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A palace with an ever changing fortune. It was built by Joseph Effner for Elector Maximilian II Emanuel in 1715–17 as a hunting lodge and maison de plaisance. In September 1796, Munich was surrounded by the French Republican Army that fought against the Austro-Imperial forces. The palace was plundered and later temporarily became an asylum for French Tappistines. During the German war in 1866 and the Franco-German war 1870/71 the castle was used as a military hospital. Then it served as domicile for the ill King Otto of Bavaria from 1883 until his death in 1916. The King lived in an elegantly furnished apartment on the ground floor, while his servants lived on the first floor. Otto was the younger brother of Ludwig II (Neuschwanstein and other castles) but he fell ill with "melancholia" and maybe schizophrenia or other mental illnesses which rendered him incapable of ruling himself. Therefore Ludwig II was succeeded as ruler by his uncle Leopold in 1883 and the king was confined under medical supervision in Fürstenried. It remains a bit unclear, though, how much these events were determined by power play and politics besides medical issues.