Konig Ludwig II

HAVE GERMAN WILL TRAVEL BAYERN Konig Ludwig II historische Bedeutung / legacy At _ort1e With Ludwig, Mad Krngrot avaria Lastl Is A Lasting legacy N YOUR wildest fantasy, what use wanstein) George Grieser, head of the Terraced gardens and pools surround the kind of home would you build? tourisl office there. reflected that Ludwig palace, and inside are exquisite furnishmgs and The fantasy rule is: money is ttrougbt prosperity to the area by putting villag• decorations - and a few oddities, besides. unlimited. ers to work building the castle between 1869 and In the center of the oval dining room is a Would you have a heated indoor !1186. "tischlein-deck-dick" (a table that sets itself). It pool? A sauna? A conservatory? An ;. "Without him, our forefathers would have could be raised and lowered through the floor, so observatory? Triple-pane windows? i tarved," Grieser said. Ludwig could entertain his guests in private A bird feeder in every. tree? t Ludwig imported woodcarvers and painters without interruptions from servants. Whatever you conjure, the homes a.,d other skilled craftsmen and artisans from all On the grounds is a Moorish kiosk, bought in of King Ludwig II of Bavaria are 9.ver the world. ~~ left the legacy of_ this lovely Bohemia and transported t.o Llnderhof. Ludwig almost surely more fantastic (even white fragile-lookmg castle overlookmg a spec- held night parties in the kiosk in a setting of though he had none of the above). ta_cular landscape of lakes and mountain~ (reallr brilliantly painted and patterned walls, beneath a Ludwig was the monarch dubbed Ute foothills of the Alps). And although it wasn t chandelier of 32 colored lamps hanging from a "mad.'.' It was he who designed biJ intention, he made the castle a focal point for ceiling of stalactites. Neuschwanstein Castle in the 19th 8'ghtseers forever after. Poor Ludwig, to leave all this material beauty century from which Walt Disney .., Admission to the castle is close to $3 a person. behind. He knew how to live (at least, he thought drew 20th~ ntury inspiration for A~ tour with an English-speaking guide takes in he did), and died too early. his Cinderella's castle. - some of the castle's main attractions, an_d it Although the official historic verdict was Mad? Maybe. Maybe not. reveals Ludwig's obsession with opera, especially suicide (both Ludwig and his- doctor?), there are In an era when Germany was still ,the ..wo rb of Richard Wagner. those Bavarians who, still loyal to their king, a collection of independent princi• Ludwig was Wagner's patron, and he gave the harbor suspicions of foul play. palities, Ludwig assumed his reign CO~ poser generous amounts of_ money - maybe Probably one of them is Grueser, whose job it is when he was still an adolescent of _ a.pother reason some called him m~d; . to smooth the paths of tourists to Neuschwan 18. Two years later, in 1863, he lost A theatrical decorator was Ludwig~ mtenor stein. Among his duties is to point out the a battle against Count Otto VOi\ designer, and if· rooms look strangely hke stage different kinds of accommodations. Bismarck. sets, that's why. Besides hotels, the immediate Schwangau area The defeat seemed to take the A' "winter garden" on the third floor incorpo- has close to 80 private homes and farms open to starch out of his political ambitions. ,ates,the legend of Tannhauser, and th~ theme of visitors (many with views of the castle on the He retreated into his own little Q'le Great Chamber is the Lohengrm legen~. knob). ·world and he started a building ;Everywhere in the baronial _hall is the swan motif Among them are Grieser's own home. His wife progr~m that villagers talk about from Lohengrin. E~erywhere. are _frescoes of led the way up sturdy stone steps from the even now. · scenes from Lohengrm, the Meistersinger, Tann• refurbished first floor to cozy upstairs rooms Ludwig earned his "mad" title _by hauser, Parsifal ~nd other leg~nds. where the beds were puffy with thick down pouring all his money and energies ;- Next to the wmter garden is. a real fantasy covers. into Neuschwanstein (it means "new 'toom, a grotto form~d of pa_p_ier mache and We visited a farm, too. House and barn shared swanstone") and into two other pal• concrete, cor:nplete with a runnmg w_aterfall. a common hallway - on one side, family and ace "homes." These are Linderhof The unfinished throne room capacity 400)~ guests lived; on the other side, cattle. The family Palace, near Oberammergau, a melangeof Romanesque and Byzantine decor, is - older parents, children and grandchildren - 1 place that looks like spun su~ar, and the site of sellout concerts in the fall. were finishing lunch when we came, and the ' the.New P<!,lace of ~ erren~h1emsee, Ludwig spent only 102 days in Neuschwan• women showed us big rooms set aside for visitors Ia Versailles imitat10n bmlt on an stein, while in Munich - the provincial capital - above the wide staircase. More puffy covers, island in the Chiems~. It's south- government officials fumed over the king who small tables set for breakfast. 1 east of Munich. Linderbof ~nd spent all his time on building and the arts. It may seem odd that such an eccentric as Neuschwanstein are southwest. On June 10, 1886, a delegation from Munich Ludwig sprang from Bavaria, where, says one Bavarians don't call Ludwig confronted Ludwig in his bedroom to tell him he guidebook, the people have "a boundless capacity "mad." They revere him. They nick• was no longer king. He was taken to Berg Castle for simple enjoyment, a love of ritual, traditional named him t~e _"fairytale king" or and confined there. Three days later, both Lud- costume, music, beer, heavy food and lots of it. "dream king," and for good reason. wig and his physician were found drowned in They are industrious, patient,. and have a flair for Over a tall -stein of wonderful Starnberger See, near Berg. organization and neatness." pale· beer in a cozy taproom . in Another of Ludwig's creations, less imposing Nowhere does it say they love castles. But they Schwangau (the settlement below than Neuschwanstein, is Linderhof Palace, near do. At least, they love their "fairytale king's" Oberammergau, finished in 1878. creation. .

Load more