Though I visited Neuschwanstein Castle only a week ago, this story begins long before that. I have wanted to visit Neuschwanstein ever since I was very young, and my interest was reborn after coming to college. I remember the first time I saw Neuschwanstein; I was 5 or maybe 7 years old and after seeing a picture of the castle, I asked my mother if it was real–for how could something like that exist outside of stories or my imagination? “I’m sure it is,” she said. “Really?” I asked. “It looks like a fairy tale castle. Where is it?” “I don’t know, but maybe you’ll find out and can visit it someday,” my mom suggested. I never imagined that 15 years later I would be standing inside that very castle thinking of that moment.
The castles in Schwangau are both gorgeous, but they are even more impressive one you know the history behind them. So before I begin my story, I’ve written a short history crash-course on Ludwig II and his beautiful castles.
History Behind the Castles
Neuschwanstein Castle is situated above the town of Schwangau in Bavaria. It was built by King Ludwig II from 1869—1886 and never finished due to his death. The royal family had a summer residence at Hohenschwangau, a smaller castle not far from Neuschwanstein. Hohenschwangau, an older castle, used to be the residence of the knights of Schwangau before it was reduced to ruins by Napoleon. Ludwig II’s father, Maximilian II, rediscovered the ruins and built the current castle of Hohenschwangau on them. This summer residence served as an inspiration for Ludwig later when he decided to build Neuschwanstein castle nearby and originally called it “New Hohenschwangau.”
Ludwig II is also known as the Märchenkönig, or Fairy Tale King, of Bavaria. He had great interest in the arts, including theater, opera, and literature. His favorites were Wagner’s operas, and it is thanks to Ludwig that we are able to enjoy Wagner’s later works today, as the King saved the composer from bankruptcy. People often said that he preferred to be in his own world, or perhaps more accurately Wagner’s worlds, but he did make an effort to travel and meet the people of Bavaria.
At the beginning of his reign, Bavaria was a country with its own rich history of rulers. However, in 1871, Wilhelm I united Germany and was crowned emperor. Ludwig II retained kingship of Bavaria, though his power was now diminished under Kaiser Wilhelm I. Nevertheless, he continued to build elaborate castles: Neuschwnastein, Linderhof, and Herrenchiemsee. Neuschwanstein, the most famous, is designed after the worlds depicted in Richard Wagner’s operas such as Parsifal and Lohengrin. It is meant to be a “fortress of the Holy Grail,” according to Ludwig, a fantasy castle straight from medieval legend. The rooms were designed not by an architect but by Wagner’s stage designer and include a gigantic throne room, singer’s hall, and Ludwig’s elaborate bedroom connected to a secret artificial cave.
Ludwig was deposed in 1886 after being declared insane by a physician who had never examined him. A few days later he was found dead in Lake Starnberg and the circumstances remain a mystery today. His legacy and castles continue to fascinate people from around the world and Neuschwanstein is one of the most iconic structures in all of Germany.
A Real Fairy Tale Castle
I woke up early Saturday morning, unable to sleep due to all the excitement of getting to see Neuschwanstein. That turned out to be a good thing because I got the first tours of the day–when you buy 2 tickets, you always see Hohenschwangau first. I was joined by a Japanese student who was backpacking through Europe. His English wasn’t very good because anything he knew, he had taught himself, but we could communicate a little, at least enough to make sure he knew how to get to his tours. When I told him I was from Texas, he grinned and made a lasso motion to ask if we really had cowboys there. Foreign impressions of Texas are just great; I’m actually very proud of the Hollywood idea everyone has.
