0:00:02 > 0:00:04Bavaria.
0:00:05 > 0:00:07The soul of Germany.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Its romance, its culture, its sense of history...
0:00:15 > 0:00:19..even its food and drink, define the image of the nation.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24And much of it is down to the legacy of one man.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34Ludwig II of Bavaria is a legendary figure.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38The handsome boy-king, loved by his people,
0:00:38 > 0:00:44betrayed by his ministers and found dead in mysterious circumstances.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53A monarch obsessed by beauty
0:00:53 > 0:00:55and heroic legend...
0:00:58 > 0:01:02..who sacrificed everything for his art.
0:01:11 > 0:01:15Even today, his castles and palaces are the most fantastical
0:01:15 > 0:01:19examples of Romantic architecture anywhere in the world.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33Nowhere have history, illusion, artifice
0:01:33 > 0:01:38and reality combined to create such visually powerful buildings.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46And all of them are windows into the soul
0:01:46 > 0:01:48of their extraordinary creator...
0:01:49 > 0:01:52..Ludwig II, the dream king.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19Our story begins here, in the mountains of Southern Bavaria.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28Hohenschwangau Castle sits high above Lake Alpsee.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36It was here that the young Prince Ludwig grew up.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40An enchanted landscape,
0:02:40 > 0:02:45providing the perfect backdrop for a flourish of Gothic fantasy.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52For Ludwig, a shy child with a vivid imagination,
0:02:52 > 0:02:56the castle represented a wonderful refuge,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58escape from the conventions and bustle
0:02:58 > 0:03:02of court life in Munich.
0:03:02 > 0:03:09It, and this wonderful landscape, captivated his imagination,
0:03:09 > 0:03:14ignited an obsession for the past and, in many ways,
0:03:14 > 0:03:18defined his life and the fate of his kingdom.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26Ludwig's father, Maximilian, had built the castle in the 1830s,
0:03:26 > 0:03:29on the site of a medieval ruin.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34He spent much of the year here with his Prussian-born wife, Marie,
0:03:34 > 0:03:38and his two young sons, Ludwig and Otto.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44Ludwig was a dreamy child.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48He loved stories and art, dressing up and make-believe.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53For most children, this is an obsession
0:03:53 > 0:03:56that begins and ends at the dressing-up box.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01But for Ludwig, it was his whole world.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07Ludwig's father decorated the walls of the castle
0:04:07 > 0:04:11with scenes of ancient chivalry and combat.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16It was a very particular vision of German legend.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Maximilian called this his Hall Of Heroes.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33These are scenes that Ludwig grew up with,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37highly romanticised images of medieval life -
0:04:37 > 0:04:39knights, castles, chivalry.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44Every room in this castle fed his imagination.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49You can see here, the seeds of his later obsessions.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16But romantic though they are, the paintings at Hohenschwangau
0:05:16 > 0:05:18carried an important political message.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29In the mid-19th century, there was no single German nation,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32just a group of princely states and dukedoms.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35Two of the largest were Prussia and Bavaria.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Though independent, these states had a shared culture and language
0:05:41 > 0:05:45and there was a growing mood among their people for unification.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48But which princely state would determine
0:05:48 > 0:05:50the nature of the new Germany?
0:05:56 > 0:06:03The castle curator understands the message of Hohenschwangau
0:06:03 > 0:06:04better than most.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07It's a hymn to Bavaria's artistic dominance.
0:06:07 > 0:06:12Bavaria was really the cultural heart of Germany,
0:06:12 > 0:06:15so Maximilian saw it this way, the Bavarians saw it this way.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18They had their history over centuries.
0:06:18 > 0:06:22And that's why Maximilian wanted to show his history,
0:06:22 > 0:06:24the history of Bavaria, of his family.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29He wanted to have kind of picture book, a history picture book.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33He was very interested to teach his people here.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36So the paintings tell historical stories about Bavaria,
0:06:36 > 0:06:42about the family, about its great history as rulers in this area.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46Also, there are myths and legends.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51After centuries, where all these myths were forgotten,
0:06:51 > 0:06:54they were collecting them again.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Well, that's the Brothers Grimm, of course,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59who are involved in this creation of this interior scheme.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03And the Brothers Grimm and some others were very involved,
0:07:03 > 0:07:08they were searching for the myths of the old Germans,
0:07:08 > 0:07:13they were collecting these sagas and fairy tales,
0:07:13 > 0:07:18so this was a renaissance of German identity.
0:07:31 > 0:07:36One room more than any other would captivate the young Ludwig.
0:07:42 > 0:07:48This is the Hall Of The Swan Knight. It tells the story of Lohengrin.
0:07:48 > 0:07:55Now, according to legend, Lohengrin, a Grail knight, left his family,
0:07:55 > 0:07:58shown in this painting here,
0:07:58 > 0:08:02and stepped into a small craft pulled by a single white swan
0:08:02 > 0:08:08and then was taken away to save a damsel in distress.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15For Ludwig's father, the greatest heroes of the past
0:08:15 > 0:08:17were the Knights Of Schwangau,
0:08:17 > 0:08:21literally translating as the Knights Of The Swan.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27The swan appears again and again throughout the castle
0:08:27 > 0:08:29and, as a symbol of the idyllic hero,
0:08:29 > 0:08:34was the creature that Ludwig came to identify with strongly.
