Three norns foretell Ludwig II, Harry Baer as a king haunted by a curse said to come from Lola Montez, Ingrid Caven, destined to be the last king of Bavaria. He governs his court as a personal theatre of taste and image, clinging to aesthetics while resisting the pull of industrialism, progressivism, and the rising modern mass society. He nurses a toothache and conducts himself with eccentricity, yet makes a point of stepping beyond the palace walls to connect with life outside the court, choosing moments of ordinary humanity over isolation. The tension between decadence and connection threads through his days.
Early in his life he protects and funds the then-unknown composer Richard Wagner, Gerhard Maerz, a patron whose generosity is welcomed by Wagner even as others see it as a scandalous show of favoritism. Elisabeth of Austria, Monica Bleibtreu, her cousin, lends quiet sympathy to the king and draws a comparison to Sitting Bull, underscoring a shared sense of being misunderstood by a world eager to pigeonhole power and art. These personal bonds illuminate a ruler who balances mythic stature with human longing.
A cabal of ministers led by Ludwig's uncle Luitpold, Peter Moland, plots to assassinate the king so Bavaria can accelerate industrialisation. The film threads in a Bavarian folk dance, a moment where Wagner contemplates his future, and even a playful yet unsettling scene where Ernst Röhm, Peter Kern, and Adolf Hitler, Johannes Buzalski, share a rumba, signaling how art, power, and danger swirl together in this turbulent era. Tension mounts as loyalty and conscience collide with political calculation.
Ludwig ultimately yields to Otto von Bismarck, Peter Przygodda, and allows Bavaria to be annexed into the German Empire, a concession that upends the conspirators’ plans and tests the monarchy’s viability in a changing nation. The looming question of how to handle a king who stands in opposition to industrial progress intensifies, and the circle of advisers grows more anxious about the future of the Bavarian throne. The move marks a turning point where old sovereignty confronts a new national order.
The conspirators debate how to remove Ludwig, worried that the Bavarian monarchy itself may be endangered. A fearless man from the people steps forward to oppose the plan, offering a counterweight to elite scheming and highlighting the tension between popular sentiment and royal authority. The king’s financial woes are not merely personal—they shape public perception, as the press casts him as insane even as the numbers behind his debts are questioned and reframed. Power, perception, and reality blur in the public eye.
Ludwig is found dead in an apparent suicide, and his brother Otto ascends the throne while Luitpold governs as Prince Regent due to Otto’s mental illness. It becomes clear that Ludwig’s debts were smaller than previously believed, reframing the narrative of his reign from financial ruin to a more nuanced legacy. In a stark, unsettling finale, Ludwig is taken to a guillotine and beheaded. A peasant woman promises that he will return, echoing mythic savior motifs. Surrounded by motorcycles, Ludwig stands on the guillotine and begins to yodel, leaving a haunting, defiant image of a ruler who remains larger than life even in defeat. The film closes on a note that blends tragedy, legend, and irrepressible spirit.
