"Neuschwanstein Castle Neuschwanstein Castle (, , ; Southern Bavarian: ""Schloss Neischwanstoa"") is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and in honour of Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds. The castle was intended as a home for the king, until he died in 1886. It was open to the public shortly after his death. Since then more than"
"all over the world to Germany each year. It is not surprising that Ludwig II had a great interest in building. His paternal grandfather, King Ludwig I, had largely rebuilt Munich. It was known as the 'Athens on the Isar'. His father, King Maximilian II had also continued with more construction in Munich as well as the construction of Hohenschwangau Castle, the childhood home of Ludwig II, near the future Neuschwanstein Castle of Ludwig II. Ludwig II had planned to build a large opera house on the banks of the Isar river in Munich. This plan was vetoed by the"
"the castles belonging to King Ludwig II, which were retained under state ownership) and whose income since then has been sustained by members of the former Royal family. From the present point of view, no harm was caused to the state as means of Ludwig's conduct. The six million gold marks which had been sent to him as a whole, was demonstrably used to settle construction calculations, for example, the Herrenchiemsee Castle, corresponded approximately to the value of the actual expenses for Neuschwanstein Castle, the most famous of King Ludwig's castles. In 2006 alone, it was visited by over one"
"Hohenschwangau Castle Hohenschwangau Castle or Schloss Hohenschwangau (lit: ""Upper Swan County Palace"") is a 19th-century palace in southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. It is located in the German village of Hohenschwangau near the town of Füssen, part of the county of Ostallgäu in southwestern Bavaria, Germany, very close to the border with Austria. The fortress ""Schwangau"", which was first mentioned in historical records dating from the 12th Century, stood high up on a rock on the site of the present 19th-century"
"ruins of the two Hohenschwangau Castles. Neuschwanstein embodies both the contemporaneous architectural fashion known as castle romanticism (), and Ludwig II's immoderate enthusiasm for the operas of Richard Wagner. In the 19th century, many castles were constructed or reconstructed, often with significant changes to make them more picturesque. Palace-building projects similar to Neuschwanstein had been undertaken earlier in several of the German states and included Hohenschwangau Castle, Lichtenstein Castle, Hohenzollern Castle, and numerous buildings on the River Rhine such as Stolzenfels Castle. The inspiration for the construction of Neuschwanstein came from two journeys in 1867 — one in May to"
"II features strongly in the 1995 computer game ""."" Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (; ; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or (""the Fairy Tale King""). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, and Duke in Swabia. He succeeded to the throne aged 18. Two years later Bavaria and Austria fought a war against Prussia, which they lost. However, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 Bavaria sided with Prussia"
"Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (; ; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or (""the Fairy Tale King""). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, and Duke in Swabia. He succeeded to the throne aged 18. Two years later Bavaria and Austria fought a war against Prussia, which they lost. However, in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 Bavaria sided with Prussia against France, and after the Prussian victory it became"
"in Vienna 1873. The king bought it in 1878 and redecorated it in a more royal way. Linderhof Palace Linderhof Palace () is a Schloss in Germany, in southwest Bavaria near Ettal Abbey. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed. Ludwig already knew the area around Linderhof from his youth when he had accompanied his father King Maximilian II of Bavaria on his hunting trips in the Bavarian Alps. When Ludwig II became King in 1864, he inherited the so-called ""Königshäuschen"" from"
"King's House on Schachen The King's House on Schachen () is a small castle (""Schlösschen"") at Schachen, Wetterstein mountain massif, about 10 km south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria, Germany, built by Ludwig II of Bavaria. The castle was constructed between 1869 and 1872. It can only be reached by a three- to four-hour hike, either from Elmau or Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and provides a view of Zugspitze. The King's House on Schachen was built between 1869-1872 to designs by architect Georg von Dollmann. It is often described as a hunting lodge, though Ludwig never used it for this purpose, instead utilizing it for"
