Washington Journal., 1943-03-19

NTSTCTT UT1TT VI III II -" ~ 80"
DR.. Miller, and five warders from the State
Insane Asylum. They carried with them
anesthetics and a straight,Ja
Drastic Measures
Measures were taken by the Ministers of
War, of Public Safety and of Communications
to thwart any u%prisings on behalf Of the
King among the populace OF Fussen and
the peasantry of the Schwangau or among
the servants and retainers at the castles OF
Hohenschwangau and Ne~uschwanstein. At
the same time orders were sent to all the
Bavarian. custom houses on the nearby
Tvrolese border to redouble their watch on
the frontier passes and to stand prepared to
detain any parsonage trying to leave the
kingdom during the next 48 hours, no matter
how high his rank
Two travelling carriages took the commits
s%ioners from FIssen to Hohenschwangau.
They arrived at Neuschwanstein in the morn
ing at a moment when the King was making
Mayr a scene about the missing key to the
turret. Mayr, pretending to go for the key,
ran downstairs and, encounttering DR.. Won
Gudden at the gate, begged him to come up
at once with the other gentlemen, lest His
Majesty do himself some harm. Mayr voiced
a fear that His Majesty might jump to his
death from a high balcony or easement.
The two doctors and the warders ran up
SUdlIS anu iuSuOQ lubO IuG NdCduI AOJuOduCs .
Room adjoining the Kings study. Three
warders were posted at the doors of the ante
room and corridor, blocking all exit. Two
warders waited behind the physicians, ready
with their anesthetics and straight jacket.
The King came out Of his study. AT sight
Of them he halted and turned pale. DR.. Won
Gudden stepped forward after a low bow and
said: ssYour Majesty This is the saddest
task | ever had put on me. Four nerve
specialists have given their diagnosis Of Your
Maiesty's ailment. AS a result of their deci-
sion his Royal Highness, Prince Luitpold,
has taken over the Government. We have
orders to conduct Your Majesty to a more
suitable place, where your health may have
the benefit Of daily medical care"
King Ludwig replied: "How dare you
speak Of my ailment, when you have not even
examined me-"
The doctor retorted: Majesty! The EVIL
dence submitted to me and to DR.. Miller here
was so convincing, no further examination
was called for. But Your Majesty's health
shall have the most careful examination after
we have conducted you to your other abode"
The King fetched a deep sigh and said:
"VOrbei, Vorbea! Krone uRd ThrON. UNd sch
BIN so germ KONG geweSem' thus taking fare
we'll Of his crown and throne, and regretting
the lost pleasure of ruling as a King.
AS he let himself be led away, he waved
farewells to those servants and retainers,
who dared show themselves on the stairway
landings, in the hall and court yard below.
Without a word he mounted the waiting two
horse carriage and took his seat behind the
coachman at the left of DR.. Won Gudden,
while DR.. Miller and the chief warder sat in
the rear.
Erwin Riedinger's Information
All this was what had happened before
ITL.+--.+,1o 1000 or1 hafono I 1fdnona-pfo6
from my bicycle at Seeshaupt, hearing from
the postmaster's daughter there, how His
Majesty with other gentlemen in two car
riages had passed through Seeshaupt on the
eve of Whitsunday.
The details about the Kings servants and
the commissioners were told me by my friend
Erwin at Primeminister Won Lutz's mansion
III Munich. DR.. Won Lutz, who then wanted
his stepson to prepare for studying law with
a view to becoming a diplomat, had let Erwin
see copies Of the copious testimony about the
last days of King Ludwig, so he might get an
insight how State inquiries were conducted
and how protocols we're worded. Erwin and
| pored over the papers with the testimony.
AS it turned out, Erwin did not become a
diplomat, but late in life, surreptltiously pub
lished in Switzerland a booklet, containing
facsimile photostats of pages from King Lud-
wigs secret diary which he found in a secret
drawer of the desk of his stepfather after his
death. Entries on those pages in Ludwig's
large scrawling handwriting clearly revealed
that the diarist's mind was lettering under
an overpowering consciousness of his failings.
physical and moral. Other entries, such as
childish repetitions of old Spanish and French
endings to royal edicts: "Yo el Reg" and
"Tel est mon pl0sssr', bespoke illusions Of
grandeur, known in medical lore as s'megalo-
MANIA.