The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-05
KING LUDwIG,s ROMANCE.
A Strange Story Told BY Man Who
says He Was the Kings Body
Guard
N-om the Pittsburq pispatch:

Guard.
From the Pitts5urg Dispatch.
The mysterious circumstances surround.
ing the death of King Ludwig IL of Bava-
ria would be mysterious no longerif the
story Of j. Erlanger of Forbes street, this
city, were accredited. This man was for
nearly four years King Ludwigs private
body guard. He claims that during all
that time he was never over an hour away
from the royal parsonage, and he asserts
that he can make an affidavit of all he saws.
Granger was born in the Bavarian mount
aims. lie entered the Royal Life Guards as
a private soldier, but one day on a parade
Ludwig ii. was attracted by the handsome
young soldier, and he singled him out from
the regiment to attend upon him a his
castle near the LAKE Of Staruburg. MIR.
Erlanger lives on Forbes street, and last
evefiing he told the following story:
First of all, let me tell you that Ludwig
Ii. was not mad at all. He was as sane as
ever any man was. He was the soul of
goodness. 1t is true that he Withdrew from
the society of the world and preferred to
live by himself. But he did not do that
because he hated the world or the people,
but because he had TO hide himself to es-
cape the dagger of some mysterious assas-
sin or the pistol of hired murderer
H6 cause OI all LtlS trouble can De
traced back to two points-he was an enemy
OF Bismarck, and he refused to marry a
woman who had been Ielegated to him by
royal relatives. He was in constant con
troversy with the minister of war in Berlin.
Various innovations were proposed by Bis
marck to be introduced in the Bavarian
army, but Ludwig II. always refused TO
sanction them. Politically he was always
at variance with Bismarck, and several of
the pet schemes of the Iron Chancellor had
to be abandoned because King Ludwig
refused to DO a party to them. For that
reason several conspiracies were formed to
remove the king in some way. At first the
machinery was set to work to replace the
trusty Bavarian servants surrounding the
king by Prus5ians. Then physician was
obtained to examine the mental condition
Of the king. Nobody had ever before thought
such thing necessary, but his enemies
succeeded, and doctor, forget MS name,
pronounced Ludwig II. insane. The next
move was to have him placed in lunatic
asylum. The plans had been well laid.
The carriage which was to carry him to t o
doors of the YUM got within the gate of
the royal castle, when the plot was dis
covered and the king refused to 60 out.
remember the day well. Several Of us
were standing around his ma jesty when the
announcement was made that the carriage
was waiting to take him for drive But
no sooner had the door closed again than
Baron Won zeckingen, the kings second
physician, came il. He implored Ludwig
no5 TO go out, and revealed the whole plot,
The king arose and quietly walked over to
one of us, saying: Command that carriage
to be taken away again, do not care to
drive to-day
THAT settled it. The evil had been
averted that time, but his enemies were not
20 be daunted by one failure. Baron Won
Kudder, Prussian, was next placed III
the palace, and soon gained the confidence
of the king. The meshes were silently out
cunningly woven by this man. whom know
to have been in the pay of Prussia. How
he succeeded the world k iows, but nobody
thought the willy baron meant to drown
the king. However, the facts are these:
''On the morning of that fatal day on
which the body of our beloved king wa
drawn from the lake, Baron Kudder gave
this order to the guards: Unless the king
makes special request for your attendaa C,
let him 60 unacc mpanied on his walk
through the grounds
''Of course, we obeyed The king went
out rever t. return alive. | was at the LAKE
when they dragged his body from the water
The kings hand had a strong hold of DR.
Kuddei IS throat. In additlon TO that the
lapel of the doctors coat was torn off ant
mis- face was scratched i'll several places
All this pointed to the fact that a severe
struggle mad taken place. You must re
member that the king was very strong
man. He measured 6 feet ana inches, anc
weighed 275 pounds. No sooner had we
seen this sight than we knew that there had
not been suicide or an accidental death
but q foul assassination.
1.-THE only redeeming feature in the whole
affair was that the murderer had died with
his victim. Preparations were at once
nude to have the whole thing kept secret.
The attendants were Immediately dis
charged. A few days after the catastrophe
a number of us were sitting in beer gar
den, when one of our number openly stated
that the king had been assassinated. A
few minutes later he was arrested and has
never been heard of since. This was a
warning to the rest, and we escaped. | left
the country without a passport. We had
at first intended to make the whole thing
public, but knowing that we would all be
imprisoned without gaining our point, we
abandoned that plan.n
but you have not explained TO me why
the king so strenously refused to Tarry?n
''Simply for this reason: The king was
in love with miller's beautiful daughter,
and he would not give her up to please even
his mother. His family wanted him to
marry the Princess Won Darxes, lady Of
the royal house of Bavaria, but he did not
want her, and that settled it,"
do you know anything about his rela
tionship with the miller'S daughterp
II know all atout it. Often have I gone
to her housewife baskets of flowers, wine
fruit, and other delicacles for the young
lady She was the most beautiful girl
ever saw. The king became acquainted
with her while hunting in the Bavarian
Alps. Her father had windmill on the
top of a hill, about five miles from the
Starnberg Castle. He was lame and
walked with a crutch, so we called him the
Crooked Miller The young lady was
born HAY "a, 1864. She was tall and dark,
with deep, dreamy, black eyes. She had q
remarkable gift for writing poetry, and
had a whole volume Of verses written by
her. The king was passionately fond of
her, and had it hot been for the fact that
he would have angered all the crowned
heads of Europe. he would have married.
Her first name was Ellapenia. / do not
remem Der her other name, because we al
wa VS. call her Fraulein Ellapenia.
GAN the stories that have been told
about King Ludwig's eccentricities are
false. He never ordered the Royal opera
company of Munich to play before him alone
He never ordered taem TO come to his cast lie
in the middle of the night, and he never
asked them to act before him in a state Of
nudity.