Ludwig is transported to Castle Berg on…

Ludwig is transported to Castle Berg on the shores of Lake Starnberg, south of Munich.

On June 13, 1886, around 6:00 PM, Ludwig asks Gudden to accompany him on a walk through the Schloß Berg parkland along the shore of Lake Starnberg.

Gudden agrees; the walk may even have been his suggestion, and he tells the aides not to accompany them.

His words are ambiguous (Es darf kein Pfleger mitgehen, "There is no need for attendants to go with [us]") and whether they were meant to follow at a discreet distance is not clear.

The two men are last seen at about 6:30 p.m.; they are due back at eight but never return.

After searches are made for more than three hours by the entire castle personnel in a gale with heavy rain, at 11:30 p.m. that night, the bodies of both the King and Gudden are found, head and shoulders above the shallow water near the shore.

The King's watch had stopped at 6:54.

Gendarmes patrolling the park had heard and seen nothing.

Ludwig's death is officially ruled a suicide by drowning, but the official autopsy report indicates that no water was found in his lungs.

Ludwig was a very strong swimmer in his youth, the water was approximately waist-deep where his body was found, and he had expressed suicidal feelings during the crisis.

Gudden's body showed blows to the head and neck and signs of strangulation, leading to the suspicion that he was strangled by Ludwig.