GERMANY 

NEUSCHWANSTEIN CASTLE

Opening times April - September: 9 am - 6 pm cash desk open from 8 am - 5 pm October - March: 10 am - 4 pm cash desk open from 9 am - 3 pm open daily 

Ludwig II was possessed by the idea of a holy kingdom by the Grace of God. In reality he was a constitutional monarch, a head of state with rights and duties and little freedom of action. For this reason he built a fantasy world around him in which – far removed from reality – he could feel he was a real king. From 1875 on he lived at night and slept during the day. Idealized designs by scene painters for a "New Hohenschwangau Castle" high above the tranquil Hohenschwangau of Ludwig II's father, a "Byzantine Palace" and a copy of Versailles were already in existence by 1868. From the beginning, Ludwig's fantasy world embraced several different epochs. The "New Castle" (subsequently Neuschwanstein), was based on Christian kingship in the Middle Ages, and the new Versailles, built from 1878 on the Herreninsel, recalls the baroque absolutism of the Bourbon King of France. Linderhof in the Graswangtal, built from 1869, imitates a variety of styles, with the help of the latest technology.