The Tragic End Of Bavaria's King Ludwig

King Ludwig II of Bavaria, also known as the Fairy Tale King, was found dead in a lake on 13 June 1886. His death was officially declared a suicide, but many believe that he was murdered, possibly on the orders of the Bavarian government, which had recently declared him insane and unfit to rule.

Ludwig was an eccentric king with a passion for building extravagant castles. He was also a patron of the composer Richard Wagner. Ludwig's reign began in 1864, when he was just 18 years old. Over time, he became increasingly uninterested in politics, focusing instead on his artistic pursuits and spending vast sums on his building projects. This led to conflict with the Bavarian government, which eventually moved to have him declared insane and unfit to rule.

On 10 June 1886, Ludwig was deposed and his uncle, Prince Luitpold, became regent. Three days later, Ludwig went for a walk around Lake Starnberg with one of the psychiatrists who had declared him insane, Dr Bernhard Van Gudden. Their bodies were found later that night, floating in the lake. There were no signs of drowning, and evidence suggested that Dr Van Gudden had been strangled and hit on the head. The death of King Ludwig II remains a mystery to this day.

King Ludwig II's death

Political Intrigue

Many Bavarians believe that King Ludwig II was murdered. Back then, the only way to get rid of a king was to have him declared insane. Historians debate whether the king really did suffer from a psychiatric illness, but on June 8, 1886, Bavarian ministers had the renowned psychiatry professor Bernhard von Gudden pronounce the king unfit to rule. The king was deposed two days later, and his uncle was made regent. On June 12, a commission arrested him in Neuschwanstein and transferred him to the Berg castle on the nearby Lake Starnberg.

The Evidence

On the evening of June 13, the king took a walk on the lakeshore, accompanied by Dr. Gudden. When they didn't return as promised at 8 p.m., a search party scoured the lakeshore. Two searchers and a fisherman found the bodies of both the king and the doctor floating in shallow water around 11 p.m. The doctor's body showed signs of a struggle, with a broken fingernail and scratches and bruises on his face. According to a doctor's report made that night and the king's autopsy, Ludwig's body had no visible injuries other than a scrape on the knee, and there was no water in his lungs.

The Conspiracy Theories

Some believe that the king was shot while trying to escape, and that Dr. Gudden was killed by the conspirators or by the king's friends who arrived after the shooting. Others claim that the king was not found floating in the water at all, and that he was shot in the back and his clothes were changed to make it look like a suicide. There are also theories that the king was drugged by Dr. Gudden, or that he died of a heart attack brought on by the stress of the situation.

The Aftermath

The mystery of King Ludwig II's death remains unsolved, and his castles stand as a testament to his legacy. Despite almost bankrupting Bavaria, these magnificent palaces now bring many tourists to the region.

Declared insane

On 10 June 1886, King Ludwig II of Bavaria was declared insane by a panel of doctors and unfit to rule. This decision was made by the Bavarian government, which had grown frustrated with Ludwig's inattention to state affairs and his focus on his personal projects, which were emptying his coffers.

Ludwig's reign had been characterised by his eccentricities and his extravagant building projects, inspired by fairy tales, ancient Germanic sagas, and the works of composer Richard Wagner. He had a particular interest in castle-building, constructing ornate palaces such as Schloss Neuschwanstein, Schloss Herrenchiemsee, and Schloss Linderhof. However, his ambitious projects were costly, and by the time of his death, he was 14 million marks in debt with no intention of stopping.

Ludwig's declaration of insanity was not without controversy. Historians still debate whether he truly suffered from a psychiatric illness, and there is evidence to suggest that the diagnosis was made by a doctor who never even examined him. Nevertheless, the decision enabled the Bavarian government to depose Ludwig and install his uncle, Prince Luitpold, as regent on 12 June.

On the evening of 13 June, Ludwig and one of the psychiatrists who had declared him insane, Dr Bernhard Van Gudden, went for a walk around Lake Starnberg and never returned. Their bodies were found later that night, floating in the shallow waters. The deaths were officially declared a suicide by drowning, but this ruling has been disputed, and the demise of this popular king remains a mystery.

There are several inconsistencies in the suicide story. Autopsy reports found no water in Ludwig's lungs, making drowning as a cause of death seem unlikely. There was also evidence that Dr Van Gudden had been strangled and hit on the head, suggesting foul play. Furthermore, notes found on the deathbed of a local fisherman, Jacob Lidl, who died in 1933, claimed that Ludwig had been shot as he attempted to escape. Lidl wrote that he had witnessed the shooting while hiding behind a bush, waiting to help Ludwig flee, and that he had been forced to swear never to tell anyone what he had seen.

While the truth may never be known, the circumstances surrounding Ludwig's death continue to captivate and intrigue people, adding to the enduring legacy of Bavaria's "Fairy-tale King."

Imprisoned in Berg Castle

On June 10, 1886, King Ludwig II of Bavaria was declared insane and deposed. Two days later, on June 12, a commission arrested him at Neuschwanstein Castle and transferred him to Berg Castle on the nearby Lake Starnberg. The castle had been transformed into a one-person insane asylum, complete with locked doors and barred windows. Dr. Bernhard von Gudden, the renowned psychiatry professor who had declared the king unfit to rule, became Ludwig's treating psychiatrist and controlled his contact with the outside world.

On the evening of June 13, the king took a walk on the lakeshore accompanied by Dr. Gudden. When they didn't return as promised at 8 p.m., a search party scoured the lakeshore. Two searchers and a fisherman named Jakob Lidl went out by boat and found the bodies of both the king and the doctor floating in shallow water around 11 p.m. The doctor's body showed signs of a struggle, with a broken fingernail and scratches and bruises on his face. In contrast, Ludwig's body had no visible injuries apart from a scrape on the knee, and the autopsy found no water in his lungs.

