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The Death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria
26 June 1886
wood-engraving
32 cm high by 22.3 cm wide — 11 ⅞ inches by 8 ⅞ inches
Illustrations for The Graphic, Vol. XXXIII, No. 865, p. 677.
[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Scanned image, formatting, and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Above: King Ludwig II of Bavaria Driving His Sledge in The Graphic, No. 865, Vol. XXXIII, 657.
The death of "The Late King Ludwig of Bavaria" (otherwise, "Mad King Ludwig") seems to have merited considerable attention in the 26 June 1886 number of The Graphic, whose coverage include a two-column spread and a portrait study of the late king: King Ludwig The Second of Bavaria, Born August 25, 1845. Died June 13, 1886 (upper, p. 657) and King Ludwig II of Bavaria Driving His Sledge (lower, p. 657). Perhaps the interest of British readers was piqued by the late princeling's sensational lifestyle, his extravagant building projects, his "increasingly morbid seclusion" (Encyclopedia Britannica), and his patronage of the celebrated composer Richard Wagner. Although Ludwig II (whom the Encyclopedia Britannica refers to as "Louis II") contributed Bavaria to the newly founded German Empire in 1871, the focus in the accompanying news story is upon the personal peculiarities of the forty-year-old King:
The story of the life of the late King Ludwig of Bavaria is one of the strangest in modern monarchical annals. When he succeeded to the throne on on the death of his father in 1864 he was a clever, handsome young man of nineteen who showed unusual promise, and whose advent to power was hailed by all Bavarians as full of good augury for the future of their country.
After Ludwig's supporting Austria in the war with Prussia, Bismarck, recognizing that the young prince had played a minor role, treated him with leniency.
In return for this, when, in 1870, France declared war against Prussia, King Ludwig at once placed his army at the disposal of King William [i. e., the Kaiser]. Utterly devoid of military tastes, he took no active part in the campaign, but he kept a keen eye over the political situation, and was foremost amongst the Teutonic sovereigns in offering the German Imperial Crown to the King of Prussia at Versailles, declaring in his Circular Letter to the German Courts proposing this step, "It is to me a sublime thought that I can feel myself called upon both by my position in Germany and by the history of my country to take the first step towards the work of German Unity."
The second half of the story examines Ludwig's cultural, artistic, and emotional life after 1871, with an emphasis on his imaginative and audacious building program, and his indulging in an architectural extravagance that rivalled Louis XIV's at Versailles. The article does not delve into Ludwig's sexual proclivities, perhaps because of his close relationship with his cousin Elisabeth, who was then Empress of Austria.
Various gorgeous palaces were put in hand, and fabulous sums spent upon their decoration, until the Royal Exchequer became in an absolutely bankrupt condition. Thus, for some years past, the idea of a possible abdication or deposition has been mooted, as the King began absolutely to shun all society, and was only vaguely heard of as impersonating Wagnerian heroes in his palace gardens — his favourite role being Lohengrin when he would appear as the Swan in a boat on his private lake.
The Death of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in five vignettes and additional illustrations. The Graphic: An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, No. 865, Vol. XXXIII (26 June 1886): 677.
Lotha, Gloria; Yamini Chauhan; and Emily Rodriguez. "Louis II." Encyclopedia Britannica. Last updated 26 February 2025. Accessed 30 March 2025. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Louis-II-king-of-Bavaria.html.
Created 5 April 2025