Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-09-02
KING LUDWIG's ROMANCE.
A Strange Story Told by q Man Who Says
He Was the Kings Body Guard.


From che Pttsburs Dispatch.
The mysterious circumstances surrounding
the death of King Ludwig ii Of Bavaria would
be mysterious no longer if the story of Mr.. ].
Erlanger Of Forbes street, this city, is sccred-
tied. This man was for nearly four years King
Ludwig's private body guard. He claims that
during all that time he was never over an hour
away from the royal parsonage and he asserts
he can make an affidavit to all he says. Erlan-
ger was born in the Bavarian mountains. He
entered the Royal Life Guards as private sol
der. but one day on a parade Ludwig III was
attracted by the handsome young soldier and
be singled him out from the regiment to attend
upon him at his castle near the Lake of Staru-
berg Mr. Erlanger lives on Forbes street and
last evening he told the following story:
First Of all, let me tell you that Ludwig II
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 escape the dagger Of some
mysterious assassin or the pistol Of a hired
murderer
The cause Of all this trouble can be traced
back to two points-he was an enemy Of Bis
marck, and he refused to marry a woman who
had been relegated to him by royal relatives.
He was in u constant controversy with the
ministry Of war In Berlin. Various innova-
tlons were proposed by Bismarck to be intro
dnced IN the bavarian army but Ludwig III
always refused to sanction them. Politically
ne was always at variance with Bismarck. and
several OF the pet schemes of the iron chan
cellor had to be abandoned because King Lud-
wig refused to be party to them. For that
season several conspiracies we're 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 Prussians. 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 a
doctor, forget his 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 the doors of the asylum got within
the gate of the royal castle, when the plot was
discovered and the king refused to go out.
remember the day well. Several Of us were
standing around his majesty when the an
nouncemens was made that the carriage was
awaiting 70 take him for drive. But no
sooner had the door closed again than Baron
Won zeekingen, the kings second physician,
came in. Hsimplored Ludwig not 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, 10 hot care 10 QrlVe To-Day.
THAT settled it. The evil had been averted
that time, but his enemies were mot to be
daunted by one failure. Baron Won Kudder. a
Prussian. was next placed in the palace and
soon gained the confidence of the king The
meshes were silently but cunningy woven by
this man, whom l know to have been in the
pay OF Prussia. How he succeeded the world
knows, but nobody thought the willy baron
meant to drown the king. However. the facts
are these:
ION the morning of that fatal day on which
the body Of our beloved king was drawn from
guards: Unless the king makes a special re-
quest for your attendance let him go unaccom-
panied on his walk through the grounds
"Of course We obeyed. The king went out
never to return alive. was at the lake when
they dragged his body from the water. The
kings hand had strong hold of DIR. Kudder's
throat In addition to that the lapel of the
doctors coat was torn off and his face was
scratched in several places. All this pointed to
the fact that severe struggle had taken place.
You must remember that the king was a very
strong man. He measured six feet and four
inches and weighed 275 pounds No sooner
had we seen this sight than we knew that there
had not been a suicide or an accidental death,
but n foul assassination.
The only redeeming feature in the whole
affair was that the murderer had died with mis-
victim. Preparations were at once made to
have the whole thing kept secret. The attend
ants were mmediately discharged. few DAYS
after the catastrophe number of us were sit
ting in q beer garden, when one of our number
openly stated that the king had been assassi-
mated. few minutes later he was arrested
and has never been heard of since This was a
to the rest and we escaped. j 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 poin:, We abandoned that
plan.
But you have not explained to me why the
king SO strenuously refused to marry?'
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 relation
ship with the miller's daughter?"
Il know all about it. Often have gone to
her house with baskets Of flowers WINE, fruit
and other delicacies for the young lady. She
was the most beautiful girl ever saw. The
king became acquainted with her while hunt
ing in the Bavarian Alps. Her father had a
windmill on the top of a hill about five miles
from the Starnberg castle. He was lame and
walked with a crutch, 30 We called him the
Crooked Miller The young lady was born
May "a, 1864. She was tall and dark, with
deep, dreamy, black eyes. She had a remark
able gift for writing poetry, and had a whole
volume OF verses written by her. The king
was passionately fond of her. and had it not
been for the fact that he would have anpered
all the crowned heads of Europe he would have
married her. Her first name was Ellapenia. l
do not remember her other name. because we
always called her Fraulein Ellapenia.
"All the stories that have been told about
King Ludwig's eccentrioities are false. He
never ordered the Royal opera company of
Munich to play before him alone. He never
ordered them to come to his castle in the mid
die of the night, and he never asked them to
act before him in state of nudity.
lit Is also untrue that he would Jump out Of
bed at night and ride over the mountains by
himself. can assure you he never went any
where alone. He was too careful. Il am sorry
have to bother you so much he would say,
but some OF my good friends compel me to
have q body guard at all times
"HE bedstead had a battery of all kinds of
electrical machinery attached to IL. If he only
moved FROM one side to the other while asleep
all the bells in our room would ring. He was
also particular with his food. He never
touched q morsel of bread even unless one of
us tasted it He knew that his enemies had spies
always surrounding him and he meant to guard
himself as well as possible.
Il also think that the report Of his extrava-
CANT habits is unfounded, because when he
died he was rich.
There are many things connected with the
life OF the dead king that might tell. but it is
useless. You may rest assured of the facts,
however, that King Ludwig ii of Bavaria was
never mad and never drowned himself buf NC