CHAPTER XLII
Conclusion
On the evening of Whitmonday the body of Ludwig II. was conveyed to Munich.
The hearse, which was drawn by four horses and was accompanied by his servants and by priests, arrived at the capital at half-past three in the morning. Great numbers of country people followed his coffin weeping. Nobody believed he had been mad, but that an innocent man had been persecuted. In the hearts of all there lived the memory of the beloved King, who had promised so much, whose peculiarities they had condoned, and who, despite all, had continued to be the pride of the Bavarians.
The news of his tragic end shocked the whole of Germany. His capital, where he had so seldom resided, mourned him deeply and sincerely; and in the country districts there was hardly a hut where his picture was not wreathed with crape. The dead King lay in state on a high catafalque, dressed in the knightly robes of the order of St Hubert, with its golden band round his neck, and the sword of iron resting on his left arm. On his breast lay flowers, brought by the Empress Elizabeth. Thousands of all grades of society pressed into the little chapel to bid him a last farewell. Sorrow was written on all faces; sympathy found expression on all lips. The lonely eccentric had found peace at last.
Queen Marie’s strength had been broken by sorrow; she outlived her eldest son by only two years. “Bavaria’s unhappiest mother” expired on the 17th of May, 1889, at Hohenschwangau, where she had lived the full and happy years of her youth. With the words: “God save Bavaria, God save Prussia!” she drew her last sigh.
The Duchesse d’Alençon was visiting her parents at Possenhofen, when her former betrothed found his death in the neighbouring lake of Starnberg. The news of it so greatly shocked her that she temporarily lost her reason.
Ludwig’s deposition and violent death called forth stormy debates in the Bavarian Chamber. In order to convince the world that his treatment had been justified, the Ministry revealed without mercy the development of his disease; and eminent alienists were unanimous in their declaration that for several years his mind had been clouded.
But to this day there are many among his people who do not believe it.
Bavaria has not forgotten King Ludwig, and the traits of geniality and kindness, by which he won all, are still spoken of with love. In those parts where he mostly resided the remembrance of the “romanticist on the throne” dwells fresh and warm in the hearts of the people.