“My beloved Elsa! Your cruel father has torn us apart. Eternally yours, Heinrich.”
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Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II, also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King, was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886.
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politics · King of Bavaria from 1864 to 1886 · art collector · monarch · also Ludwig II of Bavaria, Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm, Swan King, der Märchenkönig, the Fairy Tale King, Ludwig II
Born 25 August 1845 · Died 13 June 1886 · Q44039
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2026· 2 entries
Public attention spiked: 4,342 Wikipedia readers in one day, 4× the usual 1,093, with 0 article edits.
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2019· 1 entry
MutualArt.com: King Ludwig II of Bavaria
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1945· 1 entry
But a replica was constructed at Linderhof in 1990
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1923· 1 entry
Have paid for themselves many times over and attract millions of tourists from all over the world to Germany each year
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1897· 2 entries
Due to water leaking from the ornamental lake through the ceiling of the rooms below
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After water leaked into the lower floors
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1892· 1 entry
But the watch-tower and chapel were only at the foundation stage in 1886 and were never built
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1891· 1 entry
And taken to Oberammergau, it was purchased by the government in 1980 and re-erected in the park at Linderhof after extensive restoration
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1886· 2 entries
Died 1886-06-13.
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Career landmark: incapacitation.
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1883· 1 entry
Ludwig planned the construction of a new castle on Falkenstein (Falcon Rock) near Pfronten in the Allgäu, a place he knew well: a diary entry for 16 October 1867 reads "Falkenstein wild, romantic"
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1878· 2 entries
Construction began on Herrenchiemsee, a partial replica of the Palace of Versailles, sited on the Herreninsel in the Chiemsee
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Construction was completed on Ludwig's Linderhof Palace, an ornate palace in neo-French Rococo style, with handsome formal gardens
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1877· 1 entry
Ludwig had Einsiedlei des Gurnemanz (a small hermitage, as seen in the third act of Parsifal) erected near Hunding's Hut, with a meadow of spring flowers; a replica made in 2000 can now be seen in the park at Linderhof
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1876· 1 entry
Ludwig attended the dress rehearsal and third public performance of the complete Ring Cycle at the Festspielhaus but avoided the premieres with the honored guests, including Kaiser Wilhelm I and many other German monarch
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1873· 1 entry
Himself spoke of seeking spiritual respite from the unbearable present
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1871· 2 entries
Which was to be ruled by her cousin Emperor Wilhelm I in 1871
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Instated Paragraph 175, which criminalized homosexual acts between males
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1870· 2 entries
Bavaria was required to fight alongside Prussia
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The king did not forgive him; nevertheless, he later gave him a villa on Lake Starnberg, where he often invited himself for tea
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1869· 1 entry
Ludwig oversaw the laying of the cornerstone for Neuschwanstein on a breathtaking mountaintop site
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1868· 2 entries
Had the castle magnificently decorated for the duration of her stay there; the castle otherwise, by his standards, was modestly furnished
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Ludwig commissioned the first drawings for his buildings, starting with Neuschwanstein Castle and Herrenchiemsee; work on the latter did not commence until 1878
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1867· 6 entries
At the Bavarian Foreign Ministry, the shy king stayed for barely an hour before disappearing without a word from the throng of guests
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After he had abruptly ended his long-standing, homoaffective relationship with his adjutant, Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis, in November 1866
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As quite a small structure, but after extensions in 1868 and 1871, the dimensions reached 69
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Appointed Karl von Perfall as director of his new court theatre
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Ludwig visited Eugène Viollet-le-Duc's work at the Château de Pierrefonds and the Palace of Versailles in France, as well as the Wartburg near Eisenach in Thuringia, which largely influenced the style of his construction
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Career landmark: engagement.
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1864· 2 entries
Career landmark: King of Bavaria (1864–1886).
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Laid the foundation stone of a new Court Theatre, now the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (Gärtnerplatz-Theater)
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1848· 1 entry
After the abdication of the former's father, Ludwig I, during the German revolution of 1848–1849
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1845· 1 entry
Born 1845-08-25.
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