"Crown of Wilhelm II The Crown of William II, also known as the Hohenzollern Crown, is the 1888 crown made for William II, German Emperor, in his role as King of Prussia. It was only used for heraldic purposes. A Crown of the German Empire was never made. The crown is surmounted by a diamond-studded cross which rests on a large sapphire. These rest on eight half-arches rising from the base that are adorned with 142 rose-cut diamonds and 18 diamonds. Eight large pearls are mounted between the arches. When William abdicated in 1918 he was permitted to retain the"
"from the drafts to make place for a ""Moorish Hall"", which could not be realized due to lack of resources. Completion was originally projected for 1872, but deferred repeatedly. Neuschwanstein, the symbolic medieval knight's castle, was not Ludwig II's only huge construction project. It was followed by the rococo style Lustschloss of Linderhof Palace and the baroque palace of Herrenchiemsee, a monument to the era of absolutism. Linderhof, the smallest of the projects, was finished in 1886, and the other two remain incomplete. All three projects together drained his resources. The king paid for his construction projects by private means"
"Berg Castle (Bavaria) Berg Castle () is a manor house situated on the east shore of Lake Starnberg in the village of Berg in Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is famous as the site of King Ludwig II of Bavaria's death. Today, it remains home to the head of the house of Wittelsbach, currently Franz, Duke of Bavaria. Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, acquired a piece of land on the shores of Lake Starnberg in 1676 from the Horwarth family and ordered the construction of Berg Castle. Ferdinand used it for festivities, but it reached its zenith under his successors, elector"
"there are many other castles, ruins, castle sites and fortresses on either side of the Austro-German border, including the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle was one of the last great castles of the German Middle Ages. Its lord based it consciously on the – actually anachronistic – design of a high medieval hill castle whilst, in other places, the first castles had been abandoned or converted into ""schloss""-like country houses. Construction on the fortress was started in 1418 by Frederick of Freyberg zu Eisenberg, the eldest son of the eponymous lord of Eisenberg Castle. The work lasted until 1432, the"
"over the world visit the palace each year. The castle is open all through the year (except for Christmas). Opening hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (April through September) and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (October through March). Guided tours are provided in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Czech, Slovenian, and Japanese. Self-guided tours are not available. Hohenschwangau Castle Hohenschwangau Castle or Schloss Hohenschwangau (lit: ""Upper Swan County Palace"") is a 19th-century palace in southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria."
"its most famous exemplar in the castle of Neuschwanstein, which Ludwig II commissioned in 1869. Neuschwanstein was designed by Christian Jank, a theatrical set designer, which possibly explains the fantastical nature of the resulting building. The architectural expertise, vital to a building in such a perilous site, was provided first by the Munich court architect Eduard Riedel and later by Georg von Dollmann, son-in-law of Leo von Klenze. There is also Ulm Cathedral, and at the end of the period the Reichstag building (1894) by Paul Wallot. German Art Nouveau is commonly known by its German name, Jugendstil. The name"
"Linderhof Palace Linderhof Palace () is a Schloss in Germany, in southwest Bavaria near Ettal Abbey. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed. Ludwig already knew the area around Linderhof from his youth when he had accompanied his father King Maximilian II of Bavaria on his hunting trips in the Bavarian Alps. When Ludwig II became King in 1864, he inherited the so-called ""Königshäuschen"" from his father, and in 1869 began enlarging the building. In 1874, he decided to tear down the"
"personal approval of each and every draft. Ludwig's control went so far that the palace has been regarded as his own creation, rather than that of the architects involved. Whereas contemporary architecture critics derided Neuschwanstein, one of the last big palace building projects of the nineteenth century, as kitsch, Neuschwanstein and Ludwig II's other buildings are now counted among the major works of European historicism. For financial reasons, a project similar to Neuschwanstein – Falkenstein Castle – never left the planning stages. The palace can be regarded as typical for nineteenth-century architecture. The shapes of Romanesque (simple geometric figures such"
"New Castle (Ingolstadt) The New Castle in Ingolstadt is one of the most important Gothic secular buildings of the 15th Century in Bavaria. The builders were Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Duke George the Rich of Bavaria-Landshut, both of the Wittelsbach dynasty. The neighboring Old Castle, a medieval fortress from the 13th Century, is today called Herzogkasten. As a brother of the French queen Isabeau, Ludwig spent more than ten years in France. After returning to his home city of Ingolstadt, he could draw on abundant finances and in 1418 gave the order to build the new castle following"
