Richard Wagner saw his cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen as a single whole. When its first part, Das Rheingold, was ready, the cycle was not. Wagner wanted to wait until it was complete and stage it himself. King Ludwig II of Bavaria did not want to wait. He scheduled the performance at the Royal Court and National Theater in Munich, and Das Rheingold was first performed on September 22, 1869. Wagner stayed away from the premiere.