I have been to Neuschwanstein multiple times during Summer and winter and it never disappoints. However, especially in summer, it gets extremely crowded and the tours are short and fairly rushed. You cannot take photos inside the castle so I have had to download some to give you a picture of what it’s like, and it is stunning well worth the visit and queues.
THE LOWDOWN
Neuschwanstein looks like the ultimate medieval fairy-tale castle, but here’s the catch: it isn’t medieval at all. King Ludwig II of Bavaria started building it in 1869 as his own romantic fantasy of a medieval knight’s castle, heavily inspired by German legends and the operas of Richard Wagner. Ludwig moved in during 1884, but the castle was still unfinished when he died in 1886. In fact, several planned sections were never built.
ROUND THE CASTLE
Ludwig wanted medieval romance without medieval plumbing. Behind all those towers and murals, Neuschwanstein was seriously high-tech for the 1880s: central heating, running water on every floor, automatic-flushing toilets, electric servant bells, telephones and even a lift for bringing up meals. Inside, things get wonderfully eccentric — there’s a man-made grotto complete with artificial stalactites that originally had coloured lighting and a waterfall, while the enormous Throne Hall was built around a modern steel structure. Ironically, the one thing missing from the Throne Hall is an actual throne: Ludwig died before the castle was completed.
THE LITTLE TITBIT
Ludwig built Neuschwanstein partly to escape other people and intended his private retreat to remain closed to outsiders. That plan went spectacularly wrong. He died mysteriously in Lake Starnberg on 13 June 1886 after being deposed and declared mentally unfit to rule; just weeks later, his private sanctuary was thrown open to paying visitors. Today around 1.4 million people a year wander through the castle of a man who increasingly wanted to be left alone. Poor Ludwig would probably be absolutely horrified.
