During the weekend of
11 Aug. 2011 we made a little trip down to Hohenschwangau to view 3 of the 4 palaces/castles of King Ludwig II.
King Ludwig II was the king of the state of
Bavaria.
He was a young and eccentric king.
Some thought he walked the other side a bit, others think he was a bit insane.
Some even thought he broke the state financially with the construction of his palaces.
Most of this is up for debate – and little documentation is actually out there to prove any of it – but one fact remains, he did not break the state financially and he was a good bit eccentric.
We arrived in Hohenschwangau late – and as we drove up the hillside we drove through a dense patch of woods – and I mentioned to Don, “I bet this is gorgeous in the day” – and it was, we drove the same way home.
As we came up to the village both Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein were lit to show the magnificence of their splendor!
What a sight!
We were quite pleased with our hotel choice.
I did a little more research after first booking our room- we were originally in the town of
Fussen, just south of Hohenschwangau.
But I was able to save a good bit of money, close to 100 Euros for the hotel stay alone, by staying at this guesthouse – and we were within walking distance!
Loved it!
I was quite excited about the savings we made with this trip, first with our awesome guesthouse!
We had the best room!
The children each had their own beds in a separate room from Don and I!
What a treat to not hear them sleeping!
Don and I had a small balcony off our room and it was so very peaceful!
We would have had a great view of the castle, had the trees not been in our way.
J We enjoyed our German breakfast both mornings before we headed out the doors.
The children are not overly pleased (except Evan) with the German breakfasts, so we have learned to pack a little something for the girls.
Aside from the scrumptious hot chocolate they always serve the wee ones!
J Far be it for them to turn that down!
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| Kids sleeping soundly in their beds... hotel was perfect with 3 bedrooms! |
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| OK, the "Kids" rooms were connecting, but still great! |
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| walkway from castle to horses |
King Ludwig grew up on the Hohenschwangau Schloss.
This palace was built on the hill just north of
Fussen, Germany.
There area was once known for the vast amount of swans, hence the name.
Hohenschwangau is a 19
th century palace and was built by his father on the ruins of the fortress Schwanstein (swan stone), which has records dating back to the 12
th century.
A family of knights was responsible for the construction of the original fortress.
Amazingly, the castle did not suffer damage in either WWI or WWII.
King Ludwig was king of
Bavaria for 22 years.
His exact cause of death is not entirely known, but as with all mysteries, there are some theories out there.
One of the most commonly bought into theories is that he was mentally insane and was drowned in the
Starnberger Lake.
It is true that he drowned, but some say it was not an accident.
The king was known as “the Mad King of Bavaria” mainly because of his eccentric lifestyle and reclusive nature.
He had eccentric taste in his art and architecture; so much so that he was completely devoted to the composer Richard Wagner and dedicated most of the interior of his Neuschwanstein castle décor to Wagner’s operas and in his Hohenschwangau Schloss, Ludwig had a music room off his bedroom that held one of Wagner’s Pianos.
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| walking UP to the Schloss Hohenschwangau |
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| Castle gardens |
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| view from Schloss gardens |
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| Evan excited to be there... |
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| Evan is pleased...Emma is not so much - |
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| waiting to go into our tour |
The interior of the Neuschwanstein Schloss
was very much of gothic style with paintings of the Romanesque era.
Neuschwanstein is
a dramatic Romanesque fortress. We were able to visit the King’s residence quarters as well as the staff quarters.
If you have ever seen a Walt Disney film, specifically Sleeping Beauty, or been to Disney World/land, the castle that is shown was modeled after this palace.
It is commonly referred to as “Sleeping Beauty’s Castle” or the “
Fairytale Castle”. It is said to be the most famous castle in the world.
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| Castle "courtyard" |
The Neuschwanstein Schloss has never been completed.
At the time of King Ludwig’s death he had only stayed in the palace for 174 days.
The entire 2
nd floor has never been finished.
In fact, only 1/3 of the palace had been completed by his death.
The palace closed immediately after his death, but was reopened to the public by the State of
Bavaria (within 6 weeeks).
The State saw it as a great revenue for them.
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| View from upper garden |
His third palace, Linderhof palace (to the left), was built as a little retreat, nestled w/in the hills of the
Alps.
How glorious this palace is!
The king was such a reclusive person and truly disliked public functions.
His “villa” in Linderhof, the 3
rd palace we visited, was truly meant for just himself and much of the villa was fashioned so that he did not have to come into contact with his staff.
