The Amazing Castle Of Neuschwanstein

The Amazing Castle Of Neuschwanstein

by Rory Hershaw

If you've seen any Disney movie, you'll know the castle that Sleeping Beauty lived in. It appears in the company's logo at the beginning of each film. As a child, you may even have dreamed of one day visiting a building just like this one. The good news is that you can, because the castle that inspired Disney's design really exists. It is called Neuschwanstein Castle and it stands on a hill in Bavaria, Germany.

In Germany's Bavaria, near the border with Austria, the Schwangau municipality consists of several small villages. During the Middle Ages there were three castles on the hills in this area. By the nineteenth century only the ruins remained, but in 1832 the Bavarian king, Maximilian II, bought one of the castles, known as Schwanstein. He built a new castle, Hohenschwangau Castle, on top of these ruins.

The king's son was only eighteen when he had to take over the throne upon Maximilian II's death. Ludwig II was a dreamer, intensely shy and private. He wanted a place of his own where he could retreat to, so he decided to build himself a palace in the place of the ruins of the other two castles, Hinterhohenschwangau and Vorderhohenschwangau.

The first draft of the design was made by a Munich stage designer called Christian Jank. Jank was the perfect choice, since Ludwig II loved the work of Richard Wagner. The king wanted his new home to look like a medieval castle like the ones in Wagner's operas. Eduard Riedel, an architect, then used Jank's drawings as basis for his architectural design, with the king's input. The result was a design in the Romanesque Revival style.

Building began in 1868 with the preparation of the building site, but the first foundation stone was laid about a year later. The castle was built of brick and then covered in white limestone, sandstone and marble. The king moved into the building in 1884 even though construction wasn't completed yet. In fact, he never saw the completion of his dream palace, since he died in 1886.

Six weeks after the king's death, the castle was opened to public visitors who paid an entrance fee. This helped recover the building costs. Since then it has become a popular tourist attraction and it now receives 1.3 million visitors annually.

When you visit the palace, you will need to take a guided tour to see the beautiful interior. In this way you can find out about the background of not only the castle itself and Ludwig II, but also about the Wagner operas that inspired the paintings throughout the building. These operas were based on German sagas from medieval times. In the bedroom you will see scenes from 'Tristan and Isolde', while in the study there are scenes from 'Tannhauser'. The sagas of Parzifal and his son Lohengrin are represented in the Singer's Hall and the Salon, while the Lower Hall shows the saga of Sigurd and the Upper Hall shows the Gudrun saga.

You can get to Neuschwanstein Castle by public transport or by private car. For either, you need to travel to Fussen. From there you go to the village Hohenschwangau, where you buy your tickets for admission. Then you can walk up the hill, take a bus or get into the romantic fairy-tale spirit by taking a horse-drawn carriage to the castle built by a king and his dreams.



While looking for new holiday ideas, consider the <a href="http://www.allgaeu-abc.de/">Schloss Neuschwanstein</a> area. More info can be found on the official website</a>.

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