The castles of “mad” King Ludwig II of Bavaria are remarkably eccentric. He is often referred to as the Swan King or Fairy Tale King. He didn’t care much for his parents, but ascended to the throne at the age of nineteen and quickly withdrew from the affairs of the state as Kings just became figureheads. Ludwig enjoyed solitude and loved classical stories and tales of knights. He was a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner, inviting him to his court as one of his first acts as King. After visiting Versailles and seeing the culture of architecture, art, and music in France, Ludwig saw how much Bavaria was lacking. He then focused on spending his personal wealth on several extravagant and artistic building projects and defied all attempts by his government ministers to restrain him.
Hohenschwangau Castle– originally goes back to 1397 but was rebuilt several times and gained its present shape during the reign of Ludwig’s father, King Maximillian, from 1833-1855. The castle contains more than 90 wall paintings representing the history of Schwangau (Swan District) and medieval German romance stories (Parzival, Lohengrin, and Knights of the Swan). The king lived on the third floor, the queen on the second floor, and their two sons, Ludwig and Otto, lived in the annex. When Maximilian died in 1864, Ludwig became king at the age of nineteen and took over the third floor. As he was not married, his mom lived on the second floor for the rest of her life. Now you can see why Ludwig wanted his own castle!
Neuschwanstein Castle– was created by King Ludwig II, as one of his several ‘art and architecture’ building projects. He bought a telescope to watch the construction progress from his third floor bedroom in nearby Hohenschwangau Castle. The castle took seventeen years to complete and it is more glorious inside than what you see outside. After the first floor kitchen and staff living area, and the third and fourth floors were finished, he moved in but only lived there for 172 days until his mysterious death. The second floor remains unfinished. The public has been touring the castle since his death and during that time there have been over sixty million visitors. Walt Disney was one of those visitors and was so inspired that he modeled his Disneyland castle based on Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle has the decadence King Ludwig II wanted – surrounded by his favorite classical themes, fables, stories, knights, and swans. You can easily see where Disney got his inspiration!
Linderhof Palace– this is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II and the only one which he lived to see completed. We drove an hour into Austria, then back into Germany, to get there and the scenery was spectacular along that route. Ludwig inherited this hunting place from his father, but tore that down and replaced it with this miniature version of the Versailles Palace (he idolized the French Sun-King Louis XIV). The construction was conducted in several phases from 1869-1874. This palace is best known for its gardens and grotto.
In front of the palace is a golden fountain group of “Flora and puttos” with a water jet that shoots 25 meters in height. To the north, water splashed down a cascade of thirty marble steps (from a mountain spring) into an amazing Neptune pool fountain. To the west is a pool with the centerpiece statue of “Amor with dolphins”, a bust of Louis XIV, and beautiful majolica vases. The eastern side has a fountain with “Amor shooting an arrow”, a bust of Louis XVI, and sculptures of Venus and Adonis.
The terrace gardens go up a hill with a three-basin fountain with sculptures of water nymphs. Further up the hill is a bust of Marie Antoinette of France. The crowning jewel at the top of the hill is a round temple with a statue of Venus.
Across the 125 acres on the hillside behind the palace area there are several features built into the landscape. The Venus Grotto is an artificial lake (based on Wagner’s Tannhauser) with 24 dynamos installed for changing light colors and Ludwig loved to be rowed across the lake in his golden swan boat. A Hunding’s Hut (based on Wagner’s Die Walkure) is used for Germanic feasts. A Gurnemanz Hermitage with a flowering garden was used by Ludwig only for his Good Friday contemplations. A Moorish Kiosk with a Peacock Throne (from the 1867 Exhibition in Paris) and a Moroccan House (from the International Exhibition in Vienna 1873) were redecorated for a more royal look. Clearly, Ludwig had a specific vision and eye for detail!
Even without the castles, Fussen is a remarkably beautiful area. One can imagine the Disneyland Matterhorn mountain based on the mountains above the Neuschwanstein Castle. And the turquoise-green rivers and lakes are similar to the color of the water around Glacier National Park in Montana and Banff Lake in Canada. It has been a joy to visit beautiful Bavaria!
