Ludwig II

by Martha Schad, Photos (Illustrator)

Like no other king, Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-1886) has been remembered by later generations, especially through his spectacular building projects. His death remains unresolved, and the story of his life continues to pose new mysteries.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2000

Reviews

[Liesje Leest · Rating 3 out of 5]

During my holiday to Munich last year I also visited Neuschwanstein castle and other sites associated with Ludwig II. It's impossible not become somewhat fascinated by this strange king. I found this book about him in a gift shop and bought it because I wanted to learn more about Ludwig.

The book is nice, it has tones of pictures and a lot of information, even if it's quite small. I however didn't like the layout of the book at all. Besides the normal text almost every page has some additional information. This breaks the main narrative and bothered me a bit more than it should have while reading. Also sometimes the book focuses a lot on things that seem trivial to me.

Overall I did enjoy the book and learned a lot about the life of Ludwig II but the book could have been better.

[Breanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tour at Schloss Neuschwanstein made him sound way more interesting.

[Alberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book because of various reasons. First, the structure of the book is extremely strange – it is not arranged chronically but by topics. I also did not find most of the letters of king Ludwig necessary to understand the very basic book – they would be necessary for a more elaborate study of der Märchenkönig. However, the thing I hated the most was the fact that the book covered king Ludwig II in a way that the author seems to have wanted. She presses the idea that Ludwig committed suicide and the second death was caused by an attempt to save the king. She does not even mention the mysterious facts around the death of the king and concerns that it could have been a murder by the government or his uncle. His relationship with Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, was wrongly shown. His struggle between his deep faith and his homosexuality is not mentioned at all – and this is nor first, nor the last book which has just slid over some topics that are inconvenient or unpleasant for the author. Even though this book was gripping and it was easy to read it quickly, this probably was the worst biography I have read in the past few years. And that really is a thing, because I have read Montefiore and Radzinski`s works on Romanovs.

[Jap Hengky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ludwig II was possessed by the idea of a holy kingdom by the Grace of God. In reality he was a constitutional monarch, a head of state with rights and duties and little freedom of action. For this reason he built a fantasy world around him in which – far removed from reality – he could feel he was a real king. From 1875 on he lived at night and slept during the day.

His palaces, which were barred to strangers, have been visited by over 50 million people since his death. They are records in stone of the ideal fantasy world which the king built as a refuge from reality. His historic, poetic and ideal interpretation of his role as king was finally his downfall. It is possible that he preferred to die rather than return to reality.

[Karly Kirkpatrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times could be confusing as it didn't always follow a timeline, but was based on a variety of events at a certain point.

[Karen Ceja · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A fairy tale king". Fascinante biografía, maravillosamente detallada. No puedo dejar de pensar en Neuswanschtein y la incomparable impresión que nos dejó al verlo por primera vez en ese puente, entre las nubes, con la nieve "horizontal" sobre nosotros :)

Ludwing II, sin duda uno de los personajes con una visión genuinamente honesta sobre el arte, la belleza y la compasión.

[Jerilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started and finished. Good little book on Ludwig II. I got it on R&R while visiting one of Ludwig's castles, Neuschwanstein (New Swan Stone), the inspiration for Walt Disney's Princess Castle at Disney Land.

[Thomas Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good little book on Ludwig, has all the info outlined clearly, and without embellishment (his story is fascinating enough without it). Recommended for those wanting to know as much info as possible in a short read.