Neuschwanstein
Built on a 92 meter (300 feet)
hill, Neuschwanstein, the royal palace in the Bavarian Alps of Germany,
is the most famous of the three royal palaces built for Louis II of
Bavaria, sometimes referred to as "Mad King Ludwig". Named after the Swan
Knight of Wagner's opera Lohengrin, the castle was exquisitely designed
by Christian Jank. Located near the Hohenschwangau, where Ludwig was
brought up in south-western Bavaria near the Austrian border, the
enormous and whimsical castle is so spectacular that it inspired Walt
Disney to use it as a model for Cinderella's castle, used on the Disney
logo.
Ludwig was removed from power
before the completion of the castle, which was opened to the public after
his mysterious death in 1886. An embodiment of nineteenth-century
Romanticism, the castle is reached by a meandering road that leads from
the valley to the front gate. The castle is a mixture of medieval detail,
such as narrow spiral staircases and a plethora of turrets and towers,
and advanced engineering features such as forced air heating, running
water on all floors and toilets with an automatic flush.
After 17 years' work, only 14
of the 360 rooms were finished before Ludwig's death, but these alone are
worth the trip.
The Throne Room was designed
in elaborate Byzantine style as the Grail-Hall of Parsifal. Inspired by
the Aya Sophia in Istanbul, the two-storey throne room has a series of
pillars made of imitation porphyry and lapis lazuli.
Ludwig's obsession
with the legends on which Wagner based his operas continues in the other
rooms on this floor: Tannhauser in the study, grotto and conservatory,
Lohengrin in the salon and study, the Nibelungenlied in the dining room
and lower hall and the Meistersinger von Nurnberg in the dressing room.
The bedroom, which is neo-Gothic in style, features paintings of scenes
from Tristan and Isolde. The Singers Hall on the fourth floor, above the
grotto, is also decorated with episodes from Parsifal.
But Neuschwanstein is about
more than one man's obsession with his medieval ancestors, it is a
beautiful, visionary place, which sits perfectly within the stunning
landscape of the Bavarian Alps.
