Fairy Tale King

Beloved ruler? Inspired castle-builder? Crazed spendthrift? Dejected loner?

King Ludwig II (left) was likely all that and more. Born Prince Otto Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm in 1846, he was the son of Bavarian ruler Maximilian II (below, right). At age 18, he assumed the throne upon his father's death.

Ludwig II, who grew up in in the Hohenschwangau castle adjacent to Fussen in the German Alps (below), was an enthusiastic ruler at first, but Bavaria's days as an independent country were numbered.

In 1871, the first German Reich was created, unifying Germany under William I of Prussia.

Because Bismarck provided him with a hefty allowance as a consolation prize, the enigmatic ruler was free to imbibe, scheme castle plans and view concerts and operas in private.

Truly a renaissance ruler, Ludwig II adored Richard Wagner and built the German composer an opera house.

Ludwig II was also fascinated with French culture and King Louis XIV in particular, which provided him with the inspiration for his fairy tale castles at Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and Neuschwanstein. It was this very obsession that ultimately spelled his doom.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, however, it was his allowance -- and not the state treasury -- that was depleted.

Nonetheless, his cabinet -- growing increasingly antsy over his prodigious spending -- decided that Ludwig needed to be marginalized. They had a psychiatric evaluation conducted on the progressively despondent ruler, and he was diagnosed as unfit to rule.

Moved to a residence on Lake Starnberg, Ludwig II and his psychiatrist were found drowned a few days later. Conspiracy theories abound, and the circumstantial evidence was conflicting and incomplete.

King Ludwig II was gone, but his legend was just beginning. This year, Bavaria celebrates the 125th anniversary of the beloved ruler's death.