were held up
to the royal pupil as models of parlance which ought to be copied;
while at the same time the governess gave expression in her looks
and words to the subservience which she considered becoming for a
subject to show to a future monarch. She never asked if he had been
diligent and good. "The Crown Prince is always the first," she repeated
invariably. A teacher of the French language, who succeeded this lady,
acted and comported himself in a similar spirit, and contributed
further to pervert the childish mind. As an example of his method of
education may be mentioned the fact that le très gracieux prince royal,
among other things, was allowed to roll his teacher on the floor like
a barrel.
In such circumstances Ludwig's egotism could not but be
developed. Episodes from his childhood bear witness that a decided vein
of caprice and sense of his own importance were early to be noticed in
him. The following is a trait from the time when he was twelve years
of age, during a sojourn at Berchtesgaden. He was at play in the park,
with his brother. Without the slightest provocation he suddenly threw
Otto, three years younger than himself, on to the grass, planted his
knee firmly on the latter's chest, stuffed his handkerchief into his
mouth, and shouted commandingly: "You are my subject; you must obey
me! Some time I shall be your king!" Happily a courtier was witness
of this scene, and running forward, he dragged Otto, who was almost
suffocated, from his brother's violent grasp. The incident came to
the ears of the King. He gave his first-born a sound thrashing in
true burgher fashion. This corporal punishment had not, however,
the desired effect on the exceedingly sensitive boy; and its result
seems solely to have been embitterment against his father. So much,
indeed, did he take the mortification of it to heart, that later he
literally shunned Berchtesgaden.
One winter day in 1859 the two princes were together in the so-called
"English Garden," in Munich. Otto was rolling a large snowball, and
called out to his brother, in glee: "See, Ludwig, I have a snowball
that is bigger than your head!" Ludwig took it from him. Otto began
to cry. Their tutor came up and asked what was the matter. "Ludwig has
taken my snowball," sobbed Otto. "Your Royal Highness," said the tutor,
"if Prince Otto has made a snowball it belongs to him, and you have
no right to take it." "Have I no right to take the snowball? What am
I Crown Prince for, then?" asked Ludwig in dudgeon.
A gentleman well known to Maximilian, and who was frequently invited
to his shooting parties, informs me that he very seldom saw the
little princes when he visited the King. Once when he was walking in
the gardens of the castle of Hohenschwangau, however, he came upon
an open space where the King's sons happened to be playing. Ludwig
had swung himself up on to a paling, and was running backwards and
forwards on it. The visitor reminded him that he might fall and hurt
himself. The boy, however, took no notice of the well-meant warning,
and its only result was that he increased his antics. The gentleman,
who was really afraid that an accident might happen, now took him
by force in his arms and lifted him down. The Crown Prince glanced
proudly at him; then began to play with his brother, as if no third
person was present. Many years afterwards, long after Ludwig had
become King, the same gentleman reminded him of this occurrence. "I
remember very well," answered his Majesty coldly, "that you touched
me at that time," and then turned the subject of conversation.
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. Having
heard that sound teeth fetched as much as ten guldens apiece, he betook
himself to one of the Munich dentists, and offered him one of his
best molars at that price. The dentist knowing who he was, did not,
of course, accept the offer. When the occurrence became known to the
King, the prince was severely punished. The episode, however, seems
to have brought the Queen to reflection, and she caused the princes'
pocket-money to be augmented from that day.
On his eighteenth birthday Ludwig for the first time received a sum of
any consideration, his father presenting him with a purse containing
a specimen of every coin at that time current in Bavaria. The youth,
who had never before had anything in his pocket but a few coppers,
imagined that he had suddenly become a wealthy man, and hastened off
to buy and present to his mother a locket, which she had admired in
a jeweller's shop. He made no inquiries as to the price, but when
the jeweller observed that he would send the ornament and the bill
to the Palace, said with importance, handing him his purse: "No,
I have money of my own now. Here, pay yourself for the ornament!"
Between the Crown Prince and his father there was never any great
feeling of tenderness, but he was without doubt very much attached
to his mother. The circumstances attending the birth of Prince Otto
had, however, given her a preference for her younger son; and when
Ludwig in his childish years endeavoured to talk to her of his ideas
and impressions, the very prosaic Queen showed a remarkable want of
comprehension of his poet's nature. Apart from occasional friction,
the relations between the brothers were peaceful and good. The
younger one always took the second place, and the modesty with which
he did this was no doubt the chief reason why the two were good
friends. The entire character and turn of mind of the Crown Prince,
his ideas, pleasures, and sympathies, were absolutely different from
those of Otto, and of any real confidence on his side there could
consequently be no possibility. Ludwig preferred solitude. Otto
was gay and sociable. Ludwig was interested in art, and occupied
himself with flowers; his brother loved military matters, and was
a keen sportsman. Two interests, however, they had in common: both
were from childhood first-rate, almost foolhardy, riders, and both
loved music and singing.
They had only two playmates, namely Prince Ludwig of Hesse, who
spent part of his childhood at the court of his aunt Queen Marie, and
Count Holstein, who now and then was allowed to visit them. The Crown
Prince was considered to be highly gifted. From his earliest youth
his memory was unusually good, and he often reduced his teachers to
despair by the puzzling questions he would put to them. Meanwhile he
was only diligent in the subjects which interested him, and lazy and
indifferent concerning those which did not please him. His teachers
were able and upright men, but towards the greater number of them he
was very reserved. With a few exceptions they were powerless and at
their wit's end before this peculiar character, which perplexed them
by its contradictions and alarmed them by its outbursts of violence.
Thus grew up the Bavarian Crown Prince; in surroundings which left
him partly neglected and misunderstood and partly perverted his
understanding, and in circumstances which were fitted to develop his
already naturally marked egotism and feeling of self-esteem.