Ludwig II, the King who wanted to live in a Fairy Tale

In today's video, we will examine the life and mysterious death of Ludwig II, Bavaria's most famous monarch. We'll focus on his role in the German wars of unification, his love for castles, and his mental state.

Sources:
O. Hilmes, 'Ludwig II.: Der unzeitgemäße König' (Munich: Siedler, 2013).
S. F. Kellerhoff, 'Wie Bismarck mit viel Schmiergeld König Ludwig II. von Bayern bestach', Welt, 14 January 2021.
H. Kratzer, 'Der "Kini" wollte weg aus Bayern', Süddeutsche Zeitung, 19 Decembre 2017.
C. McIntosh, 'Ludwig II of Bavaria: The Swan King' (London: I.B.Tauris, 1997)

Music Used:
Wagner - Faust

[KRFTWRK]

Imagine becoming king at 18... and having to watch the realm your ancestors entrusted to you crumble piece by piece every day. That must've sucked. Great vid tho!

[rennor]

A fun little fact is that Ludwig II of Bavaria is that he admired King Louis XIV of France so much that he wanted to be the premier example of royal absolutism of his epoque just like his ''counterpart''. He went so far as to designate himself as the ''Moon-King'', a self-created epiphet inspired from that of the former's ''Sun-King''.

I guess he realized that he was so far out that only the Moon could reach for him to bring him back to reality.

Excellent video!

[mqumiuq]

This channel is almost at the 1000 mark! I'm glad it's starting to receive more recognition, I love these videos!

[TheWazzoGames]

Fun Fact: Ludwig II refused to attend the proclamation of the German Empire in the hall of mirrors out of protest. His successor Ludwig III would later be said by historians to have a secret agenda to try and wrestle power away from the Kingdom of Prussia within the German Empire. Which, looking back at, is hilarious.

[nattygsbord]

The expensive castles have paid for themselves with all the tourism incomes.. And the castles are just magnificant on the outside, the inside are just as splendid and impressive - especially the linderhof palace IMHO. His support for Wagner helped to create music on an advanced level like never before.

[zoomerboomer]

To be fair though, the Kingdom of Bavaria didn't end with the unification of Germany, Bavarian even had it's separate foreign policy while it was part of German. In a way the Kaiserreich had some similarities with the HRE, just more modernized and centralized.

[mueezadam]

Ludwig II: No! I’ll make the perfect kingdom of peace and-
Bismarck: I’ll give you 6 million Marks to f**k off
Ludwig II: (caresses money) :o

[drzoidnilsson]

These stories from Sir Manatee are so lovely. Stories I haven't heard, told with a soft and lovely voice and illustrated and explained with both cute and pedagogic illustrations.
This comment is very much for the algorithm of YouTube. I am still upset about how few who have discovered or follow this channel. 🙂

[demetriusc.fulmore]

Man, just happening to watch this on the 25th of August (Ludwid II's Birthday) hits different!!!

[SurplusJester]

Ah yes, unser Märchenkönig and his death in the Starnberger lake fascinates me to this very day

[gbalph]

Well at least he gave Disney a castle to build an empire upon.

[LucasBenderChannel]

To this day I don't really understand the reverence for Ludwig and the icon-status that he has gained after his death. You'll still find his picture all across Bavaria and people will refer to him specifically as "our good old king". Why? The remnant of a more loyalist era? The mystery of his death? The beautiful (but massively expensive) castles?

As the man who ultimately agreed to let Bavaria join the German empire, he should be quite controversial in the ever-separatist Bavarian mindset. So that's always been curious. The "good old king" who, on paper, seems like a tragic pityful figure through and through.

[MattiavonSigmund]

Ludwig II, the chad. Such a shame he was betrayed by his trecerous ministers like that... I wish all the castles he planned could be made!

[luquai]

Hey, I just discovered your channel...
It is nice quality content and fits exactly my interests. Keep up the great work :) I will tune in

[Supermariocrosser]

This man is the definition of an anime drama

[markherron]

Ludwig II is Ace of Clubs ♣REST IN POWER Blessings and HUGS 👑💜

[paulspunkt]

I wondered how you are able to pronounce the names so perfectly - then i saw that you are a Seekuh ;)

[marceltoplak]

Very good video but i think you made a mistake in 4:08 because the Peace of Prague was in 1866 and not 1886

[kilerik]

He has a boardgame in his name (A very good one by the way).

That is the most German honour a German can have these days. :P

[azizmulhim]

The king was very good swimmer and he had no tendency of committing suicide... Gudeen's body showed a blow to the head... This is no suicide...but political murder.