Hardly any Bavarian ruler is still as present today as the fairytale king. Life was to have ups and downs for Ludwig II - and always lead back to Peißenberg.
Peißenberg - Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm of Bavaria, called Ludwig II, was proclaimed King of Bavaria on March 10, 1864. Just a month earlier, on February 5, 1864, an Augsburg builder had begun building a railway line between Starnberg and Peißenberg, connecting Pfaffenwinkel with Munich. A circumstance that would play a role in the king's life and death.
But first things first: Ludwig II came to the Bavarian throne at the age of 18. His father's early death hit the prince unexpectedly. In the autumn of the same year, the first of the three so-called German unification wars began with the German-Danish War. Bavaria refrained from fighting, but the growing Prussian influence was still noticeable. However, the young king was of little interest: his heart did not beat for high politics, but for art - and for the Alps.
Lunch in the Peißenberg “Gasthof zur Post”
Since early childhood, Ludwig was fond of the Bavarian Alps, especially the area around Füssen. Even as a young prince, he was regularly drawn to the Oberland, and the future king also stopped in Peißenberg several times to have his lunch at the “Gasthof zur Post”. Ludwig was able to recharge his batteries in tranquil Peißenberg because he had big goals: the construction of a fantastic building, the construction of a new castle in Hohenschwangau, today's Neuschwanstein Castle.
The king wasted no time: as soon as the plan was in place, work began in 1869. The fact that Bavaria had previously been on the losing side in the German-German War and had to give up land, money and foreign policy sovereignty was not a problem for the monarch. On the contrary, his plans seemed to become more unusual as political uncertainty increased.
Bavaria fought under pressure from Prussia in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870/1871. But instead of taking part in the victory celebrations, the so-called unification of Germany and the imperial proclamation in Versailles Palace, Ludwig II preferred to spend his days at Linderhof Palace, on the construction site of Neuschwanstein Palace or with his artist friend Richard Wagner.
Ludwig II was an oddball who didn't really want to fit into his office. He even wanted to give up his royal crown with the plan of withdrawing completely into his private life. But he could not escape the responsibility of a king and the social pressure. Ludwig had to remain king, but he did not spend his days in his residence in Munich, but in the foothills of the Alps.
The fastest way from Munich to the royal palaces was through Peißenberg
He was always drawn to Peißenberg. Since the Starnberg-Peißenberg railway line was completed in January 1866, the fastest route from the residence in Munich to his beloved castles was through Peißenberg. So if the king had enough of the big city, which was usually the case, he boarded his metal steam horse in Munich, as a train was often called back then, and reached the Oberland within three hours.
The current “Peißenberg Nord” stop has been the terminus since the railway line was completed. The king got out, climbed into his waiting carriage and drove along a narrow road into the village. Ludwigstrasse is named after him, in earlier times also called King Ludwig II Street.
Then as now, the “Gasthof zur Post” was waiting on the corner of Ludwigstrasse and Hauptstrasse. The king frequented this time-honored Peißenberg inn and even had his own royal room set up for him, with a magnificent four-poster bed and a leather armchair, which is still kept in the post office today. After a long rest we finally continued over the Hoher Peißenberg towards the mountains.
Over time, Ludwig became more and more inaccessible
It went like this for a few years: the king traveled to Peißenberg and the foothills of the Alps, Neuschwanstein Castle took shape and Bavaria's finances plummeted. The longer Louis's reign lasted, the more inaccessible the king became. At the Peißenberg train station, for example, a beautiful lounge was built for the king and his distinguished guests. But instead of recovering from the rest and the loud, stuffy train ride in the pavilion-like building, the king just wanted to move on.
This went so far that the king stopped the train in the middle of the route before it had even reached the final stop. The king jumped out of the carriage, scurried into the waiting carriage and sped off over the Hoher Peißenberg. Get out of the Bavarian kingdom as quickly as possible and into his own personal kingdom in Neuschwanstein and Linderhof.
As little as Ludwig showed himself in Peißenberg, Ludwig withdrew from politics. He surrendered to his “fairy tales”, planned crazy gadgets and had the latest technological wonders built into his palaces. He left government business, as long as it did not concern the financing of his buildings, to the ministers in Munich.
Less than 24 hours after his last visit to Peißenberg, Ludwig was dead
It was an unspeakable situation that ultimately led to catastrophe. In Munich they finally had enough of the wasteful and absent king: from afar they diagnosed an incurable mental illness, which is why the 40-year-old king was declared unfit to rule. On June 10, 1886, a Munich commission moved via Peißenberg to Hohenschwangau. Two days later she returned, with the deposed and incapacitated king in tow. The king took another break at the “Gasthof zur Post”. His entourage recovered from the quick journey and then continued on to Berg.
It was to be the king's last visit to Peißenberg: Less than 24 hours later, Ludwig II was dead, his body floating in Lake Würm, today's Lake Starnberg. The circumstances of his sudden death were to become one of the great mysteries of Bavarian history and, ironically, led to the very king who would have preferred to give up his crown and flee his empire becoming a symbolic figure of the good old Bavarian kingship.
The crowds of people milling through his castles today would probably disgust Ludwig. It is quite possible that he would therefore at least appreciate another way to commemorate him: the King Ludwig long-distance hiking trail in Pfaffenwinkel. This hiking trail leads from Berg across Lake Starnberg, to Herrsching, Wessobrunn and the Hohen Peißenberg to Hohenschwangau. There is hardly any other route where you can find more fantastic views and magical towns. It is a path that the king could also have taken.