Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 930 830;
www.hohenschwangau.de
;
adult/concession €12/11, with Hohenschwangau
€23/21; 8am-5pm Apr-Sep, 9am-3pm Oct-Mar)
Appearing through the mountaintops
like a misty mirage is the world's most famous castle, and the model for Disney's citadel,
fairy-tale Schloss Neuschwanstein.
King Ludwig II planned this castle himself, with the help of a stage designer rather than
an architect, and it provides a fascinating glimpse into the king's state of mind. Built as a
romantic medieval castle, work started in 1869 and, like so many of Ludwig's grand
schemes, was never finished. For all the coffer-emptying sums spent on it, the king spent
just over 170 days in residence.
Ludwig foresaw his showpiece palace as a giant stage on which to recreate the world of
Germanic mythology in the operatic works of Richard Wagner. Its epicentre is the lavish
Sängersaal
(Minstrels' Hall), created to feed the king's obsession with Wagner and medi-
eval knights. Wall frescos in the hall depict scenes from the opera
Tannhäuser
. Concerts
are held here every September.
Other completed sections include Ludwig's
Tristan and Isolde-
themed
bedroom
,
dominated by a huge Gothic-style bed crowned with intricately carved cathedral-like
spires; a gaudy artificial grotto (another allusion to
Tannhäuser
); and the Byzantine
Thronsaal
(Throne Room) with an incredible mosaic floor containing over two million
stones. The painting on the wall opposite the (throneless) throne platform depicts another
castle dreamed up by Ludwig that was never built. Almost every window provides tour-
halting views across the plain below.
At the end of the tour visitors are treated to a 20-minute
film
on the castle and its creat-
or, and there's a reasonably priced cafe and the inevitable gift shops.
For the postcard view of Neuschwanstein and the plains beyond, walk 10 minutes up to
Marienbrücke
(Mary's Bridge), which spans the spectacular Pöllat Gorge over a water-
fall just above the castle. It's said Ludwig liked to come here after dark to watch the
candlelight radiating from the Sängersaal.
CASTLE
Schloss Hohenschwangau
( 930 830;
www.hohenschwangau.de
;
adult/concession €12/11, with Neuschwanstein
€23/21; 8am-5.30pm Apr-Sep, 9am-3.30pm Oct-Mar)
Ludwig spent his formative
years at the sun-yellow Schloss Hohenschwangau. His father, Maximilian II, rebuilt this
palace in a neo-Gothic style from 12th-century ruins left by Schwangau knights. With all
this faux-medieval imagery filling his childhood, no wonder Ludwig turned out the way
he did.
Far less showy than Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau has a distinctly lived-in feel
and every piece of furniture is a used original. After his father died, Ludwig's main altera-
