The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1886-06-14
LUDWIG n.
The Crazy King Who is Giving So
Much Trouble In Bavaria.

New York Times.
OF King Ludwig II. it has been said that
he has had only one personal and intimate
friend in his life. That one was the late
musician and composer. Richard Wagner,
whom Ludwig idolized. The first stage per-
Torrance that the crazy King ever wit
messed was Wagner's 'Lohengrin." lie was
infatuated with it, and at once became a
most liberal patron of the composer, and for
Is months he required the creator of the
new school to reside at Munich, and only al
lowed him to depart when forced to do so by
his Ministers. The young Kings patronage
was not withdrawn when Wagner was
forced to go elsewhere, for Ludwig's bounty
not only made the musician wealthy, but en-
abled him to produce his works at Bayreuth
in the most lavish and complete manner
This connection with the great musician first
drew attention to the eccentrcities of the
handsome Bavarian King, now bankrupt
and broken in mind and body.
Ludwig Ii. was born at Nymphenburg
Aug. %, 1915, and succeeded to the Bayarian
throne ON the sudden death of his father,
Macmillan H., March 10, 1864. His boy
hood was passed in virtual seclusion with
his ecclesiastical instructors They allowed
him no boyish companions and no indul-
gence in boyiSh sports and games To these
he had recourse after he assembled the throne,
and he has been known to play at marbles
for hours with his courtiers in one of his
palaces just outside of Munich. OF these
palaces he had seven, one of them in the
Ober-Anmergau being built in imitation of
the Palace of Versailles, and furnished in
Louis XIV. style in the most extrayagant
manner. Gilt balconies, marble statues set
in gold inches, costly Gobelin tapestries,
gems of all kinds, stoves ornamented with
agates, chandeliers studded with diamonds,
and a bed which cost 975.000 are among the
features of this palace. Not far away is a
hermitage, built exactly after the one de-
scribed by Wagner in "Die Walkure," and at
the foot Of the meadow on which it stands is
an artificial lake, the bottom of which is
lined with tin to prevent the water from
soakingsinto thesporous soil. Some distance
from these two hermitages, for the great
palace was little else than that, he built a
Moorish pavilion. which he called Morocco,
and which is resplendentin gold and jewelry.
The most precious ornament it contained
was large peacock, mainly of emeralds and
turquoises, suspended from the centre of
the single room the pavilion contained, and
which is lighted by magnificent chandeliers,
the light of which is thrown back from innu-
merable mirrors lining the octagon on all
sides.
In the rear of the Louis XIV. palace is a
cave in the depths of the mountain, known
as the Blue Grotto. This is reached by a tun-
mel and has been converted into a veritable
fairyland, lighted and heated artifcially to
suit the tastes Of this strange monarch, who
would visit the palace and cavern at most un-
expected times. On the artificial lake, so
lighted as to resemble a lake of liquid gold,
he has been won't to sail in golden gondola,
made to resemble swan. To present sim
ulation of breeze, an ingenious steam con-
trivance was constructed by which the wa
tiers were made to swish about as though real
waves produced by natural causes stirred
their surface. Still another palace of this
royal lunatic, massive and magnificent, had
roof garden, ON which he had reproduced
as nearly as possible, the far-famed tropical
garden of Semiramis's palace.
King Ludwig was liberal patron of both
the music and the drama, but '.by All-High-
est command" all the performances he wit
messed were witnessed by him alone, and
from his royal box he enjoyed the perform
ances, though no one on the stage could see
him. His favorite play was Schiller's maid
of Orleans" and for its production he had
special scenery painted from his own designs
and special costumes made. So, too, he had
"Nareisse' mounted and costumed at an ex-
pense Of over. 100,O00f.,. and had Charlotte
WOlters, the famous Viennese actress, play
the principal role, he being the only witness.
The theatre was darkened, and the perform
ance began at midnight. At its conclusion
he sent handsome diamond bracelet to the
actresses hotel after she had retired for rest,
and the Kings chamberlain compelled her
to rise and acknowledge its receipt before he
would leave the hotel. Any other course, he
announced would have greatly displeased
the monarch
When Wagner produced his famous trilo-
gy the final rehearsal, which was virtually
the first performance, was witnessed by the
King alone in theatre artifcially darkened,
the only lights being those on the stage.
Many other operas and plays were produced
under similar circumstances, and In return
the artists were recipients of royal favors,
rich and lavish, for Ludwig's generosity was
unbounded. All of these and similar ecceD-
tricities wiped out the Kings private estate,
and so entailed the income from the civil list
that for several years he has been at the
mercy of money lenders, and quite recently
they fOreclOsed Off some OF his property, and
the government, to save itself from bank
ruptcy, had to refuse to give him any more
advances as its credit, like his, was nearly
gone. $50 now, his wonderful summer PAL
ace, designed to be the finest in Europe, re-
mains partly finished, and its completion is a
matter of imprG liability.
a couple OF years ago King Ludwig dis
missed all his body servants, and since then
his only attendants have been a troop of
light cavalry. These have accompanied him
everywhere he went riding beside him at
full speed, when at midnight, drawn by the
finest blooded horses in Europe, he drove
about Munich, or from town to town in a
sort of steeplechase on wheels. He stopped
for nothing, and his travelling was like the
rushing of whirlwind, often leaving de-
struction, and even death in its track. In
winter he drove about in a gilded sleigh,
drawn by four black Orlotf stations, beauti-
full, high-strung and tireless. His eccentric
tiles were numberless, and of such a charac-
ter, that, were he not king, he would long
aoO how haar, aa1la1 a roy1ly -
Ludwig's only brother, and the next heir
tothe throne, Othon, born in 1913, has been
insane for some time, and therefore cannot
succeed to the throne. The probable sue
cessor is Prince Luitpold, of the same age as
the present King, and a son of Ludwig's UNI
Gle Prince Luitpold, Field Marshal and
Commander of the Bavarian army a man
now 65 years of age, and who has assumed
the Regency. The young Prince Luitpold is
married to an Austrian Princess, Marie The
reese, by whom he has had nine children.
The Prince is Northumberland of the
army saoond in rank tn his father