As promised, here is my post on our magical visit last week to the world-famous Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. Eli is pictured above, standing below this incredible place that looks like it is right out of your favorite fairy tale. The Castle was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat, and as an homage to Richard Wagner, the German composer. The Castle has appeared in several movies, and was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty Castle at the Disney parks.
The foundation stone of the building was laid in September of 1869, and was completed in 1886, shortly after King Ludwig was declared insane and arrested at the palace. After being taken to Castle Berg, Ludwig was found a day later in shallow water in Lake Starnberg, drowned, along with the psychiatrist who had certified him as insane. The deaths remain unsolved.
Interestingly, although Ludwig declared that no strangers were ever to visit Neuschwanstein, more than 50 million people have visited the castle since it was opened up to the public. About 1.3 visit annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer. Fortunately for us, it was not crowded the day we were there, and the scenery was truly magnificent -- clear, blue skies and snow covering everything. The only downside to visiting at this time of year was that the nearby Marien Bridge was closed. This bridge spans two small peaks close to the Castle, and affords stunning views of the Castle and surrounding landscape. I was on the bridge and in the Castle in 1993 during a tour of Europe with a law school classmate of mine, and was disappointed that Eli and the kids didn't have the chance to walk out to the bridge.
The Gang (minus me)
The horses that pulled us up the hill!
I should mention that photographs inside the Castle are not permitted, but I did find interior photos on the internet, so if you're curious to see what this spectacular place looks like on the inside, you can do a google search. The Castle is about 1.5 hours southwest of Munich, and bus tours run out of Munich daily, so if you ever find yourself in Munich and would like to visit the Castle, I would recommend putting this on your to-do list. If you have a car, I would also suggest exploring the area surrounding the Castle. We stayed in a town called Schwangau, which sits in the valley just below the Castle. This town, along with others nearby, is full of small pensions, good restaurants and beautiful scenery. There also is a LOT of skiing in the area (both downhill and cross-country), and if we get a chance, we'd like to go back and do a little skiing, and visit Ludwig's other castle, Hohenschwangau.
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