Hohenschwangau is beautiful. It feels like a real medieval castle, even though most of it comes from the 1800’s when it was rebuilt. It offered a great view of the town and Alpsee below, which was all covered in the last of the winter snow. Everything was like a frozen wonderland, especially the garden and courtyard areas. Though it was only a summer residence, the inside was elaborately decorated and painted with murals straight from medieval legend. The Queen’s chambers depicted the typical life of a medieval noblewoman , and the king’s depicted the typical life of a knight or a king. The Queen’s room was heavily influenced by Moroccan and eastern art and architecture, while the King (who had a separate room with a secret door leading to the Queen’s) slept under a painting of the night sky guarded by angels. Ludwig later inherited his father’s room, where a telescope still stands pointed at Neuschwanstein to watch construction progress. A piano Wagner played sits in the corner, silent now and not to be touched again. I’d really recommend visiting both castles, as this puts Ludwig’s history into perspective. Altogether it was an impressive and beautiful castle, although as I would later discover, not nearly as fantastic as Neuschwanstein.
Some other tourists joined me for the walk to Neuschwanstein, apparently because I looked like I knew where I was going. Altogether our group came from Bavaria, Spain, Japan and Texas. It was very funny watching us all try to communicate with one another; our common language was English, but I spoke some German and sometimes translated in a way for the Japanese student because he only understood accent-less English. Though I lost them after the tour, I very much enjoyed having the company–it’s so rare here that people go anywhere with strangers. In addition, I loved learning from them as we walked up to the castle! Apparently Neuschwanstein is a big deal in Japan and that’s why so many Japanese tourists visit. It’s iconic.
Neuschwanstein was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It is just as beautiful as in the pictures, situated at the foot of the Bavarian Alps and covered in snow. It really does look like something brought to life out of a fairy tale or perhaps a painting.
The best part of the whole trip was the second time I went to the castle, early Sunday morning. There was fog over the mountain so that you could barely see the castle from below and even when I climbed up to the castle, the towers were still covered in fog. I was completely alone because the tours hadn’t started yet, so I sat in the courtyard and listened to the waterfall below and the birds in the trees nearby. I sat in the courtyard of Neuschwanstein Castle. Something normally so crowded with tourists, and yet I managed to get there early enough that there was room for me to sit down and listen to something other than the confusion of 10 different languages all at once. It was beautiful. And then, as the tourists began to arrive, the sun came out from the clouds that it has been hidden behind for 2 months and shone so brilliantly that the snow sparkled and the castle seemed as if it were waking up with the arrival of its visitors.
Of course, being a photographer, I absolutely had to return to Marienbrücke, the bridge opposite Neuschwanstein that Ludwig II built in 1866. (He replaced the old wooden one with a stronger bridge made of metal, which is what stands there today.) I’d gone the day before but I also have a crippling fear of heights and couldn’t get more than 2 feet onto the bridge. A German tourist finally felt sorry enough for me that he talked me onto the bridge far enough to take a picture. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life. But I went back, nevertheless, and got the picture of a lifetime.
Turns out if I walk backwards across the bridge, I feel safe enough to take the picture. No one said phobias made sense.
As for the inside of the castle, it is beyond words, at least beyond what skill I have with words to describe it. What I can say is that Ludwig made it very elaborate, beyond what is normal for most castles, I think, although my experience with castles is admittedly limited. My favorite room was the singer’s hall, which he had painted with scenes telling the story of Parzival, complete with a forest mural behind the platform where he would have sat. In fact, every room told a story either from German legend or Wagner’s operas (and in some cases, both.) There is also a room dedicated to Lohengrin, the opera I saw in Berlin for the very purpose of understanding this castle just a little more. Also, Ludwig II built an artificial cave connected to his room. There was a cave. In the castle. Basically, whatever he wanted in this castle, he had built.
All in all, this was my favorite trip so far. I got to see the most beautiful castle, eat Bavarian food, learn about the history of Bavaria at the local museum, and spend 2 days hiking around the castle as much as I liked. I was almost sorry to go, especially because I don’t know if I will have a chance to go back again before I leave Germany. But I have hung a giant Neuschwanstein poster in my room along with a Bavarian flag as reminders. And of course, I will always have the memories–and 400+ pictures I took that weekend!