Yesterday we visited Linderhof Castle in the Barvarian area of Germany. This castle was built by the King Ludwig II who served at King of Bavaria from 1864-1886. He also built two castles in the area, Linderhof castle that we visited and the fairy tale castle of Neuschwanstein. Actually Disney’s inspiration for Cinderella’s castle came from here.
As I was talking to another chaplain’s spouse before leaving yesterday morning, she advised me to read up on King Ludwig to get some perspective on this king’s life before touring the Linderhof Castle. And I am so glad I did. This king is said to have been crazy. He is known as the “Mad King” because of his extravagence in the building of his castles. But after reading about his life, I wonder how far many of us are from the mark of “madness”.
Linderhof Castle is said to be the favorite residence of King Ludwig II. It is where he spent most of his time. He lived a very soliditary life, though. This castle, while being very ornate and intricite in it’s decoration, was obviously built for just one.
One very lonely king living in a world of fantasy in an effort to excape the harsh realities of life as a king without power.
King Ludwig II had a very isolated childhood where he was not exposed to the world outside of the castle where he lived with his parents, his younger brother, and their servants. He was taught by tutors in his childhood residence of Hohenschwangau Castle, who were not suited for his active and inquisitive mind. He was captivated by the romantism of legendary fairy tale kings who were all powerful in their reigns. He was also facinated by the arts, especially classical music and literature.
It seems to me that this king was born quite a bit ahead of his time. His castles were the first to be equipped with such technology as electricity and running water, even hot running water.
He entered his reign as king at the young age of 18 when his father died. He was unprepared to combat the harshness of political workings, especially underhanded political workings. He had not completed college at the time and had come into very little contact with the outside world. But he did enter his responsibilities ready to rule and became involved and seemed to really want to do a good job. He sought to make decisions of his own rather than rely on the advice of his ministers and government officials.
This quickly came to an end, though when he was met head-on with the real underhandedness of politics. He introduced a “revolutionary” classical music composer, Richard Wagner to his area of Bavaria. He even wanted to make Munich the center for music, similar to the way that Vienna was. This one act seems to have deeply impacted his entire rule.
The government of Bavaria basically did not want change and they began to fight against the king in a very cutting way. They waged war with him and with the composer, eventually forcing him out of the country.
For a naive king this opposition hurt very deeply.
And because of being overwhelmed by his deep hurts and distrust of those around him he began to withdraw.
He withdrew into a world of fantasy where Kings had real power.
There were other struggles with his reign after this. And he continued to withdraw more and more. He spent his time building his castles, which were very reminiscent of the fairy tale castles of kings that he dreamed of, listening to his music, and reading works of literature.
His opposition in the government eventually worked to get him declared mentally incompetant because of insanity. And he died a mysterious death before the Neuschwanstein castle was entirely completed.
In thinking about this king’s life and struggles, I think of my own life.
I think of the ways that I am disappointed and hurt when I don’t understand harsh realities in life.
I think of the way that I struggled when as a pastor’s wife I witnessed the ugliness of church politics.
I think of how easily distrust can form in relationships where hurts have been caused.
I think of the way that it is so easy to escape when life gets stressful.
I think of how easy it is to go into a place of solitude when people aren’t welcoming and their actions hurt.
What separates any of us from insanity ourselves?
Can one more deep hurt drive us away from reality?
Can one more losing battle drive us over the line of sanity?
And another question that enters my mind as I consider the life and the very real struggles of this misunderstood king is how easy it is to be misunderstood. We expect others to fit into our view of the world. We expect them follow our “rules” for life. If someone is odd, if they are “different” so different that we cannot comprehend them, then we ostracized them. They are cut off from society and banned from the acceptance of main culture.
King Ludwig II is quoted as saying, “It seems to me that in the household of life, there is only room for a single type of person. He who wants to be someone must be rough, coarse, or phlegmatic. Whoever is different, is called eccentric by friend and foe.”
I see many parallels to King Ludwig’s life and the life of Michael Jackson. No, I’m not necessarily a die hard Michael Jackson fan but as this is just a few months past his death, the parallels were quite obvious.
Both were “misunderstood” at their time.
Both seemed to be have very sensitive souls that were naieve to the intricies of humanity and it’s harshness.
Both were rather eccentric and escaped into a fairy tale world.
Both lived a very lonely life before the time of their death.
I’ll leave you to ponder all of these things as well along with another quote from King Ludwig II that was made to the American author Lew Vanderpoole.
