Before Writing the Report, the Doctor Had Never Met the King Judged Mentally Ill
Ludwig II's deposition was based on a psychiatric report that Gudden wrote without ever examining the king himself, relying only on testimony from political enemies; the two men subsequently both drowned, and the cause of death remains a mystery.
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Swollen Ears Are Not a Symptom but Institutional Neglect
At the time, psychiatric hospitals generally considered bedsores, auricular hematomas (swollen ear cartilage), and rib fractures on patients to be symptoms of mental illness itself. Gudden was the first doctor to point out these were actually caused by improper care or even abuse. This led him to implement a true ‘non-restraint’ policy at Wernike Hospital—unprecedented in psychiatric institutions of that era—and created a rift with his mentors' methods.
— Holly FreyBrain Injury Research Left Behind Gudden's Law
In 1874, Gudden published experimental research on skull growth, becoming foundational literature for understanding mammalian skull development. Through animal experiments, he also demonstrated that brain injury causes secondary degeneration in other brain areas but does not cause peripheral nervous system degeneration—a finding later known as ‘Gudden's law,’ with anatomical structures named after him in the optic nerve bundle.
The Motivation to Depose the King Was Regency Power
Ludwig II had no heirs and was attracted to men, and his extravagant spending on castle-building had already angered the cabinet and his relatives. His brother Otto was already deemed mentally unsound, and by succession order should have become king, but ministers and Uncle Prince Luitpold conspired: if they could also declare Ludwig mentally ill, Luitpold could assume regency and hold actual power. So they approached Gudden, demanding a formal psychiatric report on the king's mental state.
— Holly FreyBefore Writing the Report, the Doctor Had Never Examined the King
Gudden had only seen Ludwig once before, in 1874, and it was not a clinical encounter—it was extremely brief. When preparing the report in 1886, he never formally examined or interviewed the king himself; instead, he relied entirely on descriptions provided by third parties during interrogation—people who were precisely those trying to remove Ludwig from power. The report was co-signed by Gudden and three other doctors, and none of them had actually seen or examined the king.
The Report Cited the King's Eccentricities as Evidence of Insanity
The report began with genetic evidence—the king's aunt had believed she'd swallowed a glass piano, and his brother Otto was already diagnosed with mental illness. It then listed the king's various behaviors: no longer attending church, building a private theater to watch plays alone, using enormous set pieces at banquets to hide himself, bringing stable hands to forest gatherings during full moons, fantasizing about flying in a peacock-drawn carriage, bowing and praying to a ‘holy tree,’ and accusations that he regularly beat and kicked servants until they bled. The conclusion was that his delusions had reached ‘a very serious degree’ and were incurable for life.
Officials Said Suicide, But Details Suggest a Struggle
The coroner ruled Ludwig died by drowning or similar circumstances, but contemporary newspaper accounts cited descriptions showing a large number of footprints in the lake bottom, fingernail scratches on Gudden's face from the king, and what appeared to be ligature marks on his neck—suggesting a struggle in the water rather than suicide. More crucially, Gudden's body was never autopsied, only observed on the surface where those injuries were documented. What actually happened remains undetermined to this day.
Some Claim the Coat Had Two Bullet Holes
A 2007 "Der Spiegel" report cited a man who, at age 10, saw a coat supposedly worn by the king on the night of his death—with two bullet holes in the back. In a 2018 documentary, a 97-year-old recalled that in 1961, his father was asked to burn a batch of Wittelsbach family items, which included a coat with bullet holes. These accounts all point to assassination, but Ludwig's remains are entombed in Munich's St. Michael's Church, and the family has refused to open the tomb for verification.
Low Brain Weight Points Toward Early-Onset Dementia
The autopsy recorded Ludwig's brain weight and skull condition. Based on this, modern doctors speculate he may have had Pick's disease—a common early-onset frontotemporal dementia occurring in people aged 40–60 that causes dramatic personality and behavioral changes. Ludwig was exactly 40 when he died, which could explain his late-life violent behavior and possibly even his killing Gudden before taking his own life. However, a 2021 paper cautioned that retrospective diagnosis of this kind easily imposes contemporary understanding onto historical contexts, resulting in distortions resembling caricature.
In their own words · checked verbatim
Gooden wrote this report about the king without ever having examined him or even spoken to him about his health, mental or physical.
suffered from an incurable mental illness for many years, namely the delusion that she had swallowed a glass piano.
his majesty's expressed lively desire to fly through the air in a carriage drawn by peacocks would also fall in the realm of exuberant imagination, completely disregarding the boundaries of reality and possibility.
Very often, however, His Majesty also resorts to violence, sometimes beating and kicking the servants until they bleed.
not a fool, just an eccentric living in other worlds of ideas.
There are evidences that a violent struggle occurred in the lake between the king and the doctor in the endeavor of the latter to rescue his patient.
when attempting to answer this question, one enters the minefield of retrospective diagnosis. Imposing today's knowledge on the possible medical knowledge of that time often results in a false picture, like the drawing of a caricature.
Figures
| Gudden's tenure at Wernike Hospital | 14 years | 8:17 |
| Gudden's tenure at Bergeholzli Hospital | 3 years | 9:19 |
| Ludwig II's age at succession | 18 (1864) | 12:23 |
| Date Gudden's report was completed | June 8, 1886 | 15:27 |
| Ludwig II's age at death | 40 | 31:48 |
| Common age range for Pick's disease onset | 40–60 | 31:48 |
| Water depth of drowning location | approximately four feet | 26:42 |
| Age of 2007 eyewitness (was 10 at time of event) | 60 | 27:43 |
Glossary
- somatic psychiatry
- School of medicine holding that all mental illness has physical, physiological roots
- non-restraint policy
- Care practice that rejects physical restraints in managing psychiatric patients
- retrospective diagnosis
- Inferring historical figures' medical conditions using modern knowledge; prone to anachronism
- Pick's disease
- Early-onset frontotemporal dementia common in 40–60 year-olds causing personality and behavioral changes
How to listen
Readers interested in royal scandals, the history of psychiatry, or the ethics of forensic psychiatric evaluation.
You can skip Gudden's early medical career at the beginning; the core conflict begins with the report and death sections.