Bavaria’s “Mad King Ludwig”, famed for the construction of the fairy-tale castle at Neuschwanstein, may not have been insane after all, a review of his case has concluded.
Well known for his eccentric behaviour and a passion for spending money that left him deep in debt, King Ludwig II was dethroned in 1886 after a team of experts led by psychiatrist Bernhard von Gudden declared him unfit to rule.
The experts took issue with aspects of the Bavarian monarch’s apparently peculiar behaviour such as insisting on dining outdoors in all weathers, and lavishing vast sums of money on grandiose castles despite the pleadings of his financial advisors.
Taking this as evidence of mental illness Von Gudden and his associates decreed that “Suffering from such a disorder, freedom of action can no longer be allowed and Your Majesty is declared incapable of ruling”.
But a new review of Ludwig’s case published in the respected journal History of Psychiatry has cast doubts over Von Gudden’s conclusions.
Led by Doctor Heinz Hafner, a leading German psychiatrist, the team behind the review ploughed through the archive material on Ludwig’s alleged insanity and concluded “the psychiatric assessment was incorrect in form and substance.”
The study will add to the mystery surrounding the demise of King Ludwig as it puts its weight behind the conspiracy theory that the king was the victim of a carefully orchestrated coup, organised by family members hungry for power and embarrassed by Ludwig’s debts and rampant rumours of his alleged homosexuality.
“They had decided that the king had to be removed from power so they looked around for a psychiatrist to help them, and so asked Von Gudden,” said Doctor Hafner.
“To begin with Von Gudden never formally met the king during his investigation,” he continued “The only time they ever met was 12 years before. Von Gudden never asked people who could give an objective opinion of the king. Only biased evidence was accepted. His opinion was based on reports from servants such as couple of people who worked in the stables, and a waiter in the palace.
“A secretary who collected written evidence that the king was capable of ruling was ignored.”
While the research into King Ludwig may relieve him of the stigma of madness it is unlikely to clear up perhaps the most enduring mystery surrounding King Ludwig: how he died.
On June 13, 1886, just three days after he had been deposed, Ludwig and Von Gudden went for a walk on the banks of a lake in a palace garden. Neither was seen alive again. Their bodies were retrieved from the shallows of the lake a few hours later, with Von Gudden’s showing signs of being attacked. Ludwig’s death was attributed to drowning although no water was found in his lungs and he was a strong swimmer.