As it is written in many places, it is ironic how much he disliked being around people and his palaces were not meant to be visited by the public, but now more than a million visitors annually.
There is also a fourth palace we will also visit, but not until next year, it is near Munich. We will make this one with part of our Salzburg, Austria trip.
Our Visit:
As another part of our savings, by staying at the guesthouse we were able to save an additional 13 euros on our tour tickets! How fabulous! Love it! In part – I wish we would have “reserved” our tickets ahead of time as there was a 45 minute wait. Though I am not sure we would have received the discount. The kids did great waiting with Daddy as I waited in line…
Hohenschwangau – King Ludwig’s childhood home
We first toured Hohenschwangau. We walked up the path to the palace and toured the courtyard while we waited…and of course visited the toilet! Hello!? ;) The tour was nice and short – just perfect really- only 30 minutes. It was in English, which is nice. We ascended up the “Queen’s Stairwell” into the dining hall. It was quite impressive – the kids were excited to see the “secret” passage for the servants in the stairwell. We took 94 spiral stairs. The kids LOVE these spiral staircases! They make me very nervous (and a bit dizzy), though they are splendid.
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| King Ludwig's "childhood" bedroom |
Within this palace we were taken to the Queen’s room (his mother), her sitting room, the King’s room(his father) as well as King Ludwig’s music room and bedroom.
He was quite unique in that he wanted to see the night lights in the “sky” of his bedroom and had “lights” installed as stars.
The room and ceiling were beautifully painted.
And as stated above he had Richard Wagner’s Piano in his music room.
We chose to take a horse/buggy ride down the hill – one because we could and two because the babies were in need of rest (I suppose mommy too! J)
We went to lunch at a local restaurant, Hotel Muller.
This was by far the best place we ate at.
Don ordered potato soup and I Lobster bisque.
We both still rave about how fabulous these soups were.
The kids’ lunches were good as were ours.
I wish we would have gone back here for dinner.
It was at this meal we realized Gracie had a little stomach bug (that later Sarah would get a mild version of).
The poor thing had a good fever – but as bad parents, we just pumped her up with ibuprofen and off we went again.
After about 15 minutes she was acting her old self again
J.
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BEST Lobster Bisque since we left Cumming
Tam's Backstage was the BEST! |
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| "Sleeping Beauty's" Castle |
NeuschwansteinWe chose to take a bus to the top of Neuschwanstein and walk the short path directly to the castle. Otherwise we would have had about an hours hike UP the mountain side with 4 children, one of which we knew was ill. We crammed on this bus – man they had us packed in there. The bus let us off just above the castle and we walked the path down and around. This thing was amazing! It was beautiful in its construction and style and how well it was made! We walked into the court yard – if you have ever seen the move Ever After when Drew Barrymore walked into the courtyard for the ball, it reminded me of that. Silly, I know. But it was lovely! We walked down a long corridor and up 4 flights of stairs to the living quarters for the King. I wish we had had more time to walk through, but of course they have to push people through.
Afterwards, we were led back down the servants’ passage into the huge and well equipped kitchen; which Evan found fascinating.
We were able to wander out onto 2 different balconies, both had fabulous views.
One of the Gorge and of the Marien Bruke and the side of mountain.
While the other offered a view of the bridge, the lake, mountains and Schloss Hohenschwangau.
We made our way back up the walk and over to the bridge.
From this bridge we had a breathtaking view of not only the Fairytale castle, but of the land beyond.
We could see for miles.
The wind was strong, but the sky was blue and clear.
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| View from the Bridge |
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| View of Ravene from the Bridge, people did walk down there...we did not |
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| View looking down from the bridge |
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Emma not liking the bridge, causing Evan to be a little uneasy...
but let me say - it was AWESOME! |
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| Sarah is OUT |
After this we made our way back down we walked a bit went shopping (we bought a pretty little sketch of the Neuschwanstein and Evan picked out a Knight Pencil sharpener), had an Eis, and started looking for a place for dinner.
During this walk, Sarah passed out on Don’s back.
She was so sweet!
We were truly surprised because it was Gracie who did not feel well, but she just kept going.
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| View from our table at dinner |
We finally decided on a restaurant that had a spectacular view.
Don is not a huge fan of eating outdoors – mainly because of the insect issue.
But Europeans in general are.
I also enjoy it from time to time and it was beautiful out, so, Don relented and we started to eat on the balcony that allowed us a fabulous view of both the Castles.
However, the bees were so bad we were forced to move inside.
After dinner we would have loved to shop around a bit – but it is amazing.
