10 Maddest People Ever To Be In Charge Of A Country
9. Ludwig II Of Bavaria Tried To Build Disneyworld
'Mad King Ludwig' was a man with a mission. That mission was to build the most awesome castles in the world. And he did, covering Bavaria with fairytale confections including Schloss Neuschwanstein ('New Swan On The Rock Castle') and Linderhof palace.
Not included in his mission were political activities of any kind, alarming because he was supposed to be the king. Ludwig had a pathological dislike of affairs of state and avoided them along with any kind of big social engagement as much as was humanly possible, instead focusing on building insane palaces while bankrupting himself and pausing only to become patron to the composer Richard Wagner.
The Bavarian establishment did not really know what to do with their exceptionally weird and irresponsible king so they did the only sensible thing, which was to declare him insane and depose him.
Shortly afterwards, while on a stroll in the castle where he was effectively a prisoner, Ludwig and his psychiatrist, Dr von Gudden, drowned in a lake. Whether he really drowned or was bumped off before he could become a problem again is unknown, and the legacy of 'Mad King Ludwig' has remained ever since.