June 1886. Ludwig II of Bavaria dies drowned in Lake Starnberg, near Munich. Ludwig II was admired, loved, hated, mocked, and mythologized more than anyone else in the 19th century. Most people admire him because he stubbornly and persistently constructed a fairytale world, where his visions, fantasies, obsessions, and bizarre desires took shape. In our materialistic age, the tragic figure of the "mad" king has become synonymous with romanticism and has inspired great artists such as Paul Verlaine, Lucien Visconti, and Hans-Jürgen Syberberg.

Fifty years later, Klaus Mann, before leaving Nazi Germany, dedicates his penultimate piece of literary prose to this mysterious death. "Ludwig", published in 1937, traces the last hours of the king's life, from his arrival at Berg Castle to his suicide. Around him, a multitude of witnesses observe the spectacle of his decline: servants and psychiatrists who guard him. His tragic cousin Elisabeth of Austria (Sissi) comes at the end to pay tribute to the body of her lost friend.

However, at the center of the text, the writing reflects Ludwig's thoughts, describes the drama of a consciousness dominated by madness, and traces its dreams. Images and memories accumulate: his friendship with Wagner, his love for Elisabeth, the failure of his marriage to his cousin Sophie, the constant torment of unfulfilled desires, the continuous attempts to realize his dreams by building towers that correspond to the "phantasmagoric Wagnerian operas".