Neuschwanstein - the most beautiful castle in Bavaria with a sad history

Neuschwanstein Castle is so beautiful that, looking at it, you simply do not believe that it is real. Traveling in Europe, I have already seen many different castles, but this one will stand apart ... Why? Perhaps due to the personality of the one who invented it - Ludwig II. King with a tragic fate. He was never understood by his contemporaries, and now every Bavarian souvenir shop is filled with images of the castle ... So what's the secret? Let's start in order.

The name of Neuschwanstein Castle is translated as "New Swan Stone". It was built on the site of two destroyed fortresses. King Ludwig II, having decided that the castle of his dreams would be here, ordered a rock to be blown up at this place in order to lower the plateau by about 8 meters, thus creating a place to start work. Then the road was paved. On September 5, 1869, the first stone was laid for the construction of this huge castle. The king personally inspected every drawing and took such a lively part in the discussions that over time they began to consider the castle to be his personal creation.

Climbing up the road, we tried to imagine how the stones were delivered for construction. The path is not far! I can’t imagine how many people and horses were involved, because the castle was built relatively quickly! However, thanks to this construction, residents of nearby villages have always had stable and well-paid jobs. Because of this, by the way, Ludwig was very popular among the people))

On the way you can admire the Bavarian landscapes ...

In 1869-1873, gates were built, work was completed in several rooms. The construction work was carried out at a very busy pace, but it was not possible to complete all the ideas for the castle, so in 1884 the king decided to move to an unfinished castle ... By that time, a ring of palace intrigues was tightly woven around him. An interesting fact: the common people, as I said, adored Ludwig, while the courtiers sincerely considered him abnormal and prepared the ground in order to deprive the king of power.

Here, it seems to me, I need to make a digression and talk a little about Ludwig II.

According to historians, sentiments were not accepted in the Ludwig family. Strict father is a king, cold mother is a queen ... From childhood, Ludwig was a man of art - his favorite composer was Wagner, he studied musical instruments and adored the theater. Ludwig had a brother, Otto, a merry fellow and an extravagant man. And everything was fine until his brother discovered serious mental deviations ... Otto spent the rest of his life in a psychiatric clinic.

And in the photo - young Ludwig II.

Ludwig became king at age 18. Incredible handsome, he aroused the delight of women, but avoided them. But thanks to the pressure (heir is needed !!!), he nevertheless became engaged to Sophia of Bavaria, the younger sister of her close friend Elizabeth of Austria. But nothing came of it. Once he just broke off the engagement. There were no other women in his life.

Historians discuss whether Ludwig was homosexual. No confirmation of this was found, although Ludwig sometimes brought different artists closer to him. But he needed them, like toys ... He could take a favorite artist to the middle of the lake at night and ask him to read a poem ...

Over the years, the king was increasingly moving away from the world. The courtiers were angry, discussing that in order to sign government papers they had to look for a king in the mountains ... There were rumors that Ludwig arranged evenings with nonexistent characters - lit candles and talked with them ... He retired to Neuschwanstein Castle and lived only at night, for which they began to call him the "moon king."
And the places here are really extraordinary ...

Rumors began to circulate about the king’s mental illness. Was that true? No one will know this. On June 8, 1886, on the basis of testimony of witnesses and without a personal examination of the patient, a consultation of doctors declared Ludwig II “incurably insane”, the next day he was declared legally incapable. At midnight on June 12, a commission arrived in Neuschwanstein to pick up the king and transport him to a mental hospital. But that did not happen. The next day, already in another castle, on the way to Munich, Ludwig, together with a psychiatrist professor, went for a walk. Their bodies were found in the water of Lake Starnberg in shallow water, at about 23:00 the same day. What happened, so no one knew ...

This is a view of the Hohenschwangau castle where he grew up.

You can’t take pictures inside. But if I say that the castle is very beautiful, this will not be an exaggeration. The castle is beautiful both inside and out ... And in the interior, its main role is played by illustrations for Wagner's operas and ancient German legends.