Bernhard von Gudden's psychiatric assessment and the deposition of King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1886 : Comments on the article by R. Steinberg in Der Nervenarzt 01/2019

Der Nervenarzt
Heinz Häfner

Abstract

King Ludwig II of Bavaria drowned himself in Lake Starnberg on 13 June 1886 after subduing and drowning Bernhard von Gudden, a Munich-based psychiatrist who had tried to hold him back. Commissioned by Prince Luitpold, Ludwig's successor to the throne, von Gudden had provided a psychiatric assessment on the king. Finding him to be suffering from a progressive mental illness and paranoia (madness), he declared Ludwig incapable of ruling. On the basis of this report Ludwig was unlawfully declared incapacitated, deposed, arrested and locked up in the Berg Castle under von Gudden's medical supervision. We conducted a 5-year psychiatric historical study of King Ludwig II, the most thorough of its kind ever undertaken. The main results were: the private, official and political letters the king wrote until his very last day were reasonable, well-argued and impeccable in style. Until his final days Ludwig had invariably fulfilled his administrative tasks in a prompt and proper way. His handling of political affairs was also wise and reasonable. Due to social phobia afflicting him since his youth he neglected his representative duties as a monarch. Von Gudden's report is marred by severe flaws. In his article published in Der Nervenarzt ...Continue Reading

References

Sep 24, 2008·Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica·H FörstlR Hacker
Mar 12, 2011·Fortschritte der Neurologie-Psychiatrie·D V Zerssen
Apr 28, 2011·Der Nervenarzt·R Steinberg, H Hippius
May 20, 2011·Der Nervenarzt·H P Kapfhammer

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Citations

Jul 23, 2020·European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience·Reinhard Steinberg, Peter Falkai

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