Ludwig's castles

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Linderhoff, Hohenschwangau, and Neuschwanstein

Early the next morning after arriving at Garmish I looked out of my window to the most astounding sight. Rising over the mountains, gradually touching each peak with more and more light, the sun welcomed an absolutely glorious morning. I just sat in awe watching as the mountains and the village trees suddenly came alive in all their splendor.

We could not have made this tour at a better time. The trees were changing with their vibrant colors dotting the hillsides against a backdrop of granite cliffs and evergreens. And our weather has been unbelievable. It’s actually warmer (and drier) here than in San Antonio!

After the mornings’ meditation on God’s creativity and unending beauty, we had a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, juice, cucumbers, fruit, a couple of pots of orange rooibos tea and “brot.” There must be literally hundreds of different kinds of German breads and, so far, all of them are excellent especially when slathered with fresh butter!

Today was my first day to explore the unbelievable breadth and beauty of Germany’s landscape. We headed off northwest of Garmish to see the castles of “Mad King Ludwig II,” and the church at Wein (pronounced ‘Vine.’)

Ludwig’s personal history is fascinating but far too complex to try to go into on this blog. I urge you to Google him though.

Our first stop was Linderhoff, the last castle he built, and where he retreated into solitude in the latter days of his reign before being deposed, and, some say, murdered. The castle is hidden from view on the hillside, so we climbed the path (about a quarter of a mile?) leading to his final architectural triump.

We came to Linderhof at the wrong time of year to see the entire grounds. The fountains were being closed in preparation for the snow, as were his grotto and smoking house.

Tours were conducted every ten minutes through the house and we could only see the second floor living quarters. No pictures or video were allowed inside so I only have some of the ornate facade.

Inside was opulence to the nth degree! Virtually everything was plated in gold leaf, and what wasn’t was micro-petit point embroidery or exotic china. You really need to read about it online because there’s way too much to describe.

However things that intrigued me the most were;

One - the fireplace in his rooms. Convection heating!! Way ahead of his time! The fires were all on the first floor (the ‘working’ areas of the castle.) The ornate fireplaces there were, to all appearances, real fireplaces with elaborate screens. Those screens, however, radiated the heat that rose from the fireplace below so the ash and soot wouldn’t affect the King in his quarters.

Two - the dining room table. Ludwig ate alone, so his table was set in the kitchen and raised to his dining room on a floor winched into place by the servants below. In the center of the table was an immense china vase with china roses...beauty to the extreme.

The second castle was one you might recognize as vaguely familiar. Neuschwanstein was the first castle he built, but only two rooms were ever finished. It was an incredibly long climb to see the interior of the castle, so we contented ourselves (me, actually. Frank had seen it’s interior years before) with pictures from below. Why is it familiar? It’s the inspiration for another fairyland castle built in his theme parks by a man named Disney.

The third castle, Hohenschwangau, is Ludwig’s childhood home. As you look at the castle, the King and Queen (his father and mother) lived in the left side of the castle, and the children and their nanny (nannies??) were ‘banished’ to the right side.

Again, the climb was too steep for me, and the village was swamped by, literally, hundreds of other tourists so I contented myself with pictures from below.

Our other adventure of the day was more spectacular than the castles, the village church at Wein. However, it deserves a blog of it’s own which will come next.

Pictures: The castles in the order we saw them.

Reflection: The castles were aesthetical creations from the mind of an architectural genius. That said, as I went from room to room, I thought, “How could someone live in a a place like this?” I mean, where do you go to just kick off your shoes and put on your gubbies? As beautiful as it was, to me it seemed cold and sterile. Amazingly small (for a king’s castle) it none the less reminded me of the multi-thousand square foot homes of sports stars, millionaires and billionaires. I’ve had a large home (by my standards) and small homes, and it seems - in my memory at least - as much as I loved the large one, the smaller ones seemed much more cozy and intimate. I know Andrea, who had fond memories in all of them, always loved the smaller places more.