0:08:34 > 0:08:40He began to imagine that when he grew up, he would be the Swan King,
0:08:40 > 0:08:45the Lohengrin character of legend made monarch.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57The scale and imagery of Hohenschwangau is extraordinary.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02But it would be nothing compared to the heights
0:09:02 > 0:09:04to which the adult Ludwig would go.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20On March 10, 1864, Ludwig became King of Bavaria.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24He was crowned at the Royal Palace
0:09:24 > 0:09:27in the heart of the Bavarian capital, Munich.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34He was just 18 years old, a shy young man
0:09:34 > 0:09:38and not greatly interested in affairs of state.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41He was much more interested in the things that happened
0:09:41 > 0:09:43in the magnificent building
0:09:43 > 0:09:45just a stone's throw from the royal residence.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48It was a place where he could lose himself
0:09:48 > 0:09:50in the stories and legends he adored.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00Munich's theatre and opera house was, to Ludwig,
0:10:00 > 0:10:04a spectacular place of magic and escapism.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09Here he saw that heroic architecture could be evoked
0:10:09 > 0:10:10through operatic stage sets.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Artifice would be the means to conjure up
0:10:16 > 0:10:21the power of German myth and legend as the epic scale demanded.
0:10:27 > 0:10:29The man who would take opera
0:10:29 > 0:10:33to new Romantic heights in the 19th century was Richard Wagner.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39And Ludwig had been following the great composer even as a boy.
0:10:41 > 0:10:47On February 2, 1861, three years before he became king,
0:10:47 > 0:10:52Ludwig attended a performance here in the Munich State Theatre
0:10:52 > 0:10:53of Wagner's Lohengrin.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57Now, at that point, Ludwig was 15 years old
0:10:57 > 0:11:01and familiar with Wagner's writing about art and politics,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05but his experience that night, in this theatre,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07transformed admiration
0:11:07 > 0:11:11into something akin to religious devotion.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18One of Ludwig's first actions on becoming king
0:11:18 > 0:11:21was to invite Wagner to dinner.
0:11:27 > 0:11:32Wagner was 50 years old. Ludwig was 18.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34It was an extraordinary relationship -
0:11:34 > 0:11:40the gauche boy-king and the operatic revolutionary.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45But they shared a love of excess and a world built on a heroic scale
0:11:45 > 0:11:49and, of course, an obsession with Germanic legend.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57For Ludwig, Wagner's operas are magical experiences, revelations,
0:11:57 > 0:12:02they transported him into worlds of beauty, myth, legend and romance.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Soon, he started to command his own private performances,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10so that he could hear the music in solitude,
0:12:10 > 0:12:12but eventually not even that was enough.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16He built his own Wagnerian stage sets.
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Neuschwanstein, Ludwig's remarkable attempt to realise
0:12:31 > 0:12:35the operas of Richard Wagner in masonry and mortar.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41In a commanding position, high above a ravine,
0:12:41 > 0:12:45this was to be the castle of Lohengrin, the Swan Knight,
0:12:45 > 0:12:49and a powerful statement of Ludwig's position -
0:12:49 > 0:12:52a king with a mythological status,
0:12:52 > 0:12:57part of the pantheon of strong Germanic kings of legend.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03It's an extraordinary Romanesque and Gothic vision
0:13:03 > 0:13:06of a medieval knight's castle.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10The image is taken straight from German legend.
0:13:10 > 0:13:14The impression is of a fairy-tale castle,
0:13:14 > 0:13:17perched on top of an impossible mountain.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Neuschwanstein is a stunning feat of engineering.
0:13:26 > 0:13:32Work began in 1869 and continued for almost two decades,
0:13:32 > 0:13:36at times employing between 200 and 300 workers per day.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42It drew artists, craftsmen and artisans from much of Europe.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47The result is pure architectural theatre.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11This courtyard is based on Wagner's instructions
0:14:11 > 0:14:14for a stage set for his opera, Lohengrin.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17Ludwig took his architectural inspiration primarily,
0:14:17 > 0:14:19and certainly for this castle,
0:14:19 > 0:14:23from Wagner rather than from architectural precedent.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25And when he needed detailed drawings,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28he turned not to an architect, but to a set designer.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37Christian Jank had worked with Wagner at the Court Theatre
0:14:37 > 0:14:39on an early performance of Lohengrin.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47From the start, Jank's drawings show an heroic vision.
0:14:50 > 0:14:53Ludwig's fantasy, Wagner's fiction
0:14:53 > 0:14:57and a heavy helping of Romantic Gothic.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17In Ludwig's mind would be the Singers' Hall
0:15:17 > 0:15:21that brought legend and reality together,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23a medieval style feasting room
0:15:23 > 0:15:26in which Wagner's operas could be sung...
0:15:28 > 0:15:33..and a monument to the knights and kings of Germanic myth.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48This could hardly be more theatrical.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53This is like a backdrop on a stage at one end of the Singers' Hall.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58Amazing. It shows the enchanted forest
0:15:58 > 0:16:01surrounding the hiding place of the Holy Grail.
0:16:09 > 0:16:11The legend of the Grail was
0:16:11 > 0:16:15one of Ludwig's greatest inspirations in the castle.
0:16:15 > 0:16:20It had everything - chivalric knights, religious significance
0:16:20 > 0:16:23and untold power.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29The Singers' Hall is Ludwig at his most heroic and optimistic.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34But in private, there are parts of the castle
0:16:34 > 0:16:37that don't quite fit this conventional Teutonic vision.
0:16:44 > 0:16:50This is Ludwig's bedroom. Very ecclesiastical, richly monastic.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54In front of me, his bed, which is amazing really.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59It's like a Gothic shrine and a tremendously rich carved canopy.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03A shrine or a tomb. Amazing really.
