European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 14, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Ludwig As Crown 1850 As Young Man with King Max Llllian Queen Sophie lettering w by Susan Stueker Juergen staff writer the brilliantly lit ballroom was ablaze with Light cast from Crystal chandeliers and porcelain can the romantic glow created a fantastic world of reflections As the brightness played capriciously with mirrors lining the echoing the scene at Herrence Emsee is but where bands of tourists crowd through today a single figure once strolled through the splendor and delighted in the mysterious setting King Ludwig of the Kings romantic fantasies were incongruous in an age of strict so the extravagant ruler erected edifices manifesting his desire for the Beauty and grandeur he was unable to find in in at the age of the ruler sadly confessed to composer Richard Wagner my experiences have become so indescribably bitter that h is quite impossible for me to regard this wretched world with anything like born on 1845 at nym Henburg the famed residence of bavarian sovereigns in Munich to Maxi Millian ii and the daughter of Prussia Prince he Early began to display a dislike for the things which interested other Ludwig was a disappointment to his father who wanted his son to be a Strong willed ruler some the Young Crown Prince was often in delicate health and spent much of his time gazing out the indulging in imaginary games or creating architectural dreams with his building strains of insanity were hereditary in the family and today psychologists wonder if this madness was already becoming evident in the boys preadolescent Magazine t Maximian also pressured his son to Excel academic Ludwig often spent excruciating 15hottr Days with a private Tutor learning difficult instructions designed to Ludwig resisted the Royal plan Tor his use and was Hap Piest when he through the forested grounds around his fathers fortress in Bavar when the boy was ii be was first enraptured by the music of composer Richard Warner because it focused on the vat Tisoc medieval this Ini tial exposure inn Moeed the come of the next is years upon the death of his father in the Crown Prince was forced to ascend the bavarian throne and become King Ludwig the pressures on Ludwig the Kings fondness for Wagner and his music alleviated the isolation Ludwig Felt and inevitably the composer was invited to reside at the bavarian while Wagner appreciated the Kings Devo Tion he was also Able to comment prophetically on the flaws in ludwigs nature he is unfortunately so hand some and so sensitive and so splendid that i fear is life will fade away like a fleeting dream of the in the King announced his engagement to a Princess the sister of the Empress Elisa Beth of but several months later called it his visions of a reign of Royal splendor also were soon the defeat of Bavaria in the Austro prussian War pushed the Independent kingdom into the emerging German Empire of Bismarck and Kaiser disillusioned by the loss of his Ludwig purchased land and ordered the construction of a Castle he would later name immersing himself in Wagner music and ignoring the pettiness of protocol still displayed by his co Ruhp King spent most of his time wandering through the Val Leys and forests of Bavaria or attending Wagner perform Given exclusively for the reclusive Monarch in Heaters in the Serene Gra Swaag Valley nestled in the Tower bavarian Alps was the setting for ludwigs Host at tempt in creating his own beginning in an army of workers began to construct the White Marble Structure on 7s acres try land Situ ated about six Miles Southwest of Here ludwigs troubled soul was assuage Day the mag of fluent gardens and terraces surrounding the under Hof became ludwigs boat on an underground Lake in his artificial Imi Tating the wandering Minn Singer of Wagner Taroiu scene was further removed from the realms of reality by red and Blue lights which broke the darkness in the the boat still floats on the Lake for visitors who want to fantasize about the the Grotto is reached by a hidden Rock under of want completed until but in the Ludwig embarked on Bis second search continued on Page 101  i Castle Germany m v u Austria Garmisch layout bavarian King Ludwig ii in August 1977 the stars and stripes