1. Wagner and
the King
Ainee
Jeong

2. King Ludwig aka…
• Ludwig Otto
Friedrich
Wilhelm
• King Ludwig II of
Bavaria
• “Mad King
Ludwig”
• “The Swan King”

3. A Little About
Ludwig
• Born in 1845
• Died in 1886
• Reigned from 1864 - 1886
• Preceded by father
Maximilian II
• Succeeded by younger

4. Early Exposition to
Wagner’s Work
• 13 years old:
Former
governess
writes to him
describing a
performance
of Wagner’s
Lohengrin.

5. Meanwhile,
Wagner…
• Had an enormous debt that
had been built up since the
failure of his opera Das
Liebesverbot in the early
1830s.
• Had to move around to
escape creditors.
• Became involved in a
German nationalist
movement.
• Had both successes and
failures with his various

6. “Will such a prince
be found?”
• 1863: Wagner publishes the
poem of Der Ring des
Nibelungen, which included a
preface that called for a
“princely patron.”
• March 1864: Ludwig II
assumes the throne after his
father’s death.

7. King Ludwig,
Prince Charming
• Ludwig
immediately paid
off all of
Wagner’s debts.
• Provided Wagner
with a villa on
Lake Starnberg
and then with a
house in Munich.

8. Ludwig:
A Rocky
Relationship
Wagner took
full advantage
of King
Ludwig’s
patronage and
financial
support.
King Ludwig
demanded

9. The “Honeymoon”
Phase
• Wagner became King Ludwig’s
constant companion and
confidante.
• Wagner was so cherished by
King Ludwig, that the king began
to neglect his political
responsibilities.
• For some time, Wagner gained
the reputation of being

10. Disagreements
and The WAGNER
LUDWIG
Ring
• Wanted a large, • Wanted a
grand theater temporary
in Munich. theater in the
• Wanted to country.
produce • Became set on
Meistersinger
Bayreuth for
and The Ring in
Munich. theater
specifically for
• Wanted

11. Political Issues
LUDWIG WAGNER
• Detachment • Scandal
from arouse
political because of
power affair with
brought Cosima von
about Bülow,
changes in putting him

12. The (kind of)
“Break-up” to
• In 1865, King Ludwig forced
send Wagner away; Wagner
banished from Bavaria to
Switzerland.
• Spent 7 years in Switzerland
and finished Die Meistersinger
(1867), Siegfried (1871), and Die
GÖtterdämmerung (1872) there.
• King Ludwig and Wagner
continued to keep in contact

13. The “Make-up”
• 1872: Wagner returned to
Bavaria carry out his dream
of the Bayreuth
Festspielhaus.
• 1873: with financial help
from King Ludwig, the
theater was finished.
• 1876: first Bayreuth Festival

14. A Rollercoaster
Until the End
• King Ludwig
and Wagner
had one last
disagreement
over a
performance
of the
prelude of
• However, in Ludwig was
Parsifal King
devastated by Wagner’s death in
late 1880,
1883,did not
and and ordered that each piano in