As a child the later King Ludwug II experienced the mountain regions and the romantic murals of neo-Gothic Hohenschwangau Castle and was inspired to dream up and build his own castle of Neuschwanstein!

A beautiful 19th c. palace and was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria built by his father King Maximillian II of Bavaria

This castle was first mentioned in 1397

It was the summer residence for the family

Hohenschwangau means High District of the Swan

King Ludwig grew to have an obsession with Swans and both these castles were named after swans

LOCATION

https://goo.gl/maps/LFuxtkAGL3YSEs5m6

The castle appears in recorded history in 12th c.

1832 Maximillian II purchased the castle which was delapitated and abandoned, it was the former home of the knights of Schwangau – he was heir to the Bavarian throne, he transformed the old ruin and built a mock-medieval castle

King Max fell in love with the surrounding countryside and the location of the castle

The castle taken from Neuschwanstein – with the bus park and ticket office below

The Alpsee – a lake right on shore of the Hohenshwangau Castle – depth of around 62m

View from the courtyard to Neuschwanstein Castle

Morning was overcast but the view over the countryside kept getting better as the sky started to clear up

The gardens and courtyard of Hohenschwangau Castle was so pretty! This fountain!

St Marys Fountain – represents Christianity

The Lion Fountain – modeled after an example of the Spanish Alhambra fountain which represents the Orient

Ticket for the interior tour of the castle – we explored the garden and surrounding area before our tour began

The mustard coloured exterior doesnt match the beauty of the interior!

Where beautiful views of the countryside and seen from

The entrance to the castle

The Goosemens Fountain – created in 1867 refers to the legends of the Middle Ages

The water is coming out from the goose beaks, how cute!

The palace garden was designed from plans of the theatre architect Domenico Quaglio

In 1851 it was extended by Georg Friedrich Ziebland and in 2007 the planting was rearranged according to the original state of the 19th c.

CASTLE INTERIOR

The beautiful artistic rooms tell of German and Bavarian history in such intense and beautiful neo-gothic frescoes with bright and vivid colourings

Part of the kitchen area

Each room had a specific theme

The Music Room – This is where Richard Wagner would play music for the family – Ludwig became his greatest admirer and he was his inspiration

Hall of the Swan Knight – I loved the detailing of the writings on the walls as well and tells the story of Lohengrin the original swan knight

This was used as a dining room

Maximilian IIs study and reading chair

Maximillians Bedroom – the walls are painted with sensual nude scenes from an itaian renaissance poem “Jerusalem delivered” about a crusading knight

Ludwig later pierced crystals int eh ceiling to create a starry night effect

I really enjoyed so much walkig around and exploring this castle! I was in shock and hated the fact that I had missed it the first time I was here as I only wanted to really see Neuschwanstein castle and had no idea how utterly beautiful and amazing this castle is!

Never judge a book by its cover!

Highly recommend this castle, do the tour and slowly check out the interior and really enjoy the colours and detailings – utterly gorgeous!