Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey, brain Stuff,
Speaker 1: Lauren Bogelbam. Here you can thank a mad Bavarian king
Speaker 1: for the opening credits to every Disney movie. Before Walt
Speaker 1: Disney built Disneyland, he and his wife Lillian toward Europe,
Speaker 1: including a stop at the magnificent Neusch von Stein Castle
Speaker 1: in the Bavarian Alps of Germany. Disney was so impressed
Speaker 1: with the skyscraping, turrets and towers of this faux Romanesque
Speaker 1: structure that he used it as the model for Sleeping
Speaker 1: Beauty's Castle, the centerpiece of Disneyland and now the ubiquitous
Speaker 1: logo of Walt Disney Pictures. But if Disney had known
Speaker 1: the real story of Neusch von Stein and its fairy
Speaker 1: tale king, an eccentric opera fan who was declared a
Speaker 1: mad man before dying under mysterious circumstances, he might have
Speaker 1: chosen a different castle. Neusch von Stein Castle is one
Speaker 1: of the most visited tourist destinations in Europe, welcoming more
Speaker 1: than six thousand visitors on busy day das in the summer.
Speaker 1: But the man who dreamed up the fantastical castle never
Speaker 1: intended for it to be open to the public. It
Speaker 1: began as an architectural love letter to the German composer
Speaker 1: Richard Wagner and evolved into a refuge for a reclusive
Speaker 1: king who slowly lost his grip on reality. King Ludwig
Speaker 1: the Second never fit the mold of a stoic monarch.
Speaker 1: Born in eighteen forty five, he was raised in princely
Speaker 1: elegance in his father, Maximilian the Seconds castle Hohenschwangau, where
Speaker 1: the young royal quote enjoyed dressing up and took pleasure
Speaker 1: in play acting. According to his mother Marie of Prussia,
Speaker 1: from an early age, Ludwig had a vivid imagination and
Speaker 1: a flair for the dramatic owen Schwangau, built in eighteen
Speaker 1: thirty two in the Gothic style, was decorated with paintings
Speaker 1: drawn from medieval German legends and poetry, and young Ludwig
Speaker 1: particularly identified with Luhang Green, a legendary knight of the
Speaker 1: Holy Grail who traveled on a boat pulled by swans.
Speaker 1: When Maximilian the Second died suddenly in eighteen sixty four, Ludwig,
Speaker 1: then eighteen years old, was thrust into power unprepared for
Speaker 1: any serious political leadership. One of the first things Ludwig
Speaker 1: did as king was to invite his musical idol Wagner
Speaker 1: to come to Munich for an opera festival. Wagner was
Speaker 1: also obsessed with German medieval legends and an even written
Speaker 1: opera version of the Luhan Green story in eighteen fifty. Wagner,
Speaker 1: who was in dire financial straits, eagerly accepted Ludwig's invitation,
Speaker 1: and the young king became one of the composer's chief patrons.
Speaker 1: When they met, Wagner didn't know what to make of
Speaker 1: the other worldly Ludwig, Wagner wrote, today, I was brought
Speaker 1: to him. He's unfortunately so beautiful and wise, soulful and
Speaker 1: lordly that I fear his life must fade away like
Speaker 1: a divine dream. In this base world. You cannot imagine
Speaker 1: the magic of his regard. If he remains alive, it
Speaker 1: will be a great miracle. Wagner couldn't have predicted it,
Speaker 1: but just two years later, in eighteen six six, Bavaria
Speaker 1: and Austria suffered a humiliating defeat to Prussia in the
Speaker 1: Seven Weeks War, and Ludwig was stripped of all real power.
Speaker 1: It was then historians believe that Ludwig decided to retreat
Speaker 1: into a fantasy kingdom in the Alps dedicated to Wagner,
Speaker 1: an alternate reality in which he could play out his
Speaker 1: operatic daydreams full of Christian nights and magical swans. Ludwig
Speaker 1: already had the perfect location picked out, a rocky promontory
Speaker 1: near his childhood castle with three hundred and sixty degree
Speaker 1: views of pristine alpine lakes, lush valleys, and towering peaks.