0:17:03 > 0:17:04As Ludwig lay there,
0:17:04 > 0:17:08he was presided over by a portrait of the Virgin Mary.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13On the walls are scenes from the story that was very much
0:17:13 > 0:17:18part of Germanic myth, the story, the legend
0:17:18 > 0:17:20of Tristan and Isolde,
0:17:20 > 0:17:24a strange story really for his bedroom
0:17:24 > 0:17:28because it speaks of forbidden earthly love,
0:17:28 > 0:17:33brought on by enchantment, a story that ends in tragic death,
0:17:33 > 0:17:37but through death, there is redemption.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Ludwig never married
0:17:43 > 0:17:47and his sexuality has long been the subject of speculation.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52Throughout his life, he formed close bonds with numerous young men,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55from actors to courtiers.
0:17:55 > 0:18:00It seems almost certain that Ludwig was homosexual.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Seen in this light, the room begins to make sense.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07As a devout Catholic monarch,
0:18:07 > 0:18:15Ludwig's homosexuality filled him with remorse, shame and guilt,
0:18:15 > 0:18:20and I suppose, therefore, one can see these paintings
0:18:20 > 0:18:24as representing, for him, a cautionary tale,
0:18:24 > 0:18:31a tale that told him that earthly love was out of bounds.
0:18:31 > 0:18:37Also, I suppose, it could have suggested that, through death,
0:18:37 > 0:18:39he would be redeemed.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53Outside the bedroom, Ludwig seems to regain his confidence.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00His throne room expresses Ludwig's desire to be an autocratic king,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03ruling by God's will,
0:19:03 > 0:19:07rather than the constrained, constitutional monarch that he was.
0:19:12 > 0:19:16This really is the focus of the entire castle.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20Not just the throne room, but a shrine to kingship
0:19:20 > 0:19:24and a bold statement of Ludwig's belief
0:19:24 > 0:19:27that kings rule by divine right.
0:19:27 > 0:19:33It also reveals his view of himself as the king ruling by God's grace,
0:19:33 > 0:19:38but also as a mediator between the world and God.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41That explains the scheme of decoration of the room to a degree.
0:19:41 > 0:19:47Here below me on the floor are images of plants, flowers,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49animals, the world we inhabit.
0:19:49 > 0:19:56Above, is a celestial dome of stars and a great sun, I suppose -
0:19:56 > 0:19:58the heavens and sky.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02God and the world of man, and between the two,
0:20:02 > 0:20:06this great chandelier in the form of a regal crown,
0:20:06 > 0:20:12representing, of course, the king's role between the world and God.
0:20:12 > 0:20:14The mediator.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Yet this elaborate imagery was not a public statement.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24Neither Ludwig's subjects
0:20:24 > 0:20:27nor visiting dignitaries were allowed in.
0:20:28 > 0:20:32This was an expression of visual beauty and of a kingly ideal
0:20:32 > 0:20:35for the eyes of Ludwig and God alone.
0:20:36 > 0:20:39So this seeming public statement
0:20:39 > 0:20:42was only for Ludwig's private satisfaction.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44Strange, but little here
0:20:44 > 0:20:47is as straightforward or obvious as it might seem.
0:20:50 > 0:20:51Above the throne room
0:20:51 > 0:20:55lies the structural reality behind the theatre set.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58This castle is all about appearances.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01Here, history is only skin deep.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Clearly, Ludwig didn't care too much
0:21:03 > 0:21:05about authentic medieval construction
0:21:05 > 0:21:10because, behind the veneer of Romanesque detail and stone,
0:21:10 > 0:21:16is this utterly modern, utilitarian, almost industrial world,
0:21:16 > 0:21:20because this in front of me is the dome above the throne room.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23Incredible. There is the central dome of the throne room
0:21:23 > 0:21:26and you can see it is supported by, I suppose,
0:21:26 > 0:21:31wrought-iron lattice sort of ribs
0:21:31 > 0:21:35and they hold up the dome itself, which appears to be made out of
0:21:35 > 0:21:40some sort of concrete or lime mixture, entirely modern.
0:21:40 > 0:21:46So, an incredible world, isn't it? Below, ancient beauty.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49Up here, modern industrial construction.
0:21:55 > 0:22:00The relationship between engineering and artifice is an effective one.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06Likewise, the overall fantasy of Neuschwanstein was not entirely
0:22:06 > 0:22:10disconnected from events outside its walls.
0:22:16 > 0:22:22In 1866, Ludwig and Bavaria had suffered a bruising humiliation.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Ludwig, much against his will, had been obliged to pick sides
0:22:34 > 0:22:38when two Germanic states, Austria and Prussia, came to blows.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Unfortunately, he backed the wrong horse.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43Feeling more sympathy for
0:22:43 > 0:22:46their southern neighbours and fellow Catholics,
0:22:46 > 0:22:52the Bavarians had sided with Austria, but the conflict,
0:22:52 > 0:22:58known as the Seven Weeks War, ended in a decisive Prussian victory.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Ludwig's image of himself had taken a blow.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11Both his kingdom and his position had been fundamentally weakened.
