Southern Bavaria is dotted with fairytale castles, including Hohenschwangau, Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof, and the one that ended up being the highlight of our vacation, Neuschwanstein. This castle rises at the base of the Bavarian Alps, overlooking a waterfall on one side and the picturesque village of Fussen on the other. It is recognizable to anyone who has been to Disneyland as the one that the Sleeping Beauty Castle was based.
King Ludwig II was Richard Wagner's patron and biggest fan, and had a passion for his operas. Wagner based one series of operas, the 20-hour-long Ring Cycle, on the same Germanic Mythology that Tolkien's Lord of the Rings was later inspired. Ludwig commissioned artists to fill Neuschwanstein with murals based on Wagner's operas, and had an elaborate stage built in the castle where he could sit by himself and enjoy a performance. He spent an enormous amount of his family's money creating these castles and other retreats, but hated politics and any responsibility associated with being king. He spent years dodging his duties and living in a self-created fantasy, but in 1881 his family caught up to him and in a couple of days he was declared insane, deposed, and murdered. In his castles, though, the vision of his still lives, and despite the crowds and the marketing, they are well worth the trip. I ended up buying a book about the castle and every post card available, as we were forbidden from taking pictures inside.
After seeing the castle, we hiked in the nearby Bavarian Alps. What a beautiful place!
We saw Hohenschwangau Castle from above, then walked past it as we left Neuschwanstein. The interior was closed by that time, and we had to get on the road to see our next destination -- Rothenburg.
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