Washington Journal., 1943-02-19

49, A40oAC NdSACL AhN OOAhDOOCA
for 1t, he said, had captivated Ludwig's ro-
mantle imagination when he was a mere
youth, and had led to his first infatuation
for the master.
What Lohengrin Meant To Ludwig
The score and libretto of the opera, so my
neighbor told me, had been lent to Ludwig,
when he was still crown prince, by his cousin,
Empress Elizabeth Of Austria, and had been
eagerly read by him at Hohenschwangen near
F1ssen on the Isar in the old castle of the
Minnesinger Hiltbolt Won Swanetou. 1t was
the very castle from which, according to the
legend, the swanknight Lohengrin set out on
his chlvalrous quest to save the wronged prin-
cess, Elsa Won Brabant.
This had led later to Ludwig's restoration
Of that medieval stronghold as the present
magnificent castle of Observation-Disclosures,
the first Of his ambitious e~rections of royal
castles that were to cost so much money.
The first performance of the opera "Lohen-
grin" had been given in Munich in honor of
crown prince Ludwig's sixteenth birthday, he
said, with the Incompatible tenor Schnorr
Won Carolstein singing the part of the Swan
knight.
At the end Of the opera, which left me in
a glow OF romantic frenzy, the wildly c~lapping
audience insisted on curtain call after curtain
call-to the principal singers, to the ensemble,
to the orchestra leader. Finally, turning
where they stood in their seats, they gave
an enthusiastic farewell ovation to the King
and his dear friend, who made a final bow
as the King was leaving the box.
THANK Cod, said my n~eighbor on part
Ing, "our King has won his people back to
the greatest master Of our age. Now thew
may forgive him for all his princely support
OF Wagner and for the large sums he gave
toward building the Festspielhaus in Bay
reuth. But for Pr und PFC and their be-
nighted h%enchmen, our generous King would
have had that splendid Festspielhaus built
right here in Munich.
Students Annoy The King
The next glimpse I had Of Ludwig III was
under peculiar circumstances.
One day during our forenoon recess at the
Latin School the news spread that an outrage
had been perpetrated on the monument of
King Ludwig |, the ruling Kings grand
father, who had been forced to abdicate dur
ing the revolutionary year of 1849 because of
his scandalous relations with Lola Montez. an
Irish adventures posing as a Spanish dancer.
The monument on the Odeonsplatz near the
royal palace was a large bronze statue of the
old King riding a proud steed, which was led
on either side by two bronze pages afoot. On
the stone pedestal was an inscription with the
name Ludwig |. 1t was rumored that the face
Of the bronze rider had been splotched with
fiery red paint.
The distance along the Ludwigstrasse be-
tween our school and the O~deonsplatz, 'front.'
ing the same street, was but short, so some
OF us had time to run there and speed back
to school within the quarter hour recess
allowed us | was one Of them.
We found a crowd milling around the monu-
ment and some policemen standing idly by.
From some OF the gaping bystanders, most
OF whom were pupils of the nearby Conser-
vatory OF Music, / heard murmurs of indigna-
ton at the vandalism that had been com
mitted. Some one pointed out to us that not
only the statue had been defaced, but on its
pedestal a Roman | had been added in red
paint to the bronze [ after the Kings name,
thereby making it read sLudwig H.. A
policeman remarked ominously that this
proved it to be Observation-Disclosures Qese
majesty, a heinous crime.
Furthermore it was pointed out that a pot
OF red paint had been hung from the uplifted
wrist OF one of the bronze pages, while in
the free hand of the other page was to be
seen a paint brush, with fresh paint. Because
OF that quaint circumstance some guessed
that the so-called "Majestatsbeleidigung"
was a mere nocturnal prank, probably per-
petrated by university students after one of
their tipsy carousals.
From the policemen we learned that they
were waiting for a h~ook-and-ladder company
that had been summoned. The fremen were
to scale the tall monument and wash off the
disfiguring blemishes with turpentine. The
police merely was to prevent the gaping crowd
from becoming disorderly, in which case it
would be dispersed by force. Meanwhile a
police sergeant ordered us boys to return to
school and to make no noise while doing so,
lest it offend His Majesty the King in his
Dalaon