hey what's up guys we are hiking around Hohenschwangau Bavaria Germany we are
going to talk about schloss neuschwanstein which is the nearby
castle we have a lot of history to cover so let's begin
ludwig ii King of Bavaria since 1864 address a letter to the man he so
greatly admire Richard Wagner it is my intention to rebuild the old castle ruin
of Hohenschwangau near the Pollat Gorge in the authentic style of the old German
knights castles and I must confess to you that I am looking forward very much
to live in there one day you know the revered guests I would like
to accommodate there the location is one of the most beautiful to be found
holy and unapproachable a worthy temple for the divine friend was brought
salvation and true blessing to the world in 1866 Bavaria allied with Austria and
had lost a war against expanding Prussia Bavaria was first observed a defensive
and offensive alliance which removed the Kings right to dispose over his army in
case war therefore from 1866 ludwig ii was no longer a sovereign ruler this
limitation was the biggest misfortune of his life in 1867 he began planning his
whole kingdom in the form of his castles and palaces where he could be a real king
crown prince maximilian ii of bavaria Ludwig's father had the ruined castle of
Schwanstein rebuilt in 1832 in the Gothic style the young Ludwig was
influenced by the romantic mountain scenery in the summer castle and became one
of his favorite places to stay Hohenschwangau was decorated with scenes
from medieval legends and poetry including the legend of the swan king
Lohengrin Ludwig identified himself as a legendary
King to whom Richard Wagner dedicated a romantic opera in 1850 maximilian ii had
already had paths and lookout points constructed around the area in order to
be able to enjoy the scenery the 1840s as a birthday present for his mountain
climbing concert Marie he had a bridge the "Marienbrucke" built
high above the Pollat gorge from the narrow mountain ridge known as
jugend there was a magnificent view of the mountains and lakes the crown prince
Ludwig was often here. On the jugend were the ruins of two
small castle Vorder- and Hinterhohenschwangau. it was here that Ludwig II
planned to build his new "Hohenschwangau Castle" it only acquired the name of
"Neuschwanstein" after the death of the king. it was to be a better recreation of an
ideal medieval castle than Hohenschwangau. perfection was the key the
reconstruction was to be closer to the original style equipped with all modern
technical features in 1867 ludwig ii visited the recently rebuilt Wartburg
the Wartburg and its Hall became the leitmotif of the new castle the
architect Edward Riedel also had to process ideas based on stage set design
by the Munich scene painter Christian Junk the castle was not built as
rapidly as the king expected the project was too comprehensive and the building
site on the mountain presented difficulties set designers architects
and artisans implemented the Kings detailed ideas then considered deadlines
he said could sometimes only be met by working day and night the foundation
stone of the new castle was late on September 5th 1869 the Gateway building
was constructed first and ludwig ii lived here for a number of years the
topping out ceremony for the palace was not until 1880 and the king moved in
1884 as increasingly withdrew from human contact and focus even more on his royal
dignity Ludwig ii changed the building programme
the guest rooms were replaced in the plans by a moorish hall with a fountain but
this was never actually built the writing room was changed from 1880 into
a small grotto of the modest audience room became a huge throne room this was no
longer intended for giving audiences it was built as a monument to kingship a
highly modern steel construction was necessary in order to incorporate the
hall in the palas which was already standing a knight bath was to be
installed in the west part of the palace despite its size Neuschwanstein did not
have space for the royal court but contained in the Kings private lodging
and servants room.The court building served decorative rather than residential
purposes the 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 Ludwig paid for the palace out of his
own personal fortune and by the means of extensive borrowing rather than the
Bavarian public funds even after his debts had reached 14 million marks
Ludwig insisted on the continuation of his architectural projects he threatened
suicide if his creditor seize his palaces in early 1886 Ludwig asked his cabinet
for a credit of 6 million marks which was denied in April he followed
Bismarck's advice to apply for the money to his Parliament
the Bavarian government decided to depose the king who was living at
Neuschwanstein during the time. On June 9 he was immobilized and he had the
position Commission arrested in the gatehouse in expectation of the
Commission he alert to the gendarmerie and fire brigades of surrounding places
for his protection a second Commission arrived on the next day and the king was
forced to leave the palace that night Ludwig was put under the supervision of
von Gudden On June 13 1886 both died under
mysterious circumstances the shallow shore water of Lake Starnberg
near Berg castle at the time of Ludwig's death the palace was far from complete
he only slept there for eleven nights he never intended the palace to be
accessible to the public but no more than six weeks after his death the
regent Luitpold ordered the palace open to paying visitors
Within years it paid off its own debts and Ludwick's castle were probably the
single largest income source spread by the Bavarian royal family in the last
years prior to 1914 you did secluded location the palace survived the
destruction of two world wars until 1944 in servers and people for Nazi plunder
the palaces have been prominent in several news such as the new biopic
about key lube with the second the musical chitty-chitty-bang-bang in the
world drama The Great Escape it also serve as the inspiration for dissident
Sleeping Beauty Castle today noise von Stein welcomes almost 1.5 million
visitors per year making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in
Europe with as many as six thousand birthday in the suburb for security
reasons the palace can only be visited during a 35 minute guided and the
photography is allowed inside the castle guests without advance reservation may
have to wait several hours
so that's it for the bishops Lodge Deutsche punch type until next time
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