Ludwig II had a small castle built at an altitude of 1866 m in a magnificent location in front of the high alpine Wetterstein massif. Simple on the outside and inside on the first floor, the wooden house conceals oriental splendor on the upper floor. In the lavishly decorated Turkish Hall, furnished with divans and a fountain, the king used to celebrate his birth and name day in the seclusion of the mountain world. The royal house can only be reached on foot via Elmau or Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Linderhof Palace and its park is one of the most diverse and artistic ensembles of the 19th century.
The royal villa was the only one of Ludwig II's buildings to be completed (1845-1878).
The architectural style was modeled on the French "pleasure palace" with a large park. Behind the baroque-style façade, the rococo style unfolds with motifs from the time of King Louis XIV. However, he also adopted much of the southern German rococo style of his ancestors, which he had already experienced as a child in Nymphenburg, and created a palace of the greatest opulence and preciousness in Linderhof.
The palace park features a beautiful baroque garden with magnificent water patterres and an English garden. The park is also home to fascinating buildings such as the Moroccan House, the Moorish Kiosk and the Grotto of Venus.
The Venus Grotto was artificially created according to Richard Wagner's stage directions for Act 1 of his opera Tannhäuser. Two other stage sets from the music drama set in the park are Gurnemanz's hermitage, Act III Parsifal, and Hunding's hut, Act I Wallküre.
Address:
Linderhof 12
82488 Ettal
Phone +49 88 22 920 30
Neuschwanstein Castle is the most famous of Ludwig II's castles and one of the most famous sights in Germany. Neuschwanstein Castle was opened to the public in 1886 after the death of King Ludwig II and attracts around 1.5 million visitors every year.
The shy king built the castle in 1868 to withdraw from the public eye. High above his father's Hohenschwangau Castle in familiar surroundings - built and never completed - Neuschwanstein was for him a monument to the culture and royalty of the Middle Ages, which he revered and wanted to emulate. The castle was designed in a medieval form, but with the most modern technology of the time. In the interior rooms, cycles of murals from chivalric legends are depicted, the Singers' Hall veneratingly quotes two halls of Wartburg Castle, the Throne Hall - a cultural room of rulership - Byzantine and early Christian church rooms.
Unfortunately, the unique location of the castle requires constant monitoring of movements in the foundations and rock faces. The harsh climate also severely attacks the limestone façades, which means that renovation measures are required time and again.
Address:
Neuschwansteinstr. 20
87645 Schwangau
Telephone number: +49 83 62 93 98 80
www.neuschwanstein.de
Ticket Center:
Neuschwanstein-Hohenschwangau
Alpseestraße 12, 87645 Hohenschwangau
Phone +49 83 62 93 08 30
www.ticket-center-hohenschwangau.de
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