Today we set off just after 8 am in driving rain for a two and a half hour drive to Neuschwanstein. We drove past Innsbruck and then into the Alps, and crossed into Germany. We weren’t really able to appreciate the scenery, which was spectacular, because of the rain and low clouds. The motorway traffic was slow moving, and once we were off the motorway, we were stuck behind a tractor. Our guide had to collect our tickets by 10.30, or else they would be re-sold, and she only made it with about 3 minutes to spare!
We had not realised that the bus stops at Hohenschwangau, considerably below the castle. From there, it is a very long climb to the castle, though you can take a fiacre or the shuttle bus. When you get out of the bus, it’s still at least a 15 minute climb up to the castle. Once inside, there are 73 steps up a spiral staircase to where the tour begins on the first floor. After that, there’s a further 96 steps to the next two floors. So that’s 169 steps up. On the way down, there are 251 steps. Some of our party, who were even older than us, or more infirm, elected to stay in Hohenschwangau when they learned of all this.
As well as a little settlement, there is also a castle at Hohenschwangau where King Ludwig ll of Bavaria, the builder of Neuschwanstein, grew up.
This castle is not as new or as spectacular as Neuschwanstein. It is possible to take a photo of it though. It isn’t really possible to take a photo of Neuschwanstein without a drone. So I’m dependent on a photo of a photo.
You can see how spectacular it is - and how come there are so many stairs to climb up and down!
We caught the shuttle bus up, then climbed the last bit - rather slowly, in my case. Part of the way along, there are some amazing views.
That’s the little settlement of Hohenschwangau on the lake on the left, below Hohenschwangau castle. You can see how much higher up we are.
Our tour was at 12.05. At 12pm we were allowed through the main gate into the castle courtyard, and 12.05 we were allowed in. No photos are allowed inside, so once again I am relying on photos of photos. It was so overwhelming you need something to look at to remember it all.
Some of the rooms have wooden panelling near the floor, in others, that area is painted. Above that, every surface is covered with patterns and garlands, surrounding huge paintings, either of biblical subjects, or of mythical scenes from German legends. And everything is gilded, and there are coloured marble columns and mosaic floors.
This is the throne room, 15 metres high and 20 meters long. The floor is mosaic, and the chandelier is gold plated brass.
The king’s bedroom is equally splendid, a gothic style room with oak carvings. Paul took this photo of a photo, and it isn’t as clear as I would like, but it does give you a flavour of the room.
The bed is large because the king was 6 ft 4. The wall paintings are scenes from Tristan and Isolde. The king was very fond of Wagner operas, so many of the paintings in the castle represent scenes from Parsifal or Lohengrin or Tannhäuser.
The Singers’ Hall is especially sumptuous. The king designed it for concerts, though it was never used in his lifetime.
The wall paintings show scenes from Parsifal. The ceiling is carved pinewood. We were particularly taken with the painting from the stage end, where the singers would perform.
This illustration is the garden of the magician Klingsor, an evil magician in the Parsifal story who has sworn to destroy the Knights of the Grail. The garden was supposed to be peopled by flower maidens whom he had trained to seduce the knights, though the maidens seem to be missing in this painting. I don’t know why, because in the King’s study there’s an illustration showing Tannhäuser in the Venusberg with 4 completely naked ladies.
After all this sumptuousness, we stopped at the café for some lunch, it being lunch time. I was glad to sit down for a while. Then we descended the first lot of stairs down to the kitchens. Here we were allowed to take photos.
The king was always alone when he visited the castle. He was something of a recluse. There were usually about 30 servants in the castle, and this number was doubled when the king was visiting. So the large kitchens were really necessary.
There were still more stairs after this, and a long passage to the exit, then the long walk to the shuttle bus. We had time to look inside a few shops before were were back in the bus ready to set off back to Kramsach.
We made a comfort stop half way back at Fernsteinsee, a particularly pretty lake
The swan boats are obviously a reference to Lohengrin. And the swan was a particular favourite of King Ludwig. There is also a small castle, but nothing like as spectacular as Neuschwanstein.
We were back at the hotel in time for dinner, after a long slow journey. We have a free day tomorrow, I may just do a lot of sleeping since we have had an exhausting few days.
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