The death of the fairy-tale king
Deposed for "moral insanity": on 13 June 1886, King Ludwig II dies in unexplained circumstances.
On 13 June 1886, King Ludwig II of Bavaria and his psychiatrist Dr Bernhard von Gudden were found lifeless in the shallow water of Lake Starnberg. The 40-year-old king had been deposed a few days earlier: on 9 June, the Bavarian council of ministers had decided to declare him incapacitated; on 10 June this was publicly announced, and Ludwig was then taken under supervision to Berg Castle. What really happened that Whit Sunday night remains unclear to this day.
Ludwig's homosexuality was no secret during his lifetime. As early as 1865, rumours circulated in the Munich royal stables that the king was having illicit dealings with men. His diary, which he kept from 1869, documents his inner struggle: as a Catholic monarch he wrestled all his life with a desire he felt was incompatible with his faith. He had close relationships with, among others, his chief equerry Richard Hornig, whom he called "beloved of my soul" in his notes. Letters that surfaced after his death show how he asked confidants for reports about young men.
The psychiatric report of 8 June 1886 diagnosed "paranoia", without the king ever having been examined in person. Historians regard his same-sex inclination as one of the main reasons for his deposition; in the language of the time, it fell under what the experts called "moral insanity".
Whether Ludwig II committed suicide at Lake Starnberg that night, died while trying to escape or was murdered has never been established. What is clear is that he died as a person whose difference was not tolerated by his time. Today he is regarded as one of the best-known queer figures in European history.