"Ludwig II, Count of Württemberg-Urach Ludwig II (3 April 1439, Waiblingen – 3 November 1457, Urach), Count of Württemberg. The son of count Ludwig I and Mechthild of the Palatinate. He reigned from 1450 until 1457. After the division of the County of Württemberg, by the Treaty of Nürtingen in 1442, he was raised in Urach, capital of the newly created County of Württemberg-Stuttgart. After the early death of his father, Ludwig I, a conflict over his tutelage arose. In the end, the count of Württemberg-Stuttgart, his uncle Ulrich V, won influence. Finally Ludwig II was declared full of age"
"Wartburg The Wartburg is a castle originally built in the Middle Ages. It is situated on a precipice of to the southwest of and overlooking the town of Eisenach, in the state of Thuringia, Germany. In 1999, UNESCO added Wartburg Castle to the World Heritage List. It was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary, the place where Martin Luther translated the New Testament of the Bible into German, the site of the Wartburg festival of 1817 and the supposed setting for the possibly legendary ""Sängerkrieg"". It was an important inspiration for Ludwig II when he decided to build Neuschwanstein"
"million people. Even the annual income from this castle for the free state exceeds the sum in question. Kaiserbrief The Kaiserbrief (engl. Imperial Letter), is the letter to the German Federal princes signed by North German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck on 27 November 1870 and Bavarian King Ludwig II (born 1845, reign 1864–1886) on 30 November 1870. Ludwig's uncle, Prince Luitpold of Bavaria, the later Prince Regent (1886–1912), the Prussian king on 3 December 1870 personally handed over the Imperial Letter. Ludwig II gave the impetus to the emperor's proclamation of William I in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles"
"is a monument to German Romanticism which incorporated an idealized vision of a medieval knight's castle. Lacking some of the fantastic elements and excesses of Neuschwanstein, the castle's construction served to enhance the reputation of the Prussian Royal Family. Construction began in 1850, and was funded entirely by the Brandenburg-Prussian and the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen lines of the Hohenzollern family. Construction was completed on 3 October 1867, under Frederick William IV's brother King William I. After the castle was rebuilt, it was not regularly occupied, but rather used primarily as a showpiece. None of the Hohenzollern Kaisers of the German Empire lived"
"Duke Frederick II, later King Frederick I, began using Ludwigsburg as his summer residence in the last years of Charles Eugene's reign. Frederick and his wife Charlotte, Princess Royal both resided at Ludwigsburg and employed Nikolaus Friedrich von Thouret to renovate the palace in the Neoclassical style. Thouret converted much of Ludwigsburg's interiors over the reign of Frederick and later life of Charlotte. As a result of each architect's work, Ludwigsburg is a combination of Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, and Empire style architecture. The constitutions of the Free People's State and Kingdom of Württemberg were ratified at Ludwigsburg Palace in 1919"
"his disliked mother, especially after 1869 when the building of his own castle, Neuschwanstein, began on the site of the old Schwangau fortress, high above his parent's castle. After Ludwig's death in 1886, Queen Marie was the castle's only resident until she in turn died in 1889. Her brother-in-law, Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria, lived on the 3rd floor of the main building. He was responsible for the electrification in 1905 and the installation of an electric elevator. Luitpold died in 1912 and the palace was opened as a museum during the following year. During World War I and World"
"rendered outstanding services to Munich's status as a centre of the arts, attracting numerous artists and enhancing the city's architectural substance with grand boulevards and buildings. On the other hand, Ludwig II, known the world over as the fairytale king, was mostly aloof from his capital and focused more on his fanciful castles in the Bavarian countryside. Nevertheless, his patronage of Richard Wagner secured his posthumous reputation, as do his castles, which still generate significant tourist income for Bavaria. Later, Prince Regent Luitpold's years as regent were marked by tremendous artistic and cultural activity in Munich, enhancing its status as"
"Auerbach Castle Auerbach Castle is one of several fortresses along the Bergstrasse in southern Hesse, Germany. The castle was originally built by King Charlemagne (Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire) and rebuilt by Count Diether IV of the Katzenelnbogen dynasty in the second quarter of the 13th century. Today it remains standing atop a hill known as (part of the Melibokus) above the town of Bensheim-Auerbach. The town of was mentioned for the first time in the Lorsch codex as ""Urbach"". Through the marriage of Hildegard von Henneberg, areas of the Bergstraße passed to Henry II of Katzenelnbogen in 1135."
