Dream mansions of Louis II.

At the end of the ski season in the Alps, we prefer to turn south and start dreaming about the joys of the Mediterranean, but because of the proximity, both in kilometers and because of the historical and cultural connection, it is worth visiting the most famous part of Bavaria south of Munich, at least for the weekend one of the most controversial rulers in history, the "crazy" King Louis II, contributed to world fame.

Some claim that he was crazy, others that he was a genius, still others that he was just a tragic romantic soul. The fact is that his building zeal, which led to the impoverishment of the Bavarian state treasury and the complete consumption of the wealth of his Wittelsbach family, is today the most profitable part of Germany for tourism, and his castles are among the most recognizable symbols of Germany. The best way to explore his heritage is in Munich, at the castle Nymphenburg, where Ludvik was born in 1845. Parts of the beautiful mansion and the smaller palace in the park surrounding the central buildings are open to the public today, and in them, in addition to smaller exhibitions, you can see an exhibition of precious Nymphenburg porcelain or an exhibition of carriages. The remains of the tragic Bavarian king, whose death 125 years ago is still unclear, rest in Munich, in the church of St. Michael.

Escape to a dream world

His childhood was anything but a fairy tale, as he grew up estranged from his parents, left to the strict upbringing of governesses and teachers who prepared him for the responsibilities and tasks of the future king. His only way out and escape from the ghostly life at court was the summer holidays he spent in the castle Hochenschwangau. With her best friend and cousin Elizabeth, who later became the Empress of Austria, she read poetry, dreamed of a fairy-tale world, and relived scenes from great operas. At just 18, the handsome young man assumed the crown, but the first problems arose when he was faced with the fact that, as king, he had to marry and provide Bavaria with an heir to the throne. He rebelled against the marriage, thereby disappointing the circle of advisers and ministers for the first time, and he was also disturbed by the attention and responsibility to which he was exposed as king, so he began to neglect the duties of the ruler more and more often and became less and less interested in politics. Instead of politics, Ludvik became more and more interested in legends and tales, and as a great opera lover, he invited the composer Richard Wagner, whose music fed his fantasies.

Builder of a fairy-tale world

Louis II was a great admirer of absolutism and especially of the French sun king Louis XIV, and as a monarch he allowed himself to translate his dreams into reality. He started building fairy-tale castles and palaces that required huge sums of money. The only palace that Louis II saw completed was the château Linderhof near the village of Ettal, which is also famous for its monastery with a beautiful baroque church. The mansion is set in a park with fountains and a Moorish-style pavilion, and Linderhoff's greatest feature is the underground Venus Cave, where Ludwig indulged himself in Wagner's operas while riding on an underground lake in a shell-shaped boat. The most famous of all the manors and castles built by Louis II is Neuschwanstein, which he spent 20 years building but never saw completed. Today, its image is also known thanks to the legendary Walt Disney, who used Neuschwanstein as an inspiration for his dream Cinderella's castle, and the animated image of the castle still appears in the trademark and therefore at the beginning of every movie that the Disney company makes. Due to the huge number of visitors, we have to patiently stand in line and wait for the specified hour of the guided tour in different languages, which is written on the ticket, and during the peak of the visit, it can take quite a few hours to actually enter the fairy-tale castle. After seeing Germany's biggest tourist attraction, it's worth taking the time to visit the castle where Ludwig actually lived. Hochenschwangau, located near the magnificent Neuschwanstein, is more modest, but offers a wonderful insight into the life of the monarch and his strange habits. It is best to end the tour of the castles with a visit to the lake castle Chiemsee. In 1873, Ludwig bought one of the three islands on the largest Bavarian lake. Those who claim that Ludvik was not crazy, but rather a forward-thinking genius, point out that he bought the island, which belonged to a forestry community, with the intention of preserving the vegetation and quite a few endangered animal species that lived on the island . Of course, he intended to build on it his own vision of Versailles, the masterpiece of the sun king Louis XIV. Also the castle Herrenchiemsee remained unfinished, as in 1885 the king ran out of money, and the following year his reign ended with the expert opinion of a group of four psychiatrists, who concluded that Ludvik was paranoid, declared him insane and unfit to rule. On June 13, 1886, during a walk with one of the psychiatrists, Louis II drowned under very unclear and mysterious circumstances in to the lake Starnberg, and his death has not been fully explained to this day. Since the 39-year-old king ended his tragic life exactly 125 years ago, the unfinished north wing of Herrenchiemsee Palace will be open until October 16 exhibition about the life of Louis II. The creators of the exhibition wondered for a long time how best to show the life of the tragic star of Bavarian history, and in the end they decided that the dramatic life of a lover of opera and theater was best performed on stage, in the style of a classical tragedy.

Accommodation

The most famous Neuschwanstein castle is only four kilometers from the town Füssen, where quite a few famous names spent their nights in a romantic corner of Germany. Fussen is an excellent starting point for getting to know Ludwig's castles, and the town itself also offers many attractions, a traditional Bavarian atmosphere and accommodation in comfortable hotels with a long history. Hotel Kurcafe has been owned by the Schöll family for more than 100 years, its 30 rooms and suites offer an ideal combination of romantic rusticity and modern luxury, in addition to comfort and culinary masterpieces in the restaurant, the friendly hotel staff are always full of ideas for an active vacation in Füssen and the surrounding area. Steve McQueen, Gina Lolobridga, Otto von Habsburg and Charles Bronson are just a few notable names who indulged in pampering in Hotel Kirsch, the most famous hotel in the austere center of Füssen, and its 54 rooms are tastefully and individually furnished with Bavarian antiques.

How to get there...

The castles of Ludwig II are only a few hours' drive away from the Bavarian capital, Munich, so the area of Upper Bavaria and getting to know the castles and idyllic villages with beautiful baroque churches and rich monasteries is the easiest to travel by car. Germany is full of themed routes that are well signposted and offer visitors opportunities to explore by car, bike or on foot, and Ludwig's castles are part of two extremely interesting roads: Romantic roads and Alpine roads.