The Neuschwanstein castle (“Neuschwanstein Scholss”) is located in the south of Germany, near the Austria border. A long trip by train allowed part of the group to get to the village of Füssen, then a short bus trip made the connection to the Hohenschwangau village where the castle is located. In fact, there are two castles; The Neuschwanstein, the fairy tale caste built later by Louis II of Bavaria, as well as the Hohenschwangau, where he grew up.
When we arrived, we were surprised to find snow on the trees. We found to funny to have left Montreal with nearly all snow melted to find some here in Germany. It was because the castle is located at the bottom of the Alps.
The castle itself is built in the mountains, and we had to ascend the 3.5 km in the forest that separate it from the village to reach it.
We followed a guided tour during which we visited the castle’s interior and learned about its history. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside.
Inside the castle, we saw 5 rooms. The first is the throne room where we observed many crowns in the middle of the room with many paintings dating from the 19th century. The second room is the king’s bedroom. Indeed, we could see a small canopy bed covered with blue sheets, the king’s favourite colour. The third room is called the singer’s room. It is a large room with chandeliers having six hundred candles. The king had it built in order to receive guests but, unfortunately, he couldn’t enjoy it before dying. The fourth room is a work room. It included a prestigious desk and chair sewed with gold. Also, the curtains were sewed with silver. Finally, we went to the king’s kitchen where we saw cauldrons, plates and utensils made of copper.
As for the history of the castle, the king Louis II of Bavaria had it built to fulfill his fantasy of power. As a matter of facts, he had inherited the title of king from his father, but it lost his place as suzerain after his defeat in the German war, opposing Germany and Prussia. It is by getting inspiration from other castles in Germany and Europe, as well as the influence of Wagner, the composer, that he had the castle build on the foot of the Alps in a corner renowned for its beauty
The construction of the castle started in 1869, as an anachronism, since only 20 years later, skyscrapers we built in New York. Unfortunately, Louis II couldn’t enjoy the castle since he lived there for only 170 days. It is following his supervision by the authorities, estimating that he wasn’t fit for power anymore, that he died in suspect circumstances in 1886. The castle wasn’t finished when he died.
We can observe the term “schwan” in the name of both castles. This is not a coincidence! It means swan in German, the heraldic animal of Louis II and his family.
Another interesting fact is that the Neuschwanstein castle was used as a model to Walt Disney for his castle for Sleeping Beauty.
