He hated war, but led two armed conflicts. He saw himself as a King by Divine Right, but made himself subordinate to an Emperor. He preferred to be alone, but was constantly searching for a confidant. King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-1886) reacted to his own times with an archaic, religiously transfigured understanding of kingship. His insistence on the "true, real" royal office had precisely the opposite effect: Ludwig II became lost in the reality of a moderately powerful state and was deprived of both his throne and his life in 1886. This biography takes the latest research on Ludwig into account but still succeeds in presenting surprising insights and interpretations.