Ludwig II of Bavaria

Ludwig II became the patron of composer Richard Wagner, providing financial support and commissioning operas such as Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal. This patronage enabled Wagner to complete his Ring cycle and build the Bayreuth Festspielhaus.

Ludwig II commissioned the construction of Neuschwanstein Castle in 1869, a Romanesque Revival palace inspired by medieval legends. The castle became a symbol of his romantic idealism and later a major tourist attraction, though it was never completed.

Ludwig II was declared mentally unfit and deposed on June 10, 1886. He died the next day under mysterious circumstances in Lake Starnberg, along with his psychiatrist. The official cause was suicide by drowning, but conspiracy theories persist.