0:23:34 > 0:23:38Neuschwanstein was Ludwig's retort to reality,
0:23:38 > 0:23:42a beacon for how things should be.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45It would set him on a course.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Architecture would become his manifesto for a better future.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55It would be a journey that would take Ludwig to ever greater heights
0:23:55 > 0:23:58of visual beauty and excess.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22Ludwig became increasingly reclusive as he spent
0:24:22 > 0:24:27more and more of his time, money and energy on architecture.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32If Neuschwanstein was a castle fit for a Swan King, what he needed,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36he thought, was a country retreat, a royal villa,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39and he knew just the place to build it.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46Ludwig had inherited a small hunting lodge
0:24:46 > 0:24:50just 15 miles into the mountains from Neuschwanstein.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57He now turned his attention to transforming it into a royal palace,
0:24:57 > 0:25:00a refuge deep in secluded woods,
0:25:00 > 0:25:05and one that could scarcely be more dissimilar to Neuschwanstein.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10This is Linderhof.
0:25:26 > 0:25:29After Neuschwanstein, this palatial villa
0:25:29 > 0:25:32comes as something of a surprise.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35It's utterly different in architectural style and in scale.
0:25:35 > 0:25:40Gone are the fairy-tale towers and the mock medieval detailing.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44Instead, for this mini palace, Ludwig preferred to go for
0:25:44 > 0:25:48the Baroque Classical manner of 18th-century France.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56For Ludwig, this change in style was deliberate.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02In the real world, he was a king constrained by his ministers
0:26:02 > 0:26:05and by the military might of his Prussian neighbour.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11But in his imagination,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15he was the very embodiment of the all-powerful monarch,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18a king ruling by divine right.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25And one historical figure more than any other
0:26:25 > 0:26:29symbolised this ideal for Ludwig.
0:26:29 > 0:26:33The entrance vestibule. Solid grandeur.
0:26:33 > 0:26:38Lovely marble, Doric columns and...
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Well, now, there can be no doubt about
0:26:40 > 0:26:44who's the inspiration behind this creation because here,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48confronting all who arrive, is an equestrian statue
0:26:48 > 0:26:53of the French king, Louis XIV, the epitome of the absolute monarch.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55A lovely piece of work.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57And here, on the ceiling above,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01is a great sunburst of the Sun King with, in the middle,
0:27:01 > 0:27:08the Bourbon motto - "Nec pluribus impar," none his equal.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11Of course, the motto of the Sun King, Louis,
0:27:11 > 0:27:17but also the motto by which Ludwig would like to be known.
0:27:25 > 0:27:28As Prussia dominated the Germanic world
0:27:28 > 0:27:33and Bavaria's power waned, Ludwig's architecture became
0:27:33 > 0:27:37the one place he could create the world as he thought it should be.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42A world that respected the power of absolute monarchy,
0:27:42 > 0:27:45the world of Louis XIV.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54What an astonishing room.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58An incredible evocation of the grandeur and opulence
0:27:58 > 0:28:00of early 18th-century France.
0:28:00 > 0:28:05This is the king's bedroom, there is the king's bed,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10separated from the world of mere mortals by this balustrade.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12Raised, as if on an altar,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17is the divine bed of the incredible divine king.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19Incredible sanctified territory.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24Here, Ludwig would have presided in solitary grandeur.
0:28:30 > 0:28:32Almost every room in this building
0:28:32 > 0:28:36speaks of power and kingship through beauty.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46But they do so on a surprisingly small scale.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48This is Ludwig's world in miniature,
0:28:48 > 0:28:53a private set of rooms decorated to mind-boggling intensity.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02This is the most visually dramatic room in the palace.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05Standing here between these two mirrors,
0:29:05 > 0:29:11I can see an endless vista of rooms stretching to infinity.
0:29:11 > 0:29:13It's incredible.
0:29:13 > 0:29:20Ludwig would come into this mirror room to read alone at night.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27It's strange, this mirrored room offers a window into Ludwig's soul.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31You can imagine him standing here looking into these mirrors,
0:29:31 > 0:29:36seeing himself in a vast and stately palace, but in fact,
0:29:36 > 0:29:41it's nothing but a tiny room, all just a figment of his imagination.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46Each room in this mini palace
0:29:46 > 0:29:49is stuffed full of priceless works of art.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52Sevres porcelain urns.
0:29:52 > 0:29:56Even Sevres porcelain peacocks.
0:29:59 > 0:30:03Meissen candelabra and sconces.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09Lobmeyr crystal chandeliers.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16Under the patronage of Ludwig,
0:30:16 > 0:30:19there was a blossoming of the arts in Bavaria.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22Munich came second only to Paris and Vienna
0:30:22 > 0:30:25as a centre of artistic excellence.
0:30:30 > 0:30:36And Ludwig was a man possessed. Every detail was agonised over,
0:30:36 > 0:30:41every element personally overseen by the obsessive monarch,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43inside and out.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00The gardens became Ludwig's playground,
0:31:00 > 0:31:04where he achieved glorious and instant gratification
0:31:04 > 0:31:07through the construction of buildings
0:31:07 > 0:31:09that were little more than stage sets.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15Inside this mound is Ludwig's response to the Venus grotto
0:31:15 > 0:31:19in Wagner's opera, Tannhauser.
0:31:19 > 0:31:25Now, I shall enter through this rocky crevice here in front of me
0:31:25 > 0:31:28and, strangely, I see the way is blocked by a vast stone,
0:31:28 > 0:31:30which is clearly a door.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33It will be heavy, I expect.
0:31:33 > 0:31:34Rather impressive.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36- Ah! - HE LAUGHS
0:31:36 > 0:31:41No, it's made of plaster. As with so much of Ludwig's world,
0:31:41 > 0:31:44all is pure artifice.
0:31:49 > 0:31:54The entire grotto is man-made, a framework of iron girders
0:31:54 > 0:31:59skilfully covered with canvas and plaster and sculpted to give
0:31:59 > 0:32:03the impression of a natural grotto, complete with stalactites.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09This grotto is truly amazing.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13It's so much bigger than you would think from the outside
0:32:13 > 0:32:17and like so many of Ludwig's creations,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20both eccentric and breathtaking.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23It is ultimate theatre.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25What an evocation!
