Ludwig Salvator
The island of Majorca is famous for its beaches and therefore became a popular destination especially for the German and the British. Many bought property there, but most come for a beach vacation and the infamous Ballerman Beach with its huge and cheap hotel buildings and partying scene were the reason why the island got a bad reputation for how development in tourism can get out of hand. Only recently it hit the headlines again when young german party guests against all reason disregarded the corona rules.
In reality, the island is of exceptional natural beauty. The coastline looks very much like a especially successful design of Slartibartfast (the Margathean designer of planets in the “Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy) and big parts of the coastline are undeveloped. Hidden beaches hide below shear cliffs and along the entire northwestern coast the Serra de Tramuntana mountain range offers spectacular hiking trails.
The view from Ludwig Salvator living room in Son Marroig
The natural beauty of the island was discovered long before the big hordes of tourists started to arrive in the 1960ies. In 1867 Archduke Ludwig Salvator arrived at the Balearic islands. Ludwig Salvator was the 12th out of 13 children of Gran duke Leopold II of Tuscany. He was born in Florence on August 4th 1847 as member of the family of Habsburg-Lorraine, an italian branch of the Habsburg family. His second nephew Franz Josef was emperor of Austria-Hungary from 1848 to 1916. In 1859 the italian branch of the Habsburg family had to leave Tuscany in the course of the italian unification and was exiled to Bohemia. Franz Josef, conservative himself, was not happy about having the italian part of the family under his wings, since they where regarded as eccentric and pleasure-loving. He gave Ludwig Salvator a job in the administration of Bohemia. However, the young duke was more interested in natural science and biology and under the pretext of fits of Asthma he escaped to the Mediterranean. On his tour he arrived in Majorca.
Portrait of Ludwig Salvator in Son Marroig
His intention was to write a book about beetles. However the archduke got so impressed by the island that he bought the Miramar estate in Valldemossa. In the subsequent years he continued buying adjacent estates such as the country house San Marroig close to Deia and eventually owned most of the land between the two towns, a stretch of 16 km of coast line up to 10 km inland. His main residence was Son Marroig, and he owned two more larger estates called Son Moraques and Son Miramar. For the tourists of those days who wanted to experience this stretch of coast, Ludwig Salvator had the Hospederia “Ca Madó Pilla” set up, a guest house in which travellers received three days of free accommodation. One of his guests was empress “Sissi”, the wife of emperor Franz Josef, who visited him twice and stayed at his estate at Miramar, a former monastery. He also laid out a network of trails around 12 kilometers long, which is still preserved today. Miradores were built at the most beautiful viewpoints, small walls with benches from which one could admire the beauty of the coast and the sunset. On the website of the Habsburg family (habsburger.net) he is called the “sun-hungry drop-out” of the family.
The entrance to Son Marroig
Ludwig Salvator is said to have been very popular with the local population. He paid high prices for the estates he bought, and good salaries for his employees. He learned the local language Majorquin and loved to hang out with the common people. Careless about his appearance, he wore worn out suits or the simplest of robes and to his own amusement was sometimes mistaken for a shepherd, sailor, cook or farm worker. Once he received a tip from a Majorcan farmer whom he had helped to pull a stuck cart out of the mud. “My first self-earned money”, he later proudly told.
Garden and living room of Son Marroig
Many stories deal with the love life of the Archduke, who was especially fond of the charms and the beauty of Majorcan women. The Archduke is said to have looked well after his numerous illegitimate children. The carpenter's daughter Catalina Homar enjoyed a special place in this amorous kaleidoscope. She got an excellent education, learned several languages and advanced to the manager of his wineries. The centre of her life was the small country house S’Estaca, which Ludwig Salvator designed himself.
The little temple viewpoint of San Marroig
To have comfortable access to the residence of his girl-friend, the archduke had a road built between S’Estaca and Punta de Sa Foradada, a rocky promontory below his own mansion at Son Marroig. The road was suitable for a carriage and later probably for the new cars. Later it became a popular hiking trail.
The trail down to the coast at Sa Fordada
Ancient olive trees around Son Marroig
Ludwig Salvator’s house in Son Marroig just outside the little town of Deia is on an exposed spot above the coast allowing spectacular views. It originated from a watch tower built against the raids of muslim pirates. Upon construction of the mansion the watch tower was preserved. It was inherited by Ludwig’s secretary and already turned into a museum in 1927. Most of the original furniture and art works are preserved. The beautiful gardens are dominated by a temple built from Carrara marble. Below are terraces with ancient olive trees. A hiking trails goes down to the bay behind Sa Foradada, a landmark rock cliff with a hole. To prepare for what is to come I have a coffee and a snack in a little bar with a spectacular view of the coast and hole in the rock.
The little restaurant at Sa Foradada
The bay of Sa Foradada and the former road along the coast
The road seems to be an easy walk. However, after only a couple of 100 m a landslide has destroyed the original route. People who want to continue have to scramble across a coast built from boulders. There is no indication where to leave the difficult boulders and climb up to the preserved road again. Fortunately I see a couple of people coming down and so I know where the right spot is.
The swept away trail
Close to Son S’Estaca is a little fishing cove, which was also constructed under the supervision of the Archduke. Today the simple huts do not house fishermen any more. They are converted to vacation homes and rented out to tourists. But after scrambling across the rocks it is a welcome refreshment to have a little dip into the water of the bay.
The fishermen's cove of S'Estaca
From the cove of S’Estaca it is a long climb uphill to the old monastery town of Valldemossa, a popular destination for pilgrimages and tourists. The trail passes old farms, watchtowers and even an ancient well.
Farm with old watch tower
Old water well
I have stayed in Valldemossa before (there will be another story about that) and therefore continue uphill to return to Deia. This supposedly is another trail established under the orders of Ludwig Salvator and therefore is called Cami de’s Arxiduc. It crosses his former estate of Son Moraques and climbs up to the Puig de Teix, with 1062 m one of the highest peaks in the Serra de Trasmuntana and of Majorca. From there one has a beautiful view back down to San Marroig and the perforated rock of Sa Foradada.
The town of Valldemossa
Catalina Homar accompanied Archduke Ludwig Salvator on some of his travels and he also took her to the imperial court in Vienna. Although the different sources are controversial, she seems to have come with him on a tour to Palestine where she contracted Lepra. She died in Valdemossa in 1905, only 35 years old. Another victim of, not a virus, but a bacterium.
View down on Valldemossa and down on Sa Foradada from the top of the Puig de Teix
After outbreak of the first world war emperor Franz Josef called back home the parts of the family who had managed to escape his dictatorial rule in Austria-Hungary. At the time Ludwig Salvator already was quite sick. He died, 68 years old, on October 12th, 1915 in Brandeis nad Labem near Prague in Bohemia.
The little fishing port of Deia
Ludwig Salvator published numerous works about his studies in the Mediterranean. But his travels also brought him as far as Los Angeles and he published a book about LA in the 1870ties.
The center of Deia
While San Marroig is now a museum, much of his property along the coast including S’Estaca was bought by the actor Michael Douglas, who is a big fan of the archduke. However, after 2014 he tried to sell the property. When it was still available by 2020 even after reducing the price by $ 13.5 million, he withdrew it from the market.
Link to the previous post is