“Insults would me so deeply, that they disarm me, they force me to the ground, and I am sure that they will one day destroy me…If not everything I’ve read and seen myself has deceived me, then a great part of what is taken for madness is really hypersensitiveness. It has often been maliciously hinted and even openly declared, that I am a fool. Maybe I am, but I doubt it…A real madman is as a rule the only person who doesn’t recognize his madness…If I were a poet, I might be able to reap praise by putting these things to verse. But the talent of expression was not given to me, and so I must bear being laughed at, scorned at, and slandered. I am called a fool. Will God call me a fool, when I am summoned before him?“
I would love to hear your thoughts on this legendary, mysterious, and possibly “mad” King of Bavaria in the comments. There is so many angles in his story to ponder. Last night, Keith and I also talked about how he really didn’t have an impact on history other than building his fantastical and extravagant castles.
I also think that there must be something that seperates us from totally losing it when we are met with disppointments in life. Something that keeps us sane when we are devastated by deeps hurts and distrust.
What is it?
I beleve for me it is my faith in Christ that keeps me centered. It gives me hope and a reason to survive when everything else may be tumbling down around me. Also, the unwavering and unconditional love of my family, especially my husband and children, keeps me going. It gives me a reaon not to give up and retreat into my own world apart from reality like those such as King Ludwig II and other “larger than life” celebrities that we read about.
What is is for you?
Sidnie says
“I think of how easily distrust can form in relationships where hurts have been caused.
I think of the way that it is so easy to escape when life gets stressful.
I think of how easy it is to go into a place of solitude when people aren’t welcoming and their actions hurt.” [quoted from above]
This part hits home for me. After Cade was born, David and I had a really rough time. And I was friends with girls who didn’t make it any easier. At one point, they actually told me to leave my husband or they couldn’t be my friends. Of course, nearly a year later, I’m still happily married with 2 happy boys, so you know what choice I made. But I was still very, very hurt. And very confused. The last part of the deployment was a struggle for me. I made WONDERFUL NEW FRIENDS who encouraged me and cared about me, and I am ever thankful for those blessings. But at the same time, there were days on end where it was simply easier to retreat to the comfort of our apartment. I can honestly say, that these girls made me guard my ever-trusting heart more than I ever have.
I think what keeps me sane is knowing that at the end of the day, I am capable of making the right decisions. This past year taught me that not to second guess myself; I know who I am and I know what I want out of life. And with God, and family, and those few true friends by my side, I can make it happen.
.-= Sidnie´s last blog ..Pretty in Pink. =-.
Sidnie says
[When I said, “these girls made me guard my ever-trusting heart.” I wasn’t talking about my wonderful friends that I mentioned in the sentence before. I was talking about the girls who I thought were my friends. Reading back over my comment, if you don’t read it right, that might be confusing.]
XOXO.
.-= Sidnie´s last blog ..Pretty in Pink. =-.
Sarah E says
To answer your question “I also think that there must be something that separates us from totally losing it when we are met with disappointments in life. Something that keeps us sane when we are devastated by deeps hurts and distrust.
What is it?”
I think that in looking back over King Ludwig’s life and how sheltered he was it is easy to believe that he was never exposed to any of the harsh realities of life. Even those that young kids face when for example a friend betrays them. As we all grow up to be adults we are unfortunately exposed to many situations that force us to see the realities of life. And in seeing those realities it enables us to learn from the situations and grow. If it were not for the unfortunate situations that we all face throughout our life time then we too would be much more like King Ludwig and probably retreat to our own corners and live a very solitary life.
Sometimes when we have to endure a painful situation or even worse see our children experience a painful situation it is very easy for us to see the negative. To see how horrible things are and to see that life is not always fair and that the nice guy doesn’t always win. But I think that instead of looking at it that way we should rather look at it as a opportunity to grow and learn. God gives us many opportunities like this and I think that it is our duty to take them and prosper.
Poor King Ludwig though was not given that chance. His parents sheltered him from this and therefore he suffered in the long run. I think that right there shows us that we should let our children experience everything life has to offer both good and bad. It is just our responsibility as parents to help them learn from the situation.
OK stepping off my soap box now.
Lora Lynn @ Vitafamiliae says
We went to Neuf… you know the one, when we were in Germany. I bought a book on King Ludwig. He was definitely a tragic figure. I think you’re right that he had a sort of false reality and that someone in those circumstances would be a tortured sort of individual. And a little bit crazy. Excellent observations. Loved reading this!
