Hohenschwangau, Germany: February 17, 2008Next stop after Stuttgart- Hohenschwangau, a place made famous by Kiley and Erich's 2008 engagement, or the two well known castles also located there. Either way, the castles were beautiful and although photography was not allowed inside the castles, I took some pictures of postcards to show you the castle interiors.
Prinz Otto Ludwig Friedrich Wilhelm was 18 years old when he took over as the Bavarian King after his father's death in 1864. In 1886, during construction of the Neuschwanstein Castle, Ludwig was declared insane, removed from the throne, and died under suspicious circumstances. Many of the rooms in his castle were never completed and it was opened up to the public just 7 weeks after his death to pay off the enormous debts he incurred while building the castle
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Bavarian King Ludwig II
Schloss HohenschwangauThis castle, where King Ludwig spent his childhood, was built in 1832 for Ludwig's parents, King Maximillian II and Princess Maria of Prussia, on the site of a former castle that was destroyed in the Tyrolean War. The wall paintings in the castle date from 1835-36 and are based on old German stories.
Schlosskapelle (Castle Chapel)
Autharizimmer (Authari room)
Schlafzimmer des Konigs (King's bedroom)
Hohenstaufenzimmer (Hohenstaufen room with Wagner's piano)
Schlafzimmer der Konigin (Queen's bedroom)
Burgfrauenzimmer (Room of the lady of the castle)
Schwanenrittersaal (Swan Knight Hall)
Berchta Zimmer (Berchta Room)
Heldensaal (Hero's Hall)
Schloss NeuschwansteinAfter seeing the Hohenschwangau castle, we had just enough time to eat some lunch and make the 30 minute winding hike up to the Neuschwanstein castle before our scheduled tour time. This castle was built from 1869-86 for the Bavarian King Ludwig II.
Views along the walk
Castle exterior (made of pale grey limestone)
Castle entrance
Inside the castle walls
The interior:
Vorhalle (Entrance Hall)
Schlafzimmer (Bedroom)- The most beautiful part of this room is the King's bed, carved with spires and intricate designs resembling a Gothic church. The oak carvings in the room took 14 woodcarvers over four years to complete.
Speisezimmer (Dining Room)-The kings table was mounted on an elevator which goes directly into the kitchen below, so that his meal could be laid on the table and sent back up without having to see any of the servants. This Tischlein-deck-dich mechanism was based on a
Grimm fairy-tale about a table that would serve a meal by itself.
Ankleidezimmer (Dressing Room)-The
trompe l'oeil (an art technique of extremely realistic imagery) ceiling of this room was especially beautiful with a background of blue sky, birds, and vines.
Wohnzimmer (Living Room)
Sangersaal (The Singers'/Mistrel Hall)-This was the first room to be designed and was inspired by Ludwig's love for Wagner, as seen by the wall frescoes depicting scenes from his operas.
Arbeitszimmer (The Study)
Thronsaal (Throne Room)- This Byzantine style room was probably the most expensive to create, although money was saved by using mosaics instead of paintings and tinted stucco instead of marble for the pillars. King Ludwig's throne was to be placed under the huge painting of Christ surrounded by nine canonized kings from the Middle Ages, but it was never built.
Schlosskuche (Kitchen)- The extensive selection of equipment found in this kitchen represents the high standard of the castle's facilities. It has hot and cold running water as well as cupboards that could be heated with hot air from the stove. The kitchen was only used for two years, from 1884-1886.
Walking away from the castle to Mary's Bridge
Mary's Bridge
View of the castle from Mary's Bridge
Waterfall under Mary's Bridge
Surrounding Sights
Frozen Alpsee (at the base of the Hohenschwangau Catle)
