Christian Jank

If he remains alive, it will be a great miracle." Wagner couldn't have predicted it, but just two years later in 1866, Bavaria and Austria suffered a humiliating defeat to Prussia in the Seven Weeks War, and Ludwig was stripped of all real power.

It was then, historians believe, that Ludwig decided to retreat into a fantasy kingdom in the Alps dedicated to Wagner, an alternate reality in which he could play out his operatic daydreams full of Christian knights and magical swans.

Ludwig already had the perfect location picked out, a rocky promontory near his childhood castle with 360-degree views of pristine alpine lakes, lush valleys, and towering peaks.

He wrote a letter to Wagner describing his plans to build a far more ambitious version of his father's Hohenschwangau.

Quote, "The location is one of the most beautiful to be found, holy and unapproachable, a worthy temple for the divine friend who has brought salvation and true blessing to the world." To bring his vision to life, Ludwig enlisted a theatrical set designer and scene painter from Munich named Christian Jank to make some appropriately dramatic drawings of the new Hohenschwangau, as Ludwig called it.

It was meant to be an idealized version of a medieval castle inspired by a visit to the legitimately medieval Wartburg Palace, but cranked up to an 11.

Ludwig wanted 200 well-appointed rooms, a cavernous singer's hall for opera performances, ornate walled gardens, and even a knight's bath akin to the ritual baths used by the Knights of the Holy Grail.

He had written to Wagner that he hoped to move in in three years, but construction was still ongoing when Ludwig finally moved into the first completed section 15 years later.