These small villages truly close up their shops by 7 and the streets roll up.
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| Also the view from our table at dinner |
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Great views, LOTS or bees, not so great food here...
wish we would have ate at Hotel Muller again |
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| Sarah just woke from her slumber - Gracie is wired |
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| Emma being a big girl - she has really taken to wearing these hair bands... |
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| Evan squinting in the sun... not too pleased w/ his location |
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| Evan wanted to take my pix |
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| Emma then wanted to take my pix... |
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| Standard looking building... very Bavarian in style |
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| This is before dinner... but still sweet |
Even though we would have stayed out later, it is nice to be forced to come in early and get settled so we can be well rested.
The next day started out the same, we ran uptown to pick up Emma’s souvenir (a handbag/die Tasche) and a little something for girls (little soft Heidi dolls).
We then headed out towards King Ludwig II’s 3 palace, Linderhof.
For this palace, also referred to as his Villa, we chose to drive down through
Austria.
Let me say – if you ever saw a movie that had the
Alps as their landscape – they hold true!
The view the entire way was breathtaking!
It truly was peaceful.
As we drove into
Austria we drove along a rive that had the bluest of blue waters.
It was so clean; I think the cleanest we have ever seen.
We also drove along a very long narrow
lake- Plansee.
At the end of the lake we stopped for the kids to get out and feel the water and stretch their legs (LOL – and of course use the toilet!)
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| We are in Austria - the skyline was beautiful! |
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| Stopped at Plansee (Plan Lake) for a short break |
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| Sarah pleased to walk down to water - love the Alps behind her |
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| Gracie just woke, so she is not too pleased...but quickly changes her mood |
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| Family walking down to the water - |
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| The water was perfectly clear and clean...and cold! |
We had a bit of a walk once we got there and had to wait for our tour time.
So we took the time and walked through the garden.
Ok, I say garden, but this was a royal piece of art!
The fountain was fabulous and the garden looking down on the palace was built into the hillside of the
Alps.
As we walked up the hill there was the usual symmetry and balance of plants and statues – but it was so nice.
In
Europe it is natural and normal for people to bring the lunch and picnic almost everywhere and what a perfect spot this day.
Again, we were blessed with a beautiful day!
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| Royal Bedroom |
At the start of our tour we walked into the foyer and up the stairs. These stairs were Emma’s dream stairs, similar to those in “Beauty and the Beast”… quite magical to her. The palace/villa was quite small in comparison to the other palaces. This was built as a private villa for the King. As stated before, he was quite the recluse and had no desire to be around other people. The villa had 5 "basic" rooms, with corner “waiting” rooms for each one for the servants or visitors to wait in until he was ready to view them. In his dining room he had the table fixed so that it would lower into the floor for the servants to set and be lifted up to him so that he did not have to be bothered with them. He truly loved symmetry as well. Also what was fabulous, mostly in Emma’s eyes, was his “king sized” bed. It was the largest bed we had ever seen that was set like it was an alter and it had a large canopy that went to the 20+ foot ceiling. One thing that the kids noted was how grand each room was, but there were only 5 rooms in the villa, not including the servants quarters below – which since have been turned into a gift shop.
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| Writing room |
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| Dining room |
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| Linderhof Grotto |
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| Office |
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| Hall of mirors room |
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| Tapestry room |
After our tour inside the villa we finished walking the garden on the rear of the property. It is viewable from the above photos when we were in the gardens in front of the villa, looking down. We certainly did a lot of hill walking on this tour!
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View from the Rear Garden...
you can see the "upper" garden we were in
at the far end of this picture |
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| Kids and Don take the stroll a bit further up the hill to the Gazebo |
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| Kids walking up to the Gazebo, as seen from above pix |
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| Evan in the Gazebo |
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| Don w/ one of the kids |
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| Don and Sarah... Gracie was not feeling well and stayed with me |
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| Emma then wandered up to see what was so "exciting" |
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We came across these swans on the walk... they are not nice,
but we kept our distance, unlike other folks |
After our time here at Linderhof we hopped in the car and took another scenic route home that led us through the most beautiful little Bavarian style town – very picturesque sitting at the base of Alps.
We drove through the valleys of the
Alps for a nice uneventful trip home.
This is always a blessing on any trip we make.
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| We did not even have the back car door shut before Gracie fell asleep! |
As usual, thank you for taking the time to share in our adventure. May your life be as blessed as ours is.
As we came up to the village both Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein were lit to show the magnificence of their splendor! What a sight! 
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