fitat60plus

Yesterday I touched on Napoleon and his indirect responsibility of the invention of Braille,  the script for the blind . It’s impossible to think of Napoleon and not mention his first wife, Josephine de Bauharnais, who was an outstanding figure in her own right and - perhaps, a role model for social climbing!

Born as Marie-Rose Tescher on the Carribean island of Martinique, she grew up on a sugar plantation. Her family was not very wealthy and was hard hit by a hurricane which destroyed their fields. Through the machinations of an astute aunt, Josephine met and married her wealthy first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais in Paris in 1779 and the family was in the money again.

During the Reign of Terror however, both Alexandre and Josephine were arrested and imprisoned. Whilst Alexandre was guillotined, Josephine luckily escaped that fate because Robbespierre was arrested and excuted. However, the  hardship of her imprisonment is thought by historians to have caused Josephine’s later infertility.

After she was freed and allowed to recover her husband’s wealth, the widow started her climbing in earnest. She became the mistress of several leading polititians until she met and enticed Napoleon in 1795. He fell hopelessly for Josephine’s charms and many moving and even sentimental love letters have survived. They married in 1796.

But, Josephine was not careful. Whilst the rising star Napoleon was on one of his war campaigns in Italy, she started an affair with a young hussar. Napoleon found out and was so enraged by her behavior, that from that moment on, he embarked on his  own line of numerous affairs. Josephine learned her lesson, but Napoleon’s feelings for her were never the same again. They did stay together however and in 1804 Josephine was crowned as the first Empress of France by her husband. As a monarch Josephine’s infertility became a serious issue, because Napoleon needed an heir to continue the monarchy. They divorced in 1810 and Napoleon married an Austrian princess with whom he had the much longed for and needed son.

Josephine moved to her charming chateau Malmaison near Paris and dedicated her time to botany and gardening, her hobbies. She was a spendthrift and drove Napoloen to distraction, but he nevertheless paid her debts. She died in 1814.

Despite the emotional ups and downs in their relationship it appears that Napoleon harboured deep feelings for Josephine, because his last word on his deathbed in St. Helena was “Josephine.”

Not only was the empress Elisabeth of Austria, nicknamed ‘Sissy’ a vey beautful woman who was much ahead of her time as far as exercise, diet  and beauty treatments were concerned, she was also a great traveler. Turkey and the Middle East were very fashinable in the 19th century, when the exotic tales of harems, sultans, great art and fabulous jeels reached the west and ignited a veritable ‘orient fashion’.

As I told you before, Ludwig II of Bavaria, a great admirer of Sissy, created his own sentimental oriental paradise in one of his palaces, music and belly dancers included. Elisabeth was not immune to the ‘orient fashion’ and as one of the first woman travelelrs visited Turkey. She travelled the country widely and as she was also very educated, she not only visited Istanbul (then Constantinople) but also the excavations of Troy, conducted by the German businessman turned archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann.

Her heart however was drawn to the Greek islands and in particular to Corfu whre she spent many holidays, not leat to find relief from her respiratory and muscle problems which were a result of her strenous exercise regime. Elisabeth also  visited Great Britain, Ireland and Hungary which of course belonged to her empire and where she impressed the famous Hungarian horsemen with her own equestrian skills.

An absolute favoite of Elisabeth’s was Switzerland and the city of Geneva. It was on the promenade of Lake Geneva, that she was attacked and stabbed to death by a deranged Italian fanatic thus putting a premature end  to an exceptionally versatile and ‘modern’ queen.

Herrenchiemsee, the fabulous although unfinished castle of Bavaria’s Fairy Tale King Ludwig II, was the subject of my previous posts. However the island is historically interesting and important for another reason. It was here that in 1948 the ‘founding fathers’ of the German constitution, the Grundegesetz, convened and in two short weeks agreed on the principles and most important articles which form the basis for the Federal Republic of Germany which came into being in 1949.

‘Founding Fathers’ is however incorrect, as the council included four women! Surprisingly though, the council members did not assemble in Ludwig’s castle but chose as the venue for their deliberations the nearby monastery and cloister, a decidedly more sober place. This was, by the way, also the building where Ludwig’s meals were prepared and then rushed the mile or so to his dining room, as his castle failed to incorporate a kitchen!

And another fact is worth mentioing about the island, although it has nothing to do with history. It’s the home of the biggest variety of bats found anywhere in Europe. They are a protected species and well looked after and cared for on the island. Ludwig, who was well ahead of his time as far as protection of the environment was concerned, also established a deer park and protected every wild life that lived in the dense woods which he saved from being cut down by buying the island. Every single material which was needed for the construction was brough to the island by boat and not one tree was felled for the building site.

As I told you yesterday, King Kudiwg II of Bavaria is also known as the Fairy Tale King or the Swan King. His castle on an island in a lake in Souther Bavaria certainly justifies that name. It’s called Herrenchiemsee and it’s an example of tremedous extravagance by an eccentric king and of what happens, when that same king runs out of money.

Although Ludwig II financied his building spree out of his own pocket, he built after all three castles and his funds were soon depleted. He didn’t put his hand into the state’s funds, but he badgered his council and ministers endlessly with request to contact other monarchs asking for loans. When he couldn’t borrow any more he just needed to stop, which makes Herrenchiemsee a unique sight.

Ludwig II adored Louis XIV of France and modelled Herrenchiemsee on the centre facade of Versailles. He eeven created a Mirrored Hall like the one of the French king. No marbles were too valuable for him, no tapestries and carpets too expensive. Whereas Louis XIV is known as the Sun King, Ludwig felt himself attracted to the Moon. His bedroom, which he used only once, is decorated in blue and a pale, shimmering moon shines at the foot of his bed.

Whereas the front rooms and reception halls were completed, he ran out of money when construction reached  some living quarters, bath and kitchen. No kitchen has ever been added. The king’s food was prepared in a nearby cloister kitchen and brought over by running servants to keep it warm. It was then placed in a food elevator, known as a “silent servant” and cranked up form the ground floor to the king’s dining room. It’s reported, that his food was nearly always luke warm, which really doens’t come as a surprise.

His huge, pool like bath tub is nothing but a cement- covered big hole in the ground with the beginnings of paintings covering the walls. It’s a very disturbing sight to  move from utter oppolence to no more than skeleton construction with bare walls and unadorned floors by just going up a few steps and turning a corner.

This is my first post and I would like to tell you that the blogname -fitat60plus- comes from me being over 60 and staying and keeping fit to travel and persue my love for history and particularly the hidden and more unknown sides of famous kings, rulers and politicians. I also love architecture and castles and Germany is one of the countries which is a treasure trove for that.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria who was born in 1845 and died in mysterious circumstances by drowning in the German lake Tegernsee in 1886, is often referred to as The Swan King, the fairy Tale King or the Mad King. These attributes came about because of his eccentic and highly expensive obsession to build fairy tale castles, the most notable being Neuschwanstein in Bavaria. What’s not appreciated is tha the king was well ahead of his times as far as technology is concerned in which he took a keen interest. Many of his drawing of technical devices have survived. He was the first one in the state of Bavaria to have a telephone installed, comissioned an elaborate heating system for his castle Herrenchiemsee situated on an island in the lake of the same name. The heating allowed him to bath in his huge indoor swimming pool. Ludwig was also concerned about the environment. He pruchased the entrie island of Herrenchiemsee where he erected his castle with a view to preserving the extensive woods and wildlife which populated the island. It was owned by a lumber compoany which was about to cut down the entire forest for firewood and ship building and the king’s swift action prevented the deforestation.