Speaker 1: He wrote a letter to Wagner describing his plans to
Speaker 1: build a far more ambitious version of his father's Hoenschwangau. Quote,
Speaker 1: the location is one of the most beautiful to be found,
Speaker 1: wholly and unapproachable, a worthy temple for the divine friend
Speaker 1: who has brought salvation and true blessing to the world.
Speaker 1: To bring his vision to life, Ludwig enlisted a theatrical
Speaker 1: set designer and scene painter from Munich named Christian Young
Speaker 1: make some appropriately dramatic drawings of the new hohen Schwangau.
Speaker 1: As Ludwig called it, it was meant to be an
Speaker 1: idealized version of a medieval castle, inspired by a visit
Speaker 1: to the legitimately medieval vartboard palace, but cranked up to
Speaker 1: an eleven. Ludwig wanted two hundred well appointed rooms, a
Speaker 1: cavernous singers hall for opera performances or nate walled gardens,
Speaker 1: and even a night's bath akin to the ritual baths
Speaker 1: used by the Knights of the Holy Grail, But rather
Speaker 1: than being a complete throwback, the castle was to include
Speaker 1: the latest technological comforts, including electric lighting, flush toilets, central heating,
Speaker 1: and an electric buzzer system for summoning servants. The first
Speaker 1: stone of Ludvig's dreamcastle was laid in eighteen sixty nine.
Speaker 1: He had written to Wagner that he hoped to move
Speaker 1: in in three years, but construction was still ongoing when
Speaker 1: Ludwig finally moved into the first completed section fifteen years later.
Speaker 1: By that point, the scale of the castle had been
Speaker 1: paired down significantly, and the project had taken on a
Speaker 1: distinct the kiotic feel. Ludvig, a deeply pious Christian, had
Speaker 1: begun to identify himself more and more with the Arthurian
Speaker 1: hero Parceval. Another Night in the Quest of the Holy
Speaker 1: Grail in the Castle of Space, originally planned as an
Speaker 1: audience room for receiving guests was turned into a high
Speaker 1: domed throne room without a throne instead, its guilt walls
Speaker 1: and murals would serve as a whole of the Holy Grail.
Speaker 1: Ludwig grew increasingly reclusive. He slept during the day and
Speaker 1: wandered the castle at night, had hire musicians and actors
Speaker 1: for private concerts and operas, and during the various snowy winters,
Speaker 1: journey out for night time sleigh rides in an elaborate
Speaker 1: custom made sleigh, sometimes in medieval costume. By the still
Speaker 1: unfinished castle had gone wildly over budget, and Ludwig had
Speaker 1: tried the patience of his foreign creditors. When he couldn't
Speaker 1: repay his debts, the foreign banks seized the property and
Speaker 1: threatened to bankrupt the state of Bavaria. Ludwig's ministers, largely
Speaker 1: to protect state assets, accused the king of insanity and
Speaker 1: removed him from the throne. Ludwig had clearly shown some
Speaker 1: borderline delusional behavior, and his obsession with building his new
Speaker 1: ho and Schwangau A plus four other lavish personal palaces
Speaker 1: and homes was all consuming. Now. Whether or not he
Speaker 1: had any mental disorder that would be diagnosable by today's standards,
Speaker 1: is still debated. Ludwig's ultimate fate is also shrouded in mystery.
Speaker 1: Days after Ludwig was deemed insane by the state appointed
Speaker 1: psychiatrist and locked up in a drab castle, he was
Speaker 1: found dead, apparently drowned in waist deep water. Ludwig's death
Speaker 1: at only forty years old would have been ruled a
Speaker 1: suicide if not for one gruesome detail. His psychiatrist was
Speaker 1: floating dead next to him. No one knows exactly what happened.
Speaker 1: The castle was renamed Neich von Stein, a German for
Speaker 1: new Swanstone after Ludwig's death, as a homage to the
Speaker 1: tragic and eccentric figure known as the fairy tale King. Ironically,
Speaker 1: the debt ridden castle, opened to the public just seven
Speaker 1: weeks after Ludwig's death in eighteen eighty six, has paid
Speaker 1: for itself many times over thanks to the one point
Speaker 1: four million tourists who visit every year. Today's episode was
Speaker 1: written by Dave Ruse and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is production of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. For
Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other mythic topics, visit
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