0:32:25 > 0:32:29And here, look, incredible. Here is the world of Wagner's Tannhauser.
0:32:29 > 0:32:33Here is the lake and there, on the back wall,
0:32:33 > 0:32:38indeed, is a painted scene from the opera, showing Venus in her grotto.
0:32:38 > 0:32:43There is the design, here is the reality in three dimensions,
0:32:43 > 0:32:48created by Ludwig for his pleasure and escape and fantasy.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53The lake here and the craft, the sort of shell craft,
0:32:53 > 0:32:54the boat from the opera.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58He rowed around the lake in that.
0:33:00 > 0:33:04You can imagine him sitting in it, fantasising, escaping,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07in this incredible world he's created,
0:33:07 > 0:33:11a world of pure imagination and artifice.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23The theatricality of the grotto was enhanced
0:33:23 > 0:33:26by the use of pioneering technology.
0:33:26 > 0:33:28Dynamos were installed to power lights
0:33:28 > 0:33:30with rotating coloured glass disks,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34which created a changing light show for the king.
0:33:41 > 0:33:43Ludwig embraced stage design
0:33:43 > 0:33:48and new technology at every turn in the pursuit of the perfect illusion.
0:34:02 > 0:34:04Not far from the Venus grotto
0:34:04 > 0:34:07is something perhaps even more surprising.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23This extraordinary site really is
0:34:23 > 0:34:26one of the great moments in architecture,
0:34:26 > 0:34:31the wonderfully incongruous juxtaposition of this gilded
0:34:31 > 0:34:36Islamic dome set against the craggy backdrop of the Bavarian Alps.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47The Moorish Kiosk was built for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Ludwig saw it and had to have it.
0:34:55 > 0:34:56He bought the entire structure
0:34:56 > 0:35:00and had it rebuilt in the grounds at Linderhof.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05A richly decorated interior that transported Ludwig
0:35:05 > 0:35:11from the Bavarian Alps to the exotic kingdoms of the Arab world.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21The focus of the kiosk is the peacock throne,
0:35:21 > 0:35:24a magnificent affair.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27There we have the peacock presiding over the sofa
0:35:27 > 0:35:30on which Ludwig would have sat.
0:35:30 > 0:35:34He had the peacock made in Paris and Munich in 1877.
0:35:34 > 0:35:36Made of metal,
0:35:36 > 0:35:40the feathers are enamelled metal with polished stone.
0:35:40 > 0:35:44The peacock, to him, represented eternity,
0:35:44 > 0:35:49the continuation of this state of bliss.
0:35:49 > 0:35:52It really is a most bold statement
0:35:52 > 0:35:57of power, or imagined power, through beauty.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05These buildings in the garden are pure fantasy.
0:36:05 > 0:36:09Escapism of the most visceral kind.
0:36:09 > 0:36:13There are places in which Ludwig could for a while retreat
0:36:13 > 0:36:16from the woes and horrors of the real world.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22As he said to a contemporary, "Oh, it is essential to create
0:36:22 > 0:36:26"such paradises, such poetical sanctuaries
0:36:26 > 0:36:30"where one can forget for a while the dreadful age in which we live."
0:36:33 > 0:36:35As the events of that dreadful age develop,
0:36:35 > 0:36:39such sanctuaries became increasingly important to the King.
0:36:46 > 0:36:51In 1870, Prussia went to war with France.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54It was part of a strategy to unite the Germanic states
0:36:54 > 0:36:56around a common enemy.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04Ludwig had no option but to join the war on the Prussian side.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09But he was all too well aware of the cost.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12Defeat would be disastrous,
0:37:12 > 0:37:14but so would Prussian victory.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19For Ludwig, the situation was impossible.
0:37:19 > 0:37:24Victory would confirm Prussia as the dominant state in a united Germany
0:37:24 > 0:37:28and also confirm Bavaria as little more than a vassal
0:37:28 > 0:37:31and as king, Ludwig as a puppet monarch.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38Puppet king he would be.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41With Prussian victory came an irresistible call
0:37:41 > 0:37:44for the creation of a German Empire
0:37:44 > 0:37:46but with Prussia at its head.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51The dream of German unification would happen
0:37:51 > 0:37:53but Ludwig would be sidelined.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Obliged to sign away Bavarian sovereignty to Prussia
0:37:57 > 0:38:00in a document known as the Kaiserbrief.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06On 18th January, 1871,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09the Prussian King was crowned Kaiser or Emperor of Germany
0:38:09 > 0:38:13in the famous Hall Of Mirrors at the Palace Of Versailles in France.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20The palace of Louis XIV became the birthplace of the new German Reich.
0:38:20 > 0:38:25It was a victory for German nationalism on a Wagnerian scale,
0:38:25 > 0:38:30but one that made Ludwig and Bavaria subservient to the Prussian King.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36Ludwig's response as ever would be architectural
0:38:36 > 0:38:39and this time, more ambitious than ever before.
0:38:41 > 0:38:47The Prussian King had defiled the greatest palace of Ludwig's hero, Louis XIV.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52Now Ludwig would create that palace anew
0:38:52 > 0:38:55on an island on Lake Chiemsee,
0:38:55 > 0:38:59far from the intrusion and disappointment of real life.
