After a single day at a sanatorium and a prolonged visit with a doctor, he vanished. His own government and family plotted against him, called him mad, and forcibly overthrew him.
He would frequently watch a Ring performance as the sole member of the audience. He assuaged his disappointment by lavishing more of his treasury on art and on funding a new opera house for Wagner's work. As Prussia's power grew, he watched the newly unified country come under the sway of the Hohenzollerns rather than his own Wittelsbachs. He launched Bavaria into two wars, and, with Bismarck, created the German Second Reich. An intemperate ruler, Ludwig changed the course of European history almost against his will. Berg, Hohenschwangau Castle, and Linderhof were jewels, but his crowning achievement, Neuschwanstein, rivaled any other on the continent, a monumental creation second only to the Hermitage. The royal love for architecture resulted in some of the world's most admired castles as well as the most extravagant. Captivated by the music of Richard Wagner, the young king formed a bond with the composer and became his benefactor, enabling Wagner to create and produce his great operas. After ascending the throne at the age of eighteen, Ludwig became devoted to his major passions: music and architecture. Following a broken engagement to Princess Sophie of Austria, Ludwig never again considered marriage. Entering his teenage years, he determined that his desires were directed toward young men rather than the numerous girls presented as potential wives. An Oral Formulation of YK-4-279: Preclinical Efficacy and Acquired Resistance Patterns in Ewing’s Sarcoma. As a child, though physically beautiful, Ludwig was withdrawn and silent. Flow Perfusion Effects on Three-Dimensional Culture and Drug Sensitivity of Ewring Sarcoma.
On August 25, 1995, the German Republic celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of the most scorned and most beloved monarch of modern times: Ludwig II.