Ludwig - Requiem for a Virgin King

• Watchlist

• 1972
• 2 hr 20 mins
• Documentary, Drama

• Watchlist

• Watchlist

The film recounts the life of Ludwig II of Bavaria, from his accession to the throne to his death, drawing on well-known historical events but presenting them in a non-realistic form. Ludwig II becomes King of Bavaria in 1864 at the age of eighteen. From an early stage, he shows little interest in the political and administrative affairs of the kingdom. He devotes himself mainly to his artistic passions, especially music and architecture. He provides financial support to the composer Richard Wagner, whom he invites to Munich and whose career he protects, provoking hostility from parts of the court and the Bavarian government. During his reign, Bavaria gradually loses its political autonomy to Prussia, led by Otto von Bismarck. Ludwig accepts Bavaria's integration into the German Empire proclaimed in 1871, further reducing his effective political power. Increasingly isolated, he withdraws from public life and lives in residences he has built or transformed, such as Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, and Herrenchiemsee, financed through heavy borrowing. The king's excessive spending and his refusal to govern actively alarm his ministers. In 1886, a medical report-drawn up without a direct examination-declares him mentally unfit to rule. Ludwig is officially deposed and placed under supervision. Shortly afterward, on 13 June 1886, he is found dead in Lake Starnberg along with his physician, Dr. Bernhard von Gudden. The exact circumstances of their deaths remain unexplained; the official version describes a suicide by drowning. The king's disappearance and the consequences of his fall mark the end of Ludwig II's personal rule and the definitive decline of the Bavarian monarchy as an autonomous political power.