Ludwig I was responsible for turning Munich into a cultural Mecca.  He sponsored artists, writers, and craftsmen of all sorts and really gave Munich much of its modern look.  Then there was the scandal...

As Maxine began talking about the Wittelsbachs and their intrigues she asked "Have any of you heard the name 'Lola Montez'?"  I said the only thing I knew for certain was that Lola is buried in Greenwood Cemetery¹ in Brooklyn, NY.  That just about took Maxine off her feet, but she recovered quickly and told us how it was that Lola came to rest in Brooklyn, which story we all enjoyed (but it's too long to recount here).

Lola, according to Maxine, was a "pathological liar and a serial seductress".  Originally Eliza Gilbert of Limerick, she found this identity too plebeian and adopted, instead, the persona of a Spanish aristocrat forced to dance for her supper.  She seems to have charmed everyone she came in contact with including Alexandre Dumas and Franz Liszt, but Ludwig went off the deep end, having a catastrophic (and costly) affair with Lola/Eliza which eventually prompted the family to force him to abdicate.