Lola Montez

This lady has one of the craziest stories around. Everywhere in Munich and Bavaria you hear stories about "crazy King Ludwig," and they are usually referring to Ludwig II, the young king who built not one but three fairy tale castles, the most famous of which is Neuschwanstein.

However, his grandfather, Ludwig I, had his own set of interesting problems. Who knows if he was crazy, but he was certainly crazy in love with Lola, who was not his wife. The wife of Ludwig I was Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen. She is famous because the party after their wedding in 1810 turned out to be the first Oktoberfest. And they liked it so much, they've held it every year since then at a large field in the south of Munich called the Theresienwiese.

Now, Ludwig I ended up abdicating the Bavarian throne in 1848 (a time of much unrest in Germany, but that story is for another day) twenty years before his death, partly due to the scandal of his affair with Lola Montez. She purported to be a "Spanish dancer," but in fact she was Irish. Ludwig I made her a Countess, and she had some influence on his political decisions (this was part of the scandal). However, what I found interesting is what she did after she was forced to flee Bavaria in 1848.

She went to many parts of the world (France, London, Australia), but she spent a fair amount of time in, of all places, Grass Valley, California, just outside of Sacramento. Her home is California Historical Landmark No. 292. And among other things, the highest point in Nevada County is Mount Lola, named after her.