.-= Lora Lynn @ Vitafamiliae´s last blog ..We’ve Got A New Kind of Crazy Up In Here =-.
LifeAtTheCircus says
This was a great post Monica… really gets us thinking. I love that!
I am with you. For me, my hope, my reason for going on, for every day is God. I don’t know why this sticks with me but I remember watching The Horse Whisperer years ago and I remember nothing from the movie other than the lead women sobbing, sobbing her eyes out in some hopeless situation (can’t even recall the situation now) but what stuck me was how hopeless life would be without Christ. I can’t imagine facing sorrow, tragedy, even the every day drama of life with small kids, without a purpose, a hope, without Christ. I can’t imagine facing the fears and uncertainties without instantly being able to lift them up to my heavenly Father. But to have no one, no hope… that would break me. Anyway, for some reason that thought came to mind… Michael Jackson, King Ludwig, Horse Whisperer who knew they had so much in common!!
.-= LifeAtTheCircus´s last blog ..Further Proof that I am not Crafty =-.
Micha says
Die Paralellen zwischen König Ludwig II und Michael Jackson sind tatsächlich gegeben.
Beide waren übersensibel, künstlerisch begabt, Visionäre und Genies. Ludwig ist am 25. August geboren, Michael am 29. August, beide starben im Juni (13. bzw. 25. ) auf mysteriöse Weise und völlig unerwartet. Beide wurden aufs schlimmste denunziert und von der Welt als verrückt erklärt.
Weder Ludwig noch Michael waren verrückt . Nichts stimmte was man negatives über sie verbreitete.
Beide waren große Wohltäter der Menschheit und äußerst caritativ. Beide hatten einen absolut scharfen Verstand und waren sehr gebildet.
Ich habe mich einige Jahre historisch und künstlerisch mit dem Leben König Ludwigs auseinandergesetzt, und nun auch mit MJ. Es erstaunt mich immer wieder wie ähnlich beide sind. Eine Seelenverwandtschaft über die Zeiten hinweg.
Liebe Grüße aus Vienna/Austria
Christina says
I very much enjoyed reading your blog on King Ludwig. I am a huge Michael Jackson fan and wasn’t really even familiar with King Ludwig until I ran across this picture of Michael today, http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/15900000/King-of-my-Heart-michael-jackson-15962104-781-1200.jpg and he was wearing a Ludwig shirt. I had to google him because my curiosity got the best of me. I was struck by how similar the man’s wardrobe on his shirt looked like so many of the infamous clothes Michael would wear. So, I thought surely that man on his t-shirt must mean something. And when I did some online reading of King Ludwig, the similarities were STRIKING to me. I can’t seem to get this off of my mind today. Even the photos that I googled of some of the interior furnishings of the King’s castle were very similar to some of the furnishings of Michael’s. Michael’s interest in fantasy, castles (yes, he was in love with the fantasy of Disney) is so much like Ludwig.
The brilliance of these two very misunderstood and lonely men… makes me feel very… oh, I can’t even find the right words. Mostly great sorrow for them. They gave so much, only to be criticized and mistrusted. No, I’m still not over Michael’s death yet (and probably won’t be until we find out for sure the circumstances surrounding his death and all involved).
Two lonely Kings destined to the same fate, it seems.
Peggy says
One has to keep their senses when thinking about Michael Jackson. One should not feel sorry
for him. There was something evil about him. Once he produced that “Thriller” video
he changed and became demonic. Did he sell his soul ? Something terrible happened to him. He
may have been playing with something dangerous that was way over his head. Sleeping with boys,
wearing female clothes, destroying his masculinity, grabing his crouch every two seconds on stage,
and the hideous transformation in his face was unearthly. Something was up ! And we may never
find out the truth him.
King Ludwig hated the ugliness of this world; he was highly sensitive and brilliant. Michael Jackson
loved the world and it’s glamour and glitter. He gave his money to worthy causes but those good
things he did could not erase the fact that he chose to dable in the occult and became a monster.
People don’t wish to talk about that. Nor do they want to talk about how Michael Jackson thought
of himself as a god. He even had a portrait painted of himself as a god with baby angels flying
around him.
Michael Jackson was an imitator. I don’t doubt that he took a piece of King Ludwig’s life and pasted
it onto himself–he was very well read.