seekingmygreaterperhaps

Deep in the mountains of Bavaria there lies a castle named Neuschwanstein, built by Ludwig 2. However, due to his death under “mysterious circumstances” it is only 1/3 complete. I have been blessed and took a bike tour around this area, and once again, I’m living a fairy tale.

Chillin in a meadow by the Bavarian Alps. You can see the castle in the background. I took a bike tour, and we rode around the area before we made it to the main attraction. (I also went paragliding… but that requires an entirely different post.)

Swan Lake. Yep the real one. (not really, because I didn’t go to Russia, but since this is my fairy tale, I’m going with it.)

This is a view from Mary’s Bridge. The bridge is actually older than the castle, because Ludwig’s mom Queen Mary was an avid hiker and didn’t want to be bothered with going down the mountain then coming back up.

Here’s the fast facts on Neuschwanstein Castle: It was completed in 1886, and is built in a medieval style. King Ludwig only got to live in it for 172 days before he was found dead. Inside there is a special king’s staircase. On the tour they gave you the exact number (German precision). The throne room holds no throne, because all construction halted when Ludwig died, so no throne was ever completed. He had the first telephone in Bavaria. All along the inside are paintings of old folktales, and a lot of the castle is dedicated to Wagner, the composer. My favorite part, there is a “grotto” on the inside- which is literally a cave look a like, with the sounds, stalagmites, stalagtites, and everything. It’s kind of awesome.

I’d say he picked a good place for his palace.

The front is the only part in brick, because King Ludwig wanted some color.

Now here’s the interesting part (aka conspiracy). Ludwig 2 took over reign of Bavaria at age 18, after having no training. His dad never let him in on meetings, so he literally was just thrown into the deep end. Eventually he formed what is now known as Germany by going to war with allies and lying to people, but it worked. So that’s cool. Anyways, his brother Otto was declared insane and was not fit to rule, and Ludwig 2 had no heirs. His Uncle hated him. That’s important. One day King Ludwig was just hanging out at night, and all of a sudden a psychiatrist he has never met barges in during the middle of the night and is like, “yo you’re under arrest for being insane.” Kind Ludwig 2 is all, “how can you declare me insane if you’ve never met me?” Which is exactly what a sane person would say. The doctor had been going off of stories told to him by the king’s own ministers, who wanted him off of the throne. The next morning, they are both found dead in 2 feet of water.

Hold up. What?

King Ludwig 2 was over 6’6″ and a great swimmer, there was no way he drowned. Here is what we think happened. King Ludwig 2 and the Dr. were out on a walk at night and didn’t need an escort. KL2 probably made a break for it, and started swimming towards a rowboat that was in the lake by the mental hospital. As he was lifting himself up into the boat, he was shot in the back and died. There are 3 main points that support this. 1) A fisherman was hiding in the reeds fishing in the early morning and saw the whole thing. He wrote about it in his diary, but didn’t tell ANYONE until after he died, for fear of what the government would do to him and his family. 2) There was a bullet hole in KL2’s jacket. The doctor at the hospital never did a formal autopsy, but was recorded as to saying KL2 did not have water in his lungs. If he was shot and killed before entering the water, then he wouldn’t have taken a breath. Drowning = water in lungs. Hmm. 3) The Dr’s watch stopped an hour and a half after KL2. Back in the day they didn’t have waterproof watches, so if they were drowned at the same time, or even close, there would be no explanation for such a time difference. A master watchmaker later rebuilt both watches with the same materials and everything, and submerged them in water at the same time- they stopped within seconds of each other. When the government tells you what they think happened, they say that KL2 must have gone crazy and drowned the Dr, then felt guilty and drowned himself. It’s pretty much impossible to drown yourself. Also KL2 was probably pissed. I know I would be, especially if I just built myself a sweet castle. The theory is that whoever shot KL2 was just trying to get him not to escape, because he could show up in Munich and everyone could see that he wasn’t insane, which would then have all his ministers put to death for high treason. So the shooter then looked at the Dr and was all like, sorry bro, you’ve got to go. Boom.

Thanks for tuning in. Neuschwanstein Castle, you did not disappoint.