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!
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!
He was also, funny enough, Ludwig great-great-great-great-grand godson of Louis XIV. His grandfather and eponymous predecessor Ludwig I was Louis XVI’s god son
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.
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.
True, but that was not the way the Kings have seen to it. Even Wilhelm I bemoaned on the day of his declaration as Kaiser that now his beloved Prussia was gone.
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.
Certain people were not fond of our Kaiser...so he is what we are left with. He also was the last sovereign of our nation as a state. Yet I must add, that being German is more important than being Bavarian.
''cause its bavaria! These guys constantly try to differentiate themselfs from the rest of germany and are considered a 'special' people by the rest of us. Honstly, its a positive feedback loop that Ludwig is merely a symthom of,
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 RU-vid. I am still upset about how few who have discovered or follow this channel. 🙂
Such a sad story...and very well-done. You got all of the main and most important points. I'm sure he was murdered and I hope that one day the truth will be known!
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.
The Khan of Afghanistan in 1885 was likened by Lord Curzon to one of those warlords of the middle aged constrained by the Industrial Age, a kind of Timur for the Nineteenth Century. A ruthless fellow! It would have been rather amusing if Ludwig had tried to displace him, though I doubt very much he would have succeeded.
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.
I've been fascinated by Ludwig ever since I saw the 2012 German biopic with Sabin Tambrea. It's quite historically accurate and portrays Ludwig as a complex figure, a daydreamer with volatile temper who wasn't a good king, but still deserves some sympathy because, behind all the castle building and junk, he was actually a pretty tragic figure. It's interesting to compare him to his contemporary, Franz Joseph I., who also became an emperor at a young age and faced just as many challenges, but for all his faults was willing to face them, keeping the country together throughout most of his reign (and then he started the war that destroyed it but shhhh!).
well if ludwig builded those castles in antartica....antartica would have a tourist base economy now whatever....good video and i do not know if your bavarian but ok these castle have a beautifiul design but...sorry i gotta a real at just 20 minutes from home and castel del monte at one hour so...
It remains one of the most absurd things in the world that normal people think they are the authority over someone else having a psychological disability. It's as if only white people get to decide whether someone is black, or straight people get to decide whether someone is gay. Obviously the main motivation for all the people who wanted to declare Ludwig to have a psychological disability was power, not the desire to save a terribly ill person from having to undergo a life that puts him in situations his weaker than average brain cannot handle. There is - of course - also nothing wrong with not socializing. Not socializing is not "SELF-IMPOSED EXILE" (the horror!) or "ISOLATION!". Not socializing is simply enjoying a quiet life. There's nothing wrong with that. Obviously when you are a King, people do demand of you that you socialize. But in itself, enjoying a quiet life is very much not some horrible crime.
The tragedy of his life and the betrayl by the germans at this time is the reason why all bavarians hate the germans and our only native word for germans: Preißn is also used as one of the most harsh insults you can make a jole about a bavarians mother befire you can call him a preiß We have a very beloved song where it is sung: Dr Gudden un d'Pissmarck Weychma aa nen Foischen Kanzler g'nennt! Dey han di in See neig'stessn so se di vo hint ogrennt! Dr Guuden and Bissmark (pissmarck) that is also called the wrong chanselor! Dit drowned you in the lake as they tossed you inside cowardly
I mean, I'd rather live under the absurd dictatorship of one man than to live under the absurd dictatorship of millions of people who very much like a noble or a politician say they want everyone to have a good life but actually don't because they're poisonous jealous of anyone who is worse off than they are but gets even a tiny morsel of something for nothing.
