The loopy Bavarians

We are now in the south, but really in what appears to be the heart of Bavaria. We are faced with the daunting prospect of two castles in one day, Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, the homes of Maximillian II and Ludwig II. Hohenschwangau was the summer home of the Bavarian king, pretty nice bach all things considered. But Ludwig was not satisfied. When Dad dies and he becomes king at 18 he hung out in the summer castle way too much and dreamed up fantastic ideas for a fairy tale castle higher up in the mountains. Finding an artist, rather than architect and inspired by legends (King Arthur and St George amongst them) and Wagner (a close friend) he set about building a fantastic masterpiece. The story goes that Ludwig was a bit of a nutter, but when he died, his brother was deemed too unstable to be king and so the Uncle (Leopold) steps in as Prince Regent.


We spent the day wandering the interiors (well being carolled through the interiors by fast speaking German tour guides) and strolling the grounds. Neuschwanstein, perched on a hill at the foot of some impressive mountains, the views are unbelievable. You look down into the plains, across into the mountain faces and a waterfall across which was built a wrought iron bridge. One of the best parts was the walk down the river below the waterfall, really beautiful. The interiors of the castle are all painted, in some cases with outrageous frescoes, mostly of legends or inspired by Wagner’s operas.

Clearly a huge number of tourists make there way here, you can imagine it would be an absolute nightmare in Summer, a must see in Autumn.