I challenged the stronger sex everywhere

Lola Montez had many faces and many names. The daughter of a British officer, whose real name was Eliza Gilbert, defied moral conventions at an early age: At 16 she eloped, married her lover and moved with him to India, at 22 she dallied around the capitals of Europe as a "Spanish dancer" and at 25 she began her affair with King Ludwig I. When she was consequently driven out of Munich Lola Montez marketed her story on Broadway in New York and in the outbacks of Australia. The fate of the self-confident dancer, who was raised to the rank of Countess Landsfeld as the King's mistress and never allowed herself to be intimidated by the male world. She inspired filmmakers and theatre directors. The historian Marita Krauss describes the path of Lola Montez in all its ups and downs evaluating the diaries of Ludwig I, which have been neglected so far.