Neuschwanstein Castle

Right after our tour of Hohenschwangau Castle, we hustled back down to street level to catch a rustic horse-drawn carriage for the trip up to the other castle, Neuschwanstein (New Swan Stone Palace). We debated this carriage ride. On the one hand, it was more expensive than the shuttle bus, but the shuttle buses weren't running due to icy conditions. Plus, we knew the kids would enjoy the novelty of the horse-drawn carriage ride, so we found the long line and joined in. Without the shuttle buses, the line was long and slow and it was well below freezing. After 20 minutes of waiting and not moving much, I asked David, "How long till our tour begins?" and then, "How long does it take to hike up to the castle?" The kids were beginning to complain about the cold, Rebecca cried anytime her pant leg shifted and exposed the skin on her calves and heck, my feet were starting to ache from the cold.

This was our view of the castle as we waited. So close, but so far.

We waited some more and then after watching carriage after carriage arrive and still not seeing the line move much (did I mention it was long?), David and I decided that if we weren't in a carriage in 15 minutes, we would start walking. In retrospect, we probably would have been better off walking in the first place and keeping ourselves moving.

There was a group of tourists right in front of us from that certain other European country I wrote about in a recent blog entry when speaking about a group who had a system for cutting in front of us at Disneyland Paris. They weren't from France. I will only say that they came from a country beginning with an I and ending with a Y. This group was getting impatient as well and when one carriage returned from the castle, their fearless leader walked right up to the driver who was turning the carriage around and tried to comandeer it. She said, "I have a group of 15 people here. We can fill up your carriage right away." At least, that's what we figure she said because we heard the driver answer loudly in German, "No, it's not your turn yet. There are many people waiting in line in front of you!" The woman tried to pressure her, but the stubborn driver would not be swayed. We felt like cheering. David just shook his head and said, "Unbelievable."

Just in time (or so we thought), we boarded a carriage. We sat next to the driver who told us about the horses. Most of the horses we had seen were sweating bullets when they pulled up to the front of the line in this freezing weather and we were concerned about how hard they had to work, pulling at least 15 people at a time up a steep path. The driver told us that the horses only take 4 trips up and down the mountain and then are done for the day. Our poor horses were on their last trip and it showed, poor things.

I had my camera ready during the 20-minute trip, ready to take great shots of this picturesque castle. Imagine my surprise when I never got a view of it the whole time. The castle was completely obscured by the thick trees until we were upon it.

Arriving at the castle with not even seconds to spare. That white mist above the horses' backs is steam rising from their sweating backs. We snapped this picture and then sprinted up the path further to get to the castle entrance to make our tour, no small feat considering our children were still stiff and miserable with the cold. We made it, but just barely. Photos would have to wait till after our tour.

Neuschwanstein is the most photographed building in Germany, but photography is not allowed inside the castle. I did buy a few postcards of the interior.

King Ludwig II's bedroom includes a four-post hand-carved wooden bed, the canopy of which is carved as the cathedral towers from every cathedral in Bavaria, a secret flushing toilet (which flushes with water collected from an aqueduct) and a running sink in the shape of a swan.

King Ludwig is sometimes referred to as the Swan King in English and der Märchenkönig (the Fairy Tale King) in German, but he also often referred to as Mad King Ludwig. His castle has a fascinating history. King Ludwig II of Bavaria wanted to build a castle in the tradition of the knights of old and in homage to Richard Wagner. The foundation stone of the building was laid September 5, 1869. Neuschwanstein was designed by a theatrical set designer, rather than an architect, which says much regarding Ludwig's intentions and explains much of the fantastical nature of the resulting building.

Ludwig II was possessed by the idea of a holy kingdom by the Grace of God. In reality he was a constitutional monarch, a head of state with rights and duties and little freedom of action. And so, he built a fantasy world around him in which - far removed from reality - he could feel he was a real king. From 1875 on he lived at night and slept during the day.

King Ludwig's Throne Room features a glass gem-encrusted chandelier, and paintings of all Twelve Apostles on the wall that surrounds the pedestal for the throne. The actual throne was never finished.

The Singers' Hall is a venue for performances by musicians and playwrights. The King built it for Wagner as a place to write and perform plays. The King died before watching a performance in the Singers' Hall, but it has been used since the King's death.

With only 14 rooms finished, Ludwig moved into his new home. He had only spent a mere 11 nights there when his refusal to react rationally to foreign banks threatening to seize his property (he was in debt due to his pet projects such as Neuschwanstein) led the government to declare him insane and depose him. Ludwig II was interned in Berg Palace south of Munich. The next day he died in mysterious circumstances in Lake Starnberg, together with the psychiatrist who had certified him as insane. Just seven weeks later, the castle was opened to the public.

With the tour finished, we could now take what must surely turn out to be outstanding pictures of the castle and our beautiful children in front of said castle. The only problem was that that was nearly impossible. The castle was enormous and once you left the woods, you were too close to the castle to get a decent shot. And as I also quickly realized, those most famous shots you see of Neuschwanstein, like this one (see scanned postcard below)....

..can apparently only be achieved if you scale the dangerous-looking cliff opposite the front of the castle, hire a helicopter, or invent a flying car with a mind of its own.

Becca has just about had it with the cold temperatures.

Emilie and me in front of a tower.

The kids at the entrance. No amount of me saying, "Kids, they show Chitty Chitty Bang Bang being taken in through this door!" got the kids to snap out of their cold-induced haze.

A decent view of the castle on our trip back down the mountain.

After a welcome cup of hot chocolate and right before we left for the long drive home, everyone posed for this semi-happy castle-over-our-shoulders-shot.

The view of the Alps as we left the area was stunning -- and my camera was packed away in the back of the minivan. This picture from someone else's blog almost captures how beautiful it was.