Shortly after Christmas we visited the fairy tale castles of Neuschwanstein
and Hohenschwangau. They were amazing!! They are within walking distance of
each other. . . which is what we did. . . a 30 min up-hill trek that left us
exhausted, sweaty, red-faced and almost late for our tour. . .but i digress. .
.
We first went to Hohenschwangau castle and since I am no history buff I have
copied and pasted what Wikipedia has to say about it. .
"Hohenschwangau Castle was built on the remains of the fortress Schwangau,
which was first mentioned in historical records dating from the 12th Century. A
family of knights was responsible for the construction of the medieval
fortress, and it served as the seat of the local government of Schwangau. In
1523, the schloss was described as having walls which were too thin to be
useful for defensive purposes. After the demise of the knights in the 16th
Century, the fortress changed hands several times. The decay of the fortress
continued until it finally fell into ruins at the beginning of the 19th
Century.
In April 1829, Crown Prince Maximilian (the later King
Maximilian II of Bavaria) discovered the
historic site during a walking tour and reacted enthusiastically to the beauty
of the surrounding area. He acquired the ruins - then still known as
Schwanstein - in 1832. In February 1833, the reconstruction of the Castle
began, continuing until 1837, with additions up to 1855.
Hohenschwangau was the official summer and hunting residence of Maximilian,
his wife
Marie of Prussia, and their two sons Ludwig (the
later King
Ludwig II of Bavaria) and Otto (the later King
Otto I of Bavaria)."
I can say that it was very beautiful inside and out! There were many fabulous
"gifts" to the family on display throughout the castle. These
"gifts" were such things as pure gold statues, carved ivory images,
sterling silver table centerpieces intricately made, etc. Clayton stated that
these gifts were "probably worth millions each!" but seemed to be
diminished by the beauty and glory of the castle.
Our next stop (after the aforementioned 30 min walk) was Neuschwanstein
castle. This castle was built in the 19th century for King Ludwig II who had
grown up at Hohenschwangau castle. We were told that he was quite the romantic.
His personal bedchamber was adorned with murals that told the story of Tristan
and Isolde. This castle took over two decades to build (and was never really
finished) but King Ludwig II only spent about 170 days in the castle before his
untimely death. We were told that he was arrested at his home and claimed to be
clinically insane due to being a recluse and spending extravagantly on his
several castles. He was then found dead several months later in a lake along
with this psychiatrist. Hummm . . . was it murder? Was it suicide? Apparently
it is a mystery that only the royal family knows the answer to.
We were not supposed to photograph the inside of the castle, but the beauty
was too great not to share. We went all "ninja" and snapped several
photos without anyone being the wiser :-) This castle was also the inspiration
behind Walt Disney's Cinderella castle and reminded me so much of the Beauty
and the Beast castle on the inside. Anyone who knows me very well would know
just how happy and excited I was during the tour of this amazing masterpiece.
