Bavarian Castles

HAVE GERMAN WILL TRAVEL BAYERN Konig Ludwig II und die bayerischen Schlosser/ Bavarian Castles Hohenschwangau uber Schwangau bei Fussen / Hohenschwangau Castle above Schwangau near Fussen to lose, so he stopped playing games altogether. journey in 1832-3 to Greece and Turkey, with depictions Maximilian married Princess Marie of Prussia in 1842. of Turkish landscapes on the walls as remembrances of his The couple occupied separate areas of the palace, but a trip. T he Banqueting Hall , a large, richly-decorated room, private staircase connected the bedrooms. Marie loved divided in the middle by two stucco-marbled columns, the castle and spent time here with her chil.dren. She en- features numerous murals from the Vilkina saga, a collec ·oyed hikino the hills and was familiar with Bavarian al- J . 0 tion of different tales of giants, duels, and battles. pine culture. When Maximilian succeeded tO the throne The Tasso Room, which was Maximilian II and later of Bavaria, a coach house was removed and the Cavaliers King Ludwig Il's bedroom, is continuously painted on all or Princes' building was added. And from 1855, Ludwig walls wit h a depiction of the story of Armida and Rinaldo, and Otto, sons of the king and queen, occupied this an as described in the epic poem Jerusalem Delivered by Tor nex. The new fifty-room annex also housed guests, other quato Tasso. Interestingly, when it was Maximilian's bed members of the household, guards, and servants. room, it had a day sky on the ceiling and nudes painted Some of the rooms open to visitors today include the on the wall. When the princes were young, the nudes were Knight's Hall, with its filigree vaulted ceiling. It is said to painted over. Ludwig had a night sky painted on the ceil be a room of relaxation and solace. A poem in the ante ing instead with translucent stars and a moon that could be room reads, "Welcome wanderers, sweet ladies 1 The prob illuminated from above. There are also two hidden doors lems go away forever, let your spirits trust, The poetry of in the wall: one led to the toilet, which had ru nning water, cheerfulness." In the Swan-K.n.ight-Hall, once the royal and the other to a spiral staircase to the Queen's apartment. family dining room, the pictures, like most of the paint Visitors can approach the castle one of two ways. At ings in the palace, are painted on the actual wall surfaces the outer gate, which leads up from the Alpsee, a beautiful and are framed by decorative borders. nearby lake, you see scone escutcheons with the lion shield The Schyren Room, Queen Marie's dressing room, of the Counts Palatinate and the blue and white diamond was likely her death chamber, as "veil. Her bedroom, the checked Wittelsbach shield in sunken decorative panels. A Oriental· Room, is designed in memory of M~ximilian's second gateway supports a three-story structure on which a large terrace is laid out. The turrets here are crowned with spires and decorated with neo-Gothic motifs. Besides the many interior paintings for which tl1is cas tle is known, look for the interesting sidelights of the castle exteriors: on the Princes' building there is a mural, one on the left and one on the right, depicting two fools dancing. One has a knife and a sausage in his hand, while the other holds a tankard and a club. In the middle stand two figures holding heralds. King Ludwig II's successor, Prince Regent Luitpold, installed electricity and an elevator in the palace in 1910. Until tbe 1980s, members of the former royal family, which still owns the castle, lived in the palace and annex. With its rich history, its unique and elegant yellow ex terior, its proximity to Neuschwanstein, and its inviting Alpine backdrop, Hohenschwangau Castle is bound to at tract even more attention in the years ahead. The Banqueting Hall, known as the Hall of the Heroes or Knights, extends over the entire width of the palac.e. On the table st~nds the Nibelung Centerpiece, which was ~omm1ss1o~ed for the mamage of the Crown Prince to Prince~ Mane _o~ Prussia m 1842. .

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