Today we went on a 10.5 hour coach trip to see two palaces built by ‘The Fairy Tale King’ Ludwig II, who ruled Bavaria in the 19th century. Our coach was extremely comfortable and our guide (Franzisca) was excellent (and funny).
The first destination was Linderhoff Palace, built as a retreat by the king in a remote valley in the foothills of The Alps.
Linderhoff was somewhat small for a royal palace but incredibly opulent, with mind-boggling furnishings and decorations in every room. These included 3D gilt floor-to-ceiling tapestries, gargantuan ceramic mirror frames, a massive ivory chandelier and even a dining room table that could be raised and lowered from the kitchen so the reclusive king didn’t have to see his servants.
The grounds were no less spectacular, full of fountains and statues in the Greek style. I was at Versailles a few months ago (a palace that inspired Ludwig) and I found Linderhoff to be even more breathtakingly over-the-top!
Our next stop was the town of Oberammergau, famous for its passion play.
The town has a few unique features including the paintings adorning many homes. Most of these are religious, but there are notable exceptions such as the one above which tells the story of Red Riding Hood. Apparently some of these are over 200 years old.
Oberammergau is also known for woodcarving and the souvenir stores sell all manner of clocks and nutcrackers and nativities and other carved decorations. We also met our first German cat in one of these stores!
The final stop – the highlight of the tour – was the most famous building in Germany and one of the most famous in the world: Neuschwanstein castle. Here’s how it looks when first sighted from the road:
This is Germany’s most popular tourist attraction and an absolute zoo of people! First we had lunch, then took a shuttle up the mountain closer to the castle. There followed a 15-minute walk with spectacular views of the countryside below:
Along this path there was a ‘hurdy-guest man’ playing his strange instrument for tourists. Dad helped him by turning the crank:
He was a very talented and charming busker, and greatly impressed us by playing (and singing!) “And the band played Waltzing Matilda” when he learned dad was Australian! He got a good tip for that 🙂
Eventually we arrived at the castle. Here it is from outside the walls:
And here are some shots inside the courtyard:
Neuschwanstein was to be Ludwig’s medieval castle, but it was unfinished at the time of his ‘mysterious’ death at age 40. Only 7 rooms were completed, but they are as spectacular as you may imagine, much grander and ostentatious even than Linderhoff but at the same time darker and less welcoming. This is more a castle; Linderhoff is more a palace.
I’ve wanted to visit Neuschwanstein my whole life (since seeing it in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and it didn’t disappoint. To live remotely in such a building would be exquisite, and I can only imagine what it would be like to live in a home with views like this:
There’s a good reason why this is such a popular attraction to visit. Ludwig was a dreamer that managed to – in part at least – realize his dreams. We learned a lot about him today and I found his story to be rather tragic. It warms my heart therefore that he lives on through his wonderful palaces.
Neuschwanstein is a place I’m likely to remember fondly for a very long time.