king ludwig ii of bavaria was a great admirer of richard wagner and he gave a lot of money for the opera house to be built. wagner watched the construction all the time and made sure that everything was built in the way he wanted. work on the building started on 22 may 1872 (wagner's birthday), and it was ready four years later when, for the first time, all four operas which make up the cycle called "der ring des nibelungen" ("the ring of the nibelung"), were performed.