Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau

Hohenschwangau

This castle has been here in some form since the 12th century.  The Knights of Schwangau originally built this castle.  The Schwangau Knights died out in the 16th century and the castle fell into ruins.  It was purchased in in the 1800 by Prince Maximilian who later became king and was the father of King Ludwig II.  It was restored from 1832-36.  King Ludwig II spent lots of time here and had visits here from Richard Wagner. 

This castle was very interesting.  There were secret passage ways for getting to different rooms and the staff could even keep the fires going in the furnaces without bothering the people in the rooms.  We found this to be a favorite for us because it had so much history.  

The castle is right next door, so to speak, from Neuschwanstein.  You can look out the window and see Neuschwanstein.  

If you visit one you should visit the other.  You can get a ticket to cover both.  We had the 14 day pass that covered Neuschanstein, so we only paid for Hohenschwangau since it is still privately owned.

Neuschwanstein is probably the most famous castle in Germany.  It is the one that Walt Disney based Cinderella's castle on for the parks and the movie.  It is truly a very romantic castle.  The castle is huge, but only a few rooms were finished before the king died.  In June of 1886 the king was found drowned under mysterious circumstances.  He had, just days before, been removed from office.  It is said that he was spending too much money.
This castle had many painted scenes dedicated to the works of Richard Wagner.  It is an amazing place to visit, but we decided that there were others that we liked better.  This is a castle to visit, but I think that it's fame is due to the size, the location (which is unbelievable) and of course Disney.
It is fun to imagine what it would have been had Ludwig II been able to finish it.  You can also see that it would be very expensive to finish.  Many of the rooms are in use for other things like offices, gift shops and exhibits of artifacts.
I think it is worth a visit, but I really loved some of the other castles for their beauty and architecture.

Come back next week for a look at the royal palace in Munich.

Guten Dag,

Melanie