Tuesday, August 29, 2017

TWO FOR TUESDAY - LUDWIG, LOVER OF LOLA


'DEATH VALLEY DAYS'
"LOLA MONTEZ"

LUDWIG I OF BAVARIA
PORTRAYED BY GABOR "GABRIEL" CURTIZ

From Wikipedia:
Ludwig I (25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.

Ludwig had several extramarital affairs and was one of the lovers of Lady Jane Digby, an aristocratic English adventuress. Another affair was the Italian noblewoman Marianna Marquesa Florenzi. His affair with Lola Montez also caused some scandal.

In 1844 Ludwig was confronted with the Beer riots in Bavaria. During the revolutions of 1848 the king faced increasing protests and demonstrations by the students and the middle classes. The King had ordered to close the university in February and on 4 March a large crowd assaulted the Armory to storm the Munich Residenz. Ludwig's brother Prince Karl managed to appease the protesters, but now the royal family and the Cabinet turned against Ludwig. He had to sign the so-called "March Proclamation" with substantial concessions. On 16 March 1848 it was followed by renewed unrest because Lola Montez had returned to Munich after a short exile. Ludwig had to let her be searched by the police on 17 March, which was the worst humiliation for him. Not willing to rule as a constitutional monarch, Ludwig abdicated on 20 March 1848 in favour of his eldest son, Maximilian.

Ludwig lived for another twenty years after his abdication and remained influential, especially as he continued several of his cultural projects. Most of his time in Munich his residence was the neo-gothic Wittelsbacher Palais, once built for his successor and unloved by Ludwig. He died at Nice in 1868, and was buried in St. Boniface's Abbey, Munich which he had ordered to be built.

As was the case with Franz Liszt, King Ludwig was never in the wild, wild West.  But he did figure in the flashback memories of Lola Montez as she used her serlinguist skills to tell the audience in the Trueniverse about her life.  Therefore, her vision of his televersion would not conflict with these other portrayals of Ludwig I.

"Wagner" (1981) 
Played by Sigfrit Steiner 

Komödienstadel - Die schöne Münchnerin (2008) 
Played by Winfried Frey

BCnU!

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