King Ludwig II of Bavaria / Disney’s Frozen
I am researching the life of King Ludwig II for a book project and I realized how he and his brother could be considered the tragic real-life versions of Frozen’s Elsa and Anna.
The princes Ludwig and Otto were born in 1845 and 1848, respectively. Ludwig became heir to the Bavarian throne which he acceded aged 18 after his father’s untimely death.
Ludwig and Otto were playmates and had a very close relationship, except for one alleged incident where Otto was harmed by Ludwig (who was severely punished) during a possible role-play.
Ludwig was obsessed with art, architecture, literature (mostly old legends and fairytales) and music, most prominently the operas of Richard Wagner, whom he would later support and become friends with.
After he became king, he increasingly sought isolation, feeling misunderstood by the world around him. While still fulfilling the legal duties expected of him, he hated to appear as a public figure. Even though he was considered beautiful and women were drawn to him, he never married.
Today, historians agree that Ludwig was most probably gay. However, due to his catholic upbringing and the overall climate of the times, he found it impossible to follow his heart’s desires, potentially even struggling to admit them to himself.
Otto, after having fought in both the Austro-Prussian war (1866) and the Franco-Prussian war (1870-71) at a young age, was diagnosed as insane and could no longer be of support to his elder brother. He lived in a castle of his own, guarded by doctors. Ludwig would sometimes visit him and ordered that no violence be used in treating him. He was possibly experiencing psychotic schizophrenia.
Prince Otto in his uniform
Everyone agrees that Ludwig was very lonely and at least suffering from depression, if not a more serious mental illness. More and more, he lived in a world of his own creation, through his aesthetics and fairytale-fuelled fantasies, preferring the night to the day and riding out alone under the moonlight. He drowned in the lake of Starnberg, aged 40, under rather mysterious circumstances, shortly after having been proclaimed insane as well and been put under arrest by the government. It is suspected that he was not, in fact, mentally incompetent, but rather spending too much of the state’s money. Otto actually became king after his death, but only on paper.
King Ludwig II
However, during his reign, Ludwig initiated the building of three of Bavaria’s most beautiful and lavish castles, Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and of course, high up in the mountains near his childhood home, Neuschwanstein. Two psychological sources stated it was likely that he basically channeled his suppressed sexuality into the behavioral addiction of creating these magnificent buildings.
Neuschwanstein, still unfinished, is drawing millions of visitors each year. Among them, before the construction of his first theme park, was none other than Walt Disney. It seems apparent that he drew inspiration from it for the creation of the Magic Kingdom (according to the castle’s official website, for example). It certainly proves difficult to find a more Disney-looking castle around the globe.
Ludwig is sometimes known as the Mad King but more often he is dubbed, rightfully, “The Fairytale King.”