0:39:03 > 0:39:09Herrenchiemsee, Ludwig's very own Palace Of Versailles.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28But it was built not with the bountiful riches
0:39:28 > 0:39:29of a Bourbon monarch,
0:39:29 > 0:39:33but at least in part with a secret annual stipend
0:39:33 > 0:39:36paid to Ludwig by the Prussian Exchequer
0:39:36 > 0:39:38after signing the Kaiserbrief,
0:39:38 > 0:39:42the very document that had officially stripped Ludwig
0:39:42 > 0:39:44of much of his regal power and status.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48Goodness. What grandeur,
0:39:48 > 0:39:53what opulence and dare I say, what sort of pretension, really,
0:39:53 > 0:39:57because this staircase is based on the Ambassadors' Staircase
0:39:57 > 0:39:59in Versailles, of course.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02Same scale, same sort of plan.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04Incredible decoration.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Apparently, walls of marble,
0:40:07 > 0:40:09though I'm sure it's only a veneer.
0:40:09 > 0:40:11What's amazing about this, of course, is that
0:40:11 > 0:40:17as real power slipped from Ludwig's grip in the world,
0:40:17 > 0:40:21he created bigger and grander buildings,
0:40:21 > 0:40:25as if, of course, to compensate for the loss of the real thing.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38Ludwig's architecture had begun by taking inspiration from the stage.
0:40:38 > 0:40:41Now it had truly become little more THAN a stage.
0:40:47 > 0:40:50Goodness.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57This really is one of the oddest architectural experiences I've ever heard.
0:40:57 > 0:41:00I've travelled to a remote island in southern Bavaria
0:41:00 > 0:41:05and found myself in Versailles, in the world of Louis XIV.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08Incredible. In detail, in scale
0:41:08 > 0:41:10in spatial experience, it's Versailles, really.
0:41:10 > 0:41:12This is the king's state bedroom.
0:41:12 > 0:41:17But of course, not the bedroom of Louis XIV, but of Ludwig II,
0:41:17 > 0:41:19the man obsessed by Louis.
0:41:19 > 0:41:24Louis represented to Ludwig the idea of absolute monarchy.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27This is his homage to Louis. Incredible.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31There's Ludwig's bed, balustrade.
0:41:31 > 0:41:33What amazing opulence.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35It's extraordinary.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38Um, what can one say? It's...
0:41:38 > 0:41:40extreme, extreme in every way.
0:41:40 > 0:41:44He's living in the shadow, in the whorl, of Louis XIV.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Louis is everywhere. His presence, you almost feel it.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50And that's the thing. Louis was a great model for Ludwig
0:41:50 > 0:41:54of the proper king, the king ruling by divine right,
0:41:54 > 0:41:56the absolute monarch.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59And indeed, one can see images of Louis there.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02Above each of the four doors are scenes from court life
0:42:02 > 0:42:06in Versailles, each featuring Louis going about his business,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09dispensing power, giving audiences,
0:42:09 > 0:42:12indeed, exuding that sort of power, that regal power,
0:42:12 > 0:42:14which Ludwig did not have.
0:42:18 > 0:42:20There is one key difference -
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Louis XIV's palace functioned,
0:42:23 > 0:42:24Ludwig's did not.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39This is the council chamber,
0:42:39 > 0:42:43but no historic council meetings took place here, no audiences.
0:42:43 > 0:42:45Ludwig wouldn't allow them.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48But of course, the palace of an absolute monarch
0:42:48 > 0:42:52had to have an audience chamber and so here it is.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57There is the throne on which Ludwig should have sat.
0:42:57 > 0:42:59Behind it, staring down as if bestowing blessings,
0:42:59 > 0:43:02is a portrait of Louis XIV.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04But of course, it's all very sad
0:43:04 > 0:43:06because he's looking down onto a chair
0:43:06 > 0:43:10which was and remains perpetually empty.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13It's all, really, very haunting.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21But the focus of the palace is Ludwig's answer
0:43:21 > 0:43:24to the very grandest room of Versailles,
0:43:24 > 0:43:26the scene of the recent Prussian triumph
0:43:26 > 0:43:32which had led to the eclipse of Ludwig's dreams and ambitions for Bavaria.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36This is the visually most striking room in the palace, or is usually,
0:43:36 > 0:43:38but as you can see, it's under repair.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42It's based on the Hall Of Mirrors at Versailles.
0:43:42 > 0:43:46Indeed, in many ways, it's a very exact replica.
0:43:46 > 0:43:50This room must have had great meaning for Ludwig.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54The Hall Of Mirrors at Versailles had been sullied
0:43:54 > 0:43:57because it had been used by the Prussians as a location
0:43:57 > 0:44:02in which to proclaim their king the new emperor of united Germany.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06Ludwig's response was to build his own Hall Of Mirrors,
0:44:06 > 0:44:11which at 98 metres is somewhat larger than the original.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13He was, of course, making a point.
0:44:22 > 0:44:28In this grand hall, Ludwig's pursuit of beauty reached a crescendo.
0:44:33 > 0:44:36It is an almost exact reproduction
0:44:36 > 0:44:38of the Hall Of Mirrors at Versailles.
0:44:46 > 0:44:52Ludwig couldn't resist one or two ironical theatrical flourishes,
0:44:52 > 0:44:56such as this image of Fame blowing her trumpet
0:44:56 > 0:44:58but tumbling from the heights.
0:45:06 > 0:45:09In the dining room, the table is today encased
0:45:09 > 0:45:11in a protective glass box.