The official government version of events claims that the king rushed into the lake to commit suicide by drowning and that Dr. Gudden tried to stop him. In the ensuing struggle, the theory goes, the king killed the doctor, waded out to drown in deeper water, and then floated back to shore. However, this narrative has been disputed, with many Bavarians believing that Ludwig was murdered.

Evidence Supporting Murder Theory

Several pieces of evidence have emerged over the years that lend credence to the murder theory:

• Witnesses Sworn to Secrecy: The fisherman Jakob Lidl and other members of the search party were sworn to secrecy by a Bavarian minister, who asked them to take oaths never to reveal what happened that night, not even to a priest. This unusual step has been cited as an indication that there was something to cover up.
• Lidl's Secret Diary: In his diary, Lidl recorded his memories of the night of Ludwig's death. According to Lidl, the king wanted to flee, and he waited for him on the shore with his boat. However, as the king climbed into the boat, someone shot him in the back. Fearing for his life, Lidl pushed the corpse out of the boat and paddled home. The diary's authenticity was later confirmed by a handwriting expert, but it disappeared after Lidl's heir passed away.
• Statements from the House of Wittelsbach: Members of Ludwig's own family have supported the murder theory. Prince Joseph-Clemens von Wittelsbach, Ludwig's nephew, reportedly told a Bavarian tabloid that he knew the king had been shot, and a coat belonging to Ludwig at the time of his death was said to have two bullet holes in the back.
• The Sketch of the Blood: An art historian and expert on 19th-century paintings, Professor Siegfried Wichmann, examined a sketch in 1967 that depicted three faces, with the middle one appearing to be King Ludwig in death. The sketch, attributed to the Bavarian painter Hermann Kaulbach, showed blood trickling out of the king's mouth, indicative of a firearm injury to the chest rather than drowning.
• Physician's Statement: Inside a book belonging to Dr. Schleiss von Löwenstein, Ludwig's personal royal physician, Professor Wichmann found a handwritten statement about the circumstances of the king's death. According to the statement, Dr. Schleiss, accompanied by Kaulbach and two brothers named Hornig, rushed to the lake on the day Ludwig died. They arrived too late and found the king dead from a gunshot wound in the back, with Dr. Gudden on the shore attempting to stop the blood flow. The statement suggests that Dr. Gudden was part of a conspiracy to assassinate the king and cover it up.
• Crime Scene Analysis: The official explanation of Ludwig's death as a suicide by drowning has been questioned by some. Drowning victims usually sink once their lungs fill with water, especially when weighed down by wet clothes and shoes. However, in rare cases of "dry drowning," the victim's larynx goes into spasm, shutting off the airway and causing suffocation. The presence of two floating corpses, as in this case, is highly unusual and should prompt investigators to consider other causes of death.

Walked to his death

On the evening of 13 June 1886, King Ludwig II of Bavaria asked to go for a walk around Lake Starnberg with his psychiatrist, Dr Bernhard Van Gudden. The king had been declared insane and deposed by the Bavarian government three days earlier, and he was being held at Castle Berg, near the lake.

The king and the doctor never returned from their walk. Search parties were sent out, and at 11 pm, their bodies were found floating in the lake. The death of the king was officially declared a suicide, but there were inconsistencies in the story. The autopsy found no water in Ludwig's lungs, making drowning as a cause of death unlikely. There was also evidence that Dr Van Gudden had been strangled and hit on the head.

Theories about the deaths have spiralled out to suicide, homicide, and various forms of an accident. One theory is that Ludwig murdered Dr Van Gudden in an attempt to escape, then died himself of natural causes. Another theory is that the party was followed by a government hitman sent to dispose of Ludwig.

Murder or suicide?

On 13 June 1886, King Ludwig II of Bavaria was found dead in Lake Starnberg, along with his psychiatrist, Bernhard von Gudden. The official cause of death was ruled as suicide, but many theories have since emerged, including murder and accidental death.

Suicide

Theories supporting suicide posit that King Ludwig II, also known as the "Fairy-tale King", was declared insane and unfit to rule by the Bavarian government just three days before his death. He was overthrown and seized by the government, and taken to Castle Berg by Lake Starnberg. On the evening of 13 June, King Ludwig II asked to go for a walk around the lake with Dr von Gudden, and the pair never returned. Their bodies were found hours later, with King Ludwig II's death declared as suicide by drowning.

Murder

However, there are several inconsistencies in the story that have led many to believe that King Ludwig II was, in fact, murdered. Firstly, the autopsy report stated that there was no water in King Ludwig II's lungs, making drowning as a cause of death seem unlikely. Secondly, there was evidence that Dr von Gudden had been strangled and hit on the head, indicating that he may have been killed. Additionally, notes found on the deathbed of a local fisherman, Jacob Lidl, who died in 1933, claimed that King Ludwig II had been shot. Lidl wrote that he had witnessed the shooting while hiding behind a bush, waiting to help King Ludwig II escape, and that he had been forced to swear he would never tell anyone about what happened. Furthermore, King Ludwig II was known to be a strong swimmer, having spent time swimming in the same lake during his youth, which raises further doubts about the official suicide ruling.

Accidental Death

Another theory suggests that King Ludwig II may have murdered Dr von Gudden in an attempt to escape, and then died of natural causes. However, this theory does not explain the evidence of strangulation and head injuries found on Dr von Gudden's body.

The mystery surrounding the death of King Ludwig II remains unsolved, and it is unlikely that we will ever know the truth unless new evidence emerges.

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