|
February / March 2000
The "Dream King" Lives Again
Tune up to the musical about Ludwig II, Bavaria's favorite, eccentric 19th-century king
By ROBERT THORNHILL
From 1806 to 1918, when it became a republic, Bavaria was a kingdom ruled by a succession of monarchs, all members of the 800-year-old Wittelsbach dynasty.
But when Bavarians today speak of "der Kini," the king, they mean only one: Ludwig II, the lonely "dream king," promoter of Richard Wagner, eccentric builder of fairy-tale castles and "19th Century Sun King," who ascended the throne at 18 in 1864 and reigned until his mysterious death at age 40.
No other monarch since Louis XIV, whom he idolized and tried to emulate, captured Europe's imagination like Ludwig II of Bavaria. The French poet Paul Verlaine called him "the only real king in this century of impotent kings."
He was a romanticist incarnate and a living legend. On June 13, 1886, his body and that of a psychiatrist who had declared him insane, as part of a palace coup because of the money Ludwig was spending on those castles, were found floating in shallow waters of Starnberg Lake south of Munich Their cause of death remains a mystery. Did Ludwig kill him and then commit suicide? Did he try to escape by swimming to a redoubt across the lake? Were they both Murdered? Or was it an accident? The legend has grown ever since.
Learn more! Subscribe today
Rats, Maggots, and Hardtack:
Transatlantic Travel in the 18th Century
Envision the dangers emigrants faced when seeking passage to the new world
By ROBERT A. SELIG
“Wer will fahren in die Neue Welt, Der muss haben einen Säckel voll Geld, Und dazu einen guten Magen, Dass er kann die Schiffskost vertragen!”
“Whoever wants to sail to the New World has to have a bag full of money, and also a strong stomach, So that he can tolerate the food on board!”
There is much truth in this jingle sung by 18th-century emigrants as they boarded ship for a journey most undertook only once in their lifetimes. Transatlantic travel was expensive, the food abominable, and no traveler exempt from dangers to life and limb that accompanied the painfully slow passage across thousands of miles of salty water. Rats and lice, fire and storms, scurvy and typhus knew no difference between rich or poor, adult or child, nobleman or convict: They felled their victims with broad scythe. The sea devoured humans by the tens of thousands, and the ocean floors are littered with the bones of soldiers and sailors, and especially those of emigrants seeking an opportunity to improve their fortunes in the New World.
Learn more! Subscribe today
Liechtenstein-More Than Just "The Mouse That Roared"
Discover the grand beauty, culture allure, and economic success of this diminutive land
By JOHN DORNBERG
Clichés about Liechtenstein abound: a state financed by the sale of postage stamps to collectors; twice as many secretive international companies as inhabitants, all so elusive that their only visible assets are letterheads in the files of local lawyers; a retreat for millionaires and billionaires; a land without taxes, ruled by a make-believe prince living in a fairy tale castle, and so small that you need a magnifying glass to find in on a map.
Well, there's truth and fiction to these clichés. Though stamps are a big enterprise, they account for only three percent of the Liechtenstein government's receipts. Strict banking secrecy has made Liechtenstein the headquarters of some 75,000 "letter-box" corporations, trusts, and foundations, but they pay $52 million in taxes and provide work for 120 local trust companies. Liechtensteiners do pay taxes, but they are the lowest in Europe-a maximum of 18 percent on incomes over $125,000. Prince Hans Adam II, 55, the constitutional monarch, and his family do live in the 13th-century castle about Vaduz, the capital, but he has a degree in economics, worked in London banks, and is very much a hard-nosed, feet-on-the-ground global businessman.
Though small, the country is by no means microscopic. Among Europe's several vestpocket countries in the Principality of Liechtenstein-population 31,300, area 62 square miles, member of the United Nations, Council of Europe, and the World Trade Organization-is kind of a "middle power." That is, it fits into Luxembourg 16 times and into Andorra even thrice, but on the other hand you would need about 100 Moncacos or San Marinos to fill the space.
Indeed, you can drive through Liechtenstein in half an hour. But what a shame if you did, for despite midget dimensions, it is a great little country to visit with enough to see and keep you busy for a weekend. It has one of the world's greatest art collections, picturesque alpine hamlets, vineyards, highland pastures, spectacular scenery, hiking trails, a ski resort with 12 miles of well-kept slopes, Michelin-rated restaurants, and excellent hotels.
Learn more! Subscribe today
Karneval Conquers Cologne
Celebrate the fun-filled frenzy of a tradition with roots in ancient times
By SKIP KALTENHEUSER
From my balcony Cologne was awash in waves of color. A million, seven hundred and fifty thousand onlookers had turned out for the Rosenmontagszug, or the Rose Monday parade, most of them dressed like clowns. More than 50 precessions over the previous few days had warmed up the city since Weiberfastnacht, or women's day, the preceding Thursday, and four local Rose Monday parades were also being held in different districts of the city. All over in side streets were small gatherings of wild and free-roaming marchers. Sometimes these gatherings were made up of just a handful of friends and a bass drum, or Fasteleer, until the members would run into other groups and melt together for a while, particularly if one of the marchers pulled a small dolly with a keg of the famed local beer, Kölsch. But the parade before me now was huge, float after float, band after band, intense with primary colors. Several months of parties and events by city carnival societies had built to this point.
Actually, many centuries had built to this point. Karneval, also known in Cologne as Fasteloovend or Fasteller and elsewhere in Germany as Fasching; has roots to ancient times, for Cologne is an ancient city. The Romans settled there in 38 B.C. It was a slow growing backwater until a locally born noblewoman, Julia Agrippina, daughter of the Roman General Germanicus, married Rome's emperor, Claudius. The marriage was better luck for the hometown than for Claudius, earning the town the name of Colonia Claudia Ara
Agrippinensum (Cologne or Köln) and municipal rights as capital of a Roman province in A.D. 50, from which it grew into the largest city north of Alps and a place of pilgrimage second only to
Rome. In the Middle Ages it was of greater importance in European commerce than either London or Paris. The colliding cultures that evolved Cologne’s customs lay down the roots of Karneval.
Learn more! Subscribe today
German Islands of Faith
Look at the simple, communal life of Hutterites following their 500-year-old Anabaptist faith
by Marion Amberg
Most people know them by their dress: women in long, pleated skirts and head scarves, men in suspenders and black trousers. But few people realize that the Hutterites¾unlike their spiritual
brethren, the Amish and the Mennonites¾live a communal life.
“What’s mine is thine,” German-speaking Hutterites believe. Colony members eat, worship, and attend school together. In Old World tradition women sit on one side, men on the other¾in order of
position and age.
Agrarian dwellers, Hutterites seek no converts; large families keep the 500-year-old Anabaptist faith and culture alive. But that doesn’t preclude the faithful from preaching by example, their
simplicity is in marked contrast to the outside world.
“If we don’t live for each other, what is there?” asks George Waldner, minister of the Hutterville Colony near Stratford, South Dakota, one of few colonies to offer public tours.
Hutterites don’t take communal life for granted, however. Their history is soaked with bloody, savage persecution.
Learn more! Subscribe today
|