0:45:11 > 0:45:16It's not for the sake of the table so much as what sits on it.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21Look. Upon the table is, well, a bunch of flowers,
0:45:21 > 0:45:24but they're not flowers in the usual sense,
0:45:24 > 0:45:26they're made of porcelain, Meissen porcelain.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28Absolutely fantastic.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30Sitting in a Meissen porcelain urn.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35Absolutely delicate, lifelike, beautiful.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39You can almost see the dew upon the petals. Incredible stuff.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48What's more amazing still is what hangs above the table. Look at that.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52The largest Meissen porcelain chandelier ever made.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54108 candles on it.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56A thing of utter beauty.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59Look at the colours, the way it glistens.
0:45:59 > 0:46:00Little bunch of flowers
0:46:00 > 0:46:04and I see birds sitting on the stems of the object.
0:46:04 > 0:46:08Absolutely amazing. Now, Ludwig was a jealous monarch,
0:46:08 > 0:46:11jealous when it came to beauty, to things he loved.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15When this was made, he ordered the mould should be smashed
0:46:15 > 0:46:19so no such chandelier could ever be made again.
0:46:19 > 0:46:20This remains unique.
0:46:33 > 0:46:38And here the dining table is small. Just seats four people, really.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40So, clearly, if the King wanted to be left alone
0:46:40 > 0:46:43to dine in reflective solitude,
0:46:43 > 0:46:48perhaps joined only by characters from his imagination.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51Also, a wishing table, as it's called,
0:46:51 > 0:46:56descends into the floor. The pulley, so it can be laid, pulled up.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58The King can sit there dining
0:46:58 > 0:47:01and not be disturbed by servants coming and going.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08As with so much of Ludwig's world, this is a brilliant conjuring trick.
0:47:10 > 0:47:13Downstairs, Ludwig employed technology
0:47:13 > 0:47:15and the lessons of theatre set design
0:47:15 > 0:47:17to safeguard his solitude.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22This is the mechanism that operates the wishing table.
0:47:22 > 0:47:24Up there, it's a table
0:47:24 > 0:47:28in that wonderful porcelain rococo dining room.
0:47:28 > 0:47:34Below here, this utterly ruthless piece of late 19th-century
0:47:34 > 0:47:40hi-tech engineering. Wonderful sort of lattice construction.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43Wrought iron or maybe steal. And of course, this great wheel.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48It's a winch to push this round. There are counterweights.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50There's a ratchet over here.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53And one would simply lower the table,
0:47:53 > 0:47:56down it would come into this space here
0:47:56 > 0:48:00and I suppose, if possible, one would put on the next course
0:48:00 > 0:48:02and up it would go again.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05So, typical of Ludwig, this contrast of worlds,
0:48:05 > 0:48:10the world of beauty, history and solitude,
0:48:10 > 0:48:14and down here, modern engineering
0:48:14 > 0:48:16and I say a scurry of staff.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20Active here, invisible to the King above.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33As Ludwig retreated further into his own fantasy world,
0:48:33 > 0:48:38he began to see himself not as a Sun King in Louis XIV's image,
0:48:38 > 0:48:42but as the Moon King, a dark reflection of his hero.
0:48:53 > 0:48:57Veronika Endlicher is a curator at Herrenchiemsee
0:48:57 > 0:49:01and an authority on both the palace and its creator.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06Ludwig inverts aspects of Louis the Sun King
0:49:06 > 0:49:10because Ludwig sees himself as the Moon King, doesn't he?
0:49:10 > 0:49:12SHE SPEAKS IN GERMAN
0:49:31 > 0:49:35Of course, Ludwig is obsessed with beauty in architecture, in art,
0:49:35 > 0:49:38but he himself becomes, in his view, anyway, less beautiful.
0:49:38 > 0:49:41So this must be a big issue for him, a challenge.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28Ludwig only stayed at this palace once.
0:50:28 > 0:50:32Despite his grand plans, events overtook him
0:50:32 > 0:50:34and the palace remains unfinished.
0:50:36 > 0:50:38The result is rather spooky.
0:50:41 > 0:50:46Beautifully ornate rooms lead into unfinished shells.
0:50:49 > 0:50:53Walking between these spaces is like walking offstage
0:50:53 > 0:50:55into the wings of a theatre.
0:50:55 > 0:51:00This is the companion staircase to the one I walked up earlier.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03That, of course, clad in marble,
0:51:03 > 0:51:07a thing of great beauty expressing imperial power.
0:51:07 > 0:51:11This, a hollow sham, really,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14a grim reflection of reality.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17This is all so symbolic.
0:51:17 > 0:51:21Ludwig created this palace to express kingship,
0:51:21 > 0:51:25but he was, in fact, a king who'd lost his kingdom
0:51:25 > 0:51:28and the unfinished state of this staircase,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32captures the absolute moment when the dream came to an end.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38Ludwig's increasingly eccentric behaviour had not gone unnoticed
0:51:38 > 0:51:40by his ministers.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43He spent months at a time away from Munich.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47He lived by night and had little or no interest
0:51:47 > 0:51:50in public appearances or matters of state.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55More importantly, he had run up enormous debts.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59The cost of his building schemes had bankrupted Ludwig,
0:51:59 > 0:52:03but he refused to curb his expenditure.
0:52:03 > 0:52:08By 1885, the King was more than 14 million marks in debt,
0:52:08 > 0:52:113.5 billion euros in today's money.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18The Cabinet, faced with a king who seem to have few interests
0:52:18 > 0:52:22beyond his building projects and running up debts,
0:52:22 > 0:52:27decided to act. It gathered facts and opinions from Ludwig's staff
0:52:27 > 0:52:30and then consulted a team of psychiatrists.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33Now, these psychiatrists without even interviewing Ludwig
0:52:33 > 0:52:39concluded that His Majesty is in a far advanced state of insanity.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47It was all his ministers needed to topple the monarch.
