The Mad King Ludwig

Ludwig II of Bavaria is best known as Mad King Ludwig.He inherited his crown at 18 after a childhood of privilege. He was not interested in the business of governing, which was still at least part of the job of European royals in 1864, instead occupying himself with art, architecture, mythology and fantasy. Otto von Bismarck, minister-president of Prussia, a man who was not a king, but was deeply interested in the business of conquest and governing, easily outmaneuvered Ludwig ultimately bringing Bavaria, against Ludwig's wishes, into what became the German Empire. This is likely a major factor in Ludwig's increasingly "mad" descent into his world of fantasy.Modern psychiatrists are today split on whether or not Ludwig was actually "mad" by today's standards, but in 1886, he was declared mentally unfit to rule, deposed, and shortly afterward found dead in a lake under mysterious circumstances.He left behind a mountain of debt and some of Bavaria's most popular tourist attractions,…

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