"jewels, which included the Hohenzollern crown. To protect it from theft and destruction during World War II, it was hidden in a wall in the crypt of a church. After the war it was returned to the Hohenzollern family and is now kept at the family residence of the Hohenzollern Castle. Crown of Wilhelm II The Crown of William II, also known as the Hohenzollern Crown, is the 1888 crown made for William II, German Emperor, in his role as King of Prussia. It was only used for heraldic purposes. A Crown of the German Empire was never made. The"
"Hohnstein Castle Hohnstein Castle () is one of the largest and best-preserved castle ruins in Germany and is located near Neustadt in the vicinity of Nordhausen in Thuringia. The ruins are located on a high, rocky spur which today is covered in woods, about 1 km northeast of the village of Neustadt on the southern edge of the Harz mountains. Honstein Castle was built in the time of the Hohenstaufen-Guelph conflict for the throne. Its foundation is attributed to Konrad von Sangerhausen, a relative of the legendary Thuringian count, Louis the Springer. The Counts of Hohnstein, together with the Counts"
"Ludwig. Statues reminiscent of antiquity are found throughout the gardens, overwrought in the grand style of Richard Wagner's romantic operas. Herrenchiemsee Herrenchiemsee is a complex of royal buildings on Herreninsel, the largest island in the Chiemsee lake, in southern Bavaria, Germany. Together with the neighbouring isle of Frauenchiemsee and the uninhabited Krautinsel, it forms the municipality of Chiemsee, located about southeast of Munich. The island, formerly the site of an Augustinian monastery, was purchased by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1873. The king had the premises converted into a residence, known as the Old Palace (""Altes Schloss""). From 1878"
"Ludwig II (sculpture) Ludwig II is a sculpture of King Ludwig II of Bavaria by sculptor Elisabet Ney. Completed in 1870, the piece is a portrait statue rendered in plaster. The statue was modeled and carved in Germany, but it is now held by the Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin, Texas; a marble version, completed by another sculptor, is installed in the Herrenchiemsee Palace in Bavaria. As a young woman, Elisabet Ney had studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, becoming the Academy's first female graduate in 1854. She next returned to the city in 1867, when"
"Ludwig II (sculpture) Ludwig II is a sculpture of King Ludwig II of Bavaria by sculptor Elisabet Ney. Completed in 1870, the piece is a portrait statue rendered in plaster. The statue was modeled and carved in Germany, but it is now held by the Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin, Texas; a marble version, completed by another sculptor, is installed in the Herrenchiemsee Palace in Bavaria. As a young woman, Elisabet Ney had studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, becoming the Academy's first female graduate in 1854. She next returned to the city in 1867, when"
"palace was intended to serve Ludwig II as a kind of inhabitable theatrical setting. As a ""temple of friendship"" it was also dedicated to the life and work of Richard Wagner, who died in 1883 before he had set foot in the building. In the end, Ludwig II only lived in the palace for a total of 172 days. The king's wishes and demands expanded during the construction of Neuschwanstein, and so did the expenses. Drafts and estimated costs were revised repeatedly. Initially a modest study was planned instead of the great throne hall, and projected guest rooms were struck"
"moved in and used it as his main residence until his death in 1996, upon which his eldest son Franz followed him as head of the House of Wittelsbach. However, Franz decided to live in Munich instead, where he occupies a wing of Nymphenburg Palace, but uses Berg Castle as his country retreat. Berg Castle (Bavaria) Berg Castle () is a manor house situated on the east shore of Lake Starnberg in the village of Berg in Upper Bavaria, Germany. It is famous as the site of King Ludwig II of Bavaria's death. Today, it remains home to the head"