0:52:48 > 0:52:52Just after midnight on 12th June, 1886,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55a government commission placed the King in custody.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58Ludwig's uncle was declared Prince Regent.
0:53:00 > 0:53:02Ludwig was transferred to a castle
0:53:02 > 0:53:06on the shores of Lake Starnberg near Munich
0:53:06 > 0:53:08and placed under house arrest.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29The Moon King had lost his kingdom
0:53:29 > 0:53:33and perhaps more importantly, his beloved palaces.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36He was, according to accounts,
0:53:36 > 0:53:39bereft at the thought of the future.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47The following day, Ludwig went for a walk
0:53:47 > 0:53:52with his psychiatrist Dr Gudden along the banks of the nearby lake.
0:53:53 > 0:53:56Neither man returned.
0:53:59 > 0:54:05After hours of searching, the bodies of Ludwig and Dr Gudden were found
0:54:05 > 0:54:09floating in shallow water on the edge of the lake.
0:54:09 > 0:54:12Both had been dead for several hours.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17The body of Ludwig showed no signs of obvious injury,
0:54:17 > 0:54:22but the body of the doctor showed evidence of a violent struggle.
0:54:26 > 0:54:30The King's final moments have been the subject of debate
0:54:30 > 0:54:32and speculation ever since.
0:54:32 > 0:54:35Did Ludwig attempt suicide, killing his psychiatrist
0:54:35 > 0:54:37when he tried to intervene?
0:54:37 > 0:54:39Was it a dreadful accident?
0:54:39 > 0:54:42Or was the King murdered?
0:54:42 > 0:54:45And if so, why? And by whom?
0:54:45 > 0:54:50The truth is that Ludwig's last hours remain a mystery,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53the final mystery of the man who had declared,
0:54:53 > 0:54:58"I want to remain an eternal enigma to myself and to others."
0:54:58 > 0:55:00He had his wish.
0:55:00 > 0:55:05Today, the site of his death is marked by this simple cross
0:55:05 > 0:55:08standing in the lake.
0:55:08 > 0:55:14This site remains a place of pilgrimage for Ludwig's admirers.
0:55:14 > 0:55:16They gather here every year
0:55:16 > 0:55:22on the anniversary of his death to mourn the lost king of Bavaria.
0:55:30 > 0:55:34Bigger places of pilgrimage are the palaces themselves.
0:55:34 > 0:55:38All were open to the public within six weeks of the King's death.
0:55:38 > 0:55:42They've paid for themselves many times over.
0:55:42 > 0:55:47Today, Neuschwanstein, the most famous of the palaces,
0:55:47 > 0:55:51receives some 6,000 visitors a day in the summer months
0:55:51 > 0:55:54and has received more than 50 million visitors
0:55:54 > 0:55:59since it was opened to the public on 1st August, 1886.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06King Ludwig himself has become a symbol of German pride,
0:56:06 > 0:56:10more so today than ever he was in his lifetime.
0:56:11 > 0:56:17For many, he represents the heart of Bavaria and the soul of Germany.
0:56:25 > 0:56:29I'd be very interested to hear from a young person about King Ludwig.
0:56:29 > 0:56:34What do you think? What do people now think of this rather tragic king?
0:56:35 > 0:56:38He was kind of special, different,
0:56:38 > 0:56:44because Bavaria is very, I would say, conservative
0:56:44 > 0:56:47and he wasn't for his time.
0:56:47 > 0:56:51I think he was a very modern man in his thinking
0:56:51 > 0:56:55and that's because he was an outsider then, so as a consequence.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57People thought, "Oh, God. What is he doing?
0:56:57 > 0:57:03"He's spending so much money on art or architecture."
0:57:03 > 0:57:06But I think people love him. Today, they love him for that.
0:57:09 > 0:57:13For most people, the story of Ludwig ends at Lake Starnberg
0:57:13 > 0:57:15and the wooden cross.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18But for me, there's a more fitting memorial
0:57:18 > 0:57:20to this visionary and eccentric king.
0:57:22 > 0:57:26This is the Chapel Of Grace in the small town of Altotting,
0:57:26 > 0:57:28some 60 miles from Munich,
0:57:28 > 0:57:32one of the most visited shrines in the whole of Germany.
0:57:34 > 0:57:37It is home to the much venerated Black Madonna,
0:57:37 > 0:57:43a 14th-century icon of profound importance in Catholic Bavaria.
0:57:45 > 0:57:48But it is also a shrine to Ludwig.
0:57:49 > 0:57:54This beautifully-crafted silver-gold urn was made in 1886
0:57:54 > 0:57:59by a jeweller that Ludwig used to decorate his palaces.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Outside is Ludwig's cipher,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04two Ls entwined.
0:58:04 > 0:58:08Inside is Ludwig's heart.
0:58:08 > 0:58:12This is entirely in keeping with Bavarian tradition
0:58:12 > 0:58:14because resting each side and above
0:58:14 > 0:58:17are the hearts of other Bavarian monarchs.
0:58:17 > 0:58:22It seems to me that is completely fitting
0:58:22 > 0:58:24that a heart that beat for beauty,
0:58:24 > 0:58:28the heart of a king that lived for art and architecture
0:58:28 > 0:58:33should reside for eternity in an object so beguiling,
0:58:33 > 0:58:36in a building so beautiful.
0:58:43 > 0:58:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd