Castle swan lake in bavaria. What secrets does the "swan" castle keep? What to see near Neuschwanstein Castle

There are many attractions in Germany. But Neuschwanstein Castle especially attracts tourists: everyone dreams of coming here and seeing the inimitable beauty of the miracle of medieval architecture.

Neuschwanstein verbatim from German language translated into Russian as "New Swan Rock". The fabulous beauty of the area where the beautiful building is located, matches its magical appearance. The castle stands majestically on a hill a little over 1 km high, the Bavarian Alps with highest mountain Germany Zugspitze (2964 m). Neuschwanstein adorns the terrain of the Bavarian Alps (Bavaria is the largest federal state in the south of Germany). And, standing on the mound, you can endlessly admire the most beautiful landscapes. The city of Füssen and the Hohenschwangau valley are visible from the windows of the pale. Lakes Alpsee and Schwansee (Alpine and Swan) are the appropriate surroundings of an unimaginably beautiful building, beautiful at any time of the year. And tourists, who come here annually up to 1.3 million, can verify this. Moreover, the climate in the south of Bavaria is temperate continental. The weather is due to the location of this part of the land at an altitude of 800 - 1200 m above the sea line. The summer temperature here reaches +26 °С, in winter the thermometer stubbornly does not want to show below -2 °С.

For real fairytale castle Neuschwanstein appeared here at the initiative of the Bavarian monarch Ludwig II. He dreamed of erecting a large-scale structure in accordance with his romantic concepts and fantastic views. And, without knowing it, he left a monument to the descendants of the divine charm: Neuschwanstein Castle was included in the list of the 10 most magnificent such structures. Moreover, its exterior and interior are equally impressive with luxury and elegance.

The halls of the fortress are the design embodiment of the operatic works of the German composer Richard Wagner and the heroic deeds of the brave men of German mythology. Architectural and artistic styles are wonderfully intertwined with Moorish, Gothic and Baroque details. Visitors are greeted by columns in the form of stalactites, the Throne nave with Byzantine features, the Singing Hall with elegantly designed lighting (performances based on the composer's operas were staged in this room). At the same time, water supply with hot and cold water was laid into the building. cold water, and the building was heated in the same way as the current houses. It turns out that the crowned Bavaria became an innovative ruler who was ahead of his era.

Life principles of Ludwig II

Once uttered the words: "I want to always remain a secret, both for myself and for others" became symbolic for the future anointed of Bavaria (reigned 1864-1886). The phrase once said to the governess turned out to be a wish come true for the crown prince. Misunderstood during his lifetime, he died under mysterious circumstances. Passions around his quirks did not subside even after his death. Tourists who have visited the royal castle of Neuschwanstein are now ready to accept the version that is closer in perception. Someone sees the tragedy of a lonely romantic, someone prefers to dwell on the hallucinations of a madman, and someone sees the behavior of a monarch as a trivial eccentricity of a plutocrat.

Even as a child, the future sovereign of Bavaria looked like a child immersed in himself, in his dreams and fantasies. His childhood years were spent in the family castle of Hohenschwangau, restored in the Gothic style by father Maximilian II of Bavaria, where another palace, Schwanstein, destroyed by that time, had previously stood. The names of all buildings contain the word "schwan", which means "swan". The graceful bird was the heraldic feathered bird of the old county family of Schwangau: the sovereign Maximilian II considered himself one of his successors and placed frescoes with scenes from medieval legends and Minnesinger novels on the new fortress. So Maximilian II brought together poetic antiquity with a real local custom. It was in Hohenschwangau that Ludwig II joined the world of beliefs, the main one in which is the knight of the Swan Lohengrin. Later, the autocrat of Bavaria likened himself to this hero: he faithfully honored German mythology, being impressionable and romantic.

Ludwig enthusiastically accepted the premiere operatic debut of R. Wagner in 1858. While still a boy, the prince was in awe of the composer, whose work he perceived like fairy tales. Becoming a sovereign at the age of 18, he called R. Wagner to Munich. The musician was in a state of the most difficult financial situation. The young monarch made payments on all the debt obligations of the writer, allowed him to be included in his environment, and also entrusted the composer with the largest opera theater. The tsar was captivated by the themes of Wagner's works, in writing which the musician relied on chivalric romances and German myths. Wagner enthusiastically embodied everything that happens in the world of myths and legends on the stage.

Russian composer Tchaikovsky, according to some historians, was shocked by the spectacular and mysterious view of Neuschwanstein. This prompted him to create the plot and magnificent music for the ballet "Swan Lake".

And now the time has come when the romantic sovereign gave the order to begin the construction of a true ancient knight's castle. The crown bearer planned to decorate all the walls in it with plots from the operas of Wagner, idolized by him, and paintings with images taken from the myths of Germany.

In his message to Richard, the monarch spoke of his intention to revive the former royal majesty in a structure that would look like old fortress German knights. The Bavarian ruler wanted the location of the proposed building to be the most beautiful, and hoped that after 3 years the Neuschwanstein castle could be inhabited. The monarch warned the musician that he intended to install him in the palace as a venerable tenant. The autocrat emphasized: the burg would be a sanctuary for a pious friend. It will become even more beautiful and cozier than the Hohenschwangau located below.

The anointed of God chose Mount Yugend as the place for the construction of the palazzo. In that picturesque corner on the site of the ruins of 2 small small forts, a fabulous building called the “New Castle of Hohenschwangau” was to appear (the name “Neuschwanstein” was given to it after the death of the king).

Thanks to the theater artists Georg Dolmann and Christian Jank, well-known at that time, the overall Neuschwanstein appeared before everyone in the form of scenery for a fairy-tale performance. Its construction has been carried out since 1869 under the vigilant control of the monarch. The royal mother grumbled about her son's undertaking, the Landtag constantly sought to reduce funding for this large-scale project. But in vain: the sovereign, with perseverance, worthy of praise, did everything to ensure that his fantasies came true. Moreover, he became the only tenant of the still unfinished monastery, turning himself into a hermit.

Construction of Neuschwanstein Castle

The foundation stone was laid in the first autumn month of 1869. However, it immediately became clear that the planned 3-year period for construction would have to be postponed: the grandiose building could not be erected so quickly. The vastness of the project and the site on the mountain created incredible difficulties. Ludwig, who moved in immediately after the construction of the gates and the first gatehouses, had to live for many years in the beautiful fort that was still being built. The complexity also appeared due to the fact that the monarch, who retired from the outside world, constantly made changes to the project. The king ordered to turn the guest rooms into a “Moorish Hall” with a fountain (this idea was never implemented). The "Letter Room" in 1880, as a result, acquired the size of a small grotto. The uncomplicated "Reception Hall" in the final version appeared before the monarch in the Throne Room. The palace more and more lost its purpose - to be a place for receptions and guests, and more and more became like a monument to royal majesty and the likeness of the famous castle of Montsalvat with the Grail.

Since 1875, the crowned man has been practically leading nightlife: goes at night for walks in the mountains, sitting in a carriage or sleigh, which are created using new technologies. Often the monarch changed clothes for such exercise in historical clothes. The reincarnation was also supported by private performances in the family castle. The only spectator of opera and theatrical performances was the crowned bearer.

Innovator King

According to the idea of ​​the hermit-monarch, Neuschwanstein Castle was to become an example of a medieval castle building, but comfortable for living through the use of new technologies. Palace rooms were heated by the use of hot air central heating. Running water was available on every floor, both hot and cold water was supplied to the cooker, and the toilets were equipped with automatic flushing. The king called the servants and adjutants with an electric bell. And on the third and fourth floors there were telephone sets. Food was served from the kitchen to the refectory on a lift. New machinery was used in the construction, such as cranes powered by steam engines. The architects who designed Neuschwanstein also did their best: such large windows were very rare during the reign of the sovereign of Bavaria.

Death of Ludwig II of Bavaria

The king did everything to make his family and society consider him strange: he stopped doing state affairs, did not want to marry in order to leave descendants behind him, was known as a biryuk. At first, everything was attributed to the youth and inexperience of the monarch. However, over the years, the symptoms of mental illness were visible to the naked eye. As a result, in June 1886, psychiatrists officially recognized the king as insane. And 3 days later, Ludwig and his personal doctor went for a walk and did not return. Soon they were found lifeless in the Starnbergsee lake. What happened has not yet been established. In the place where they found the unfortunate king, a cross was erected. However, there is no doubt that the castles he built, and especially Neuschwanstein, became a real monument in memory of Ludwig II of Bavaria.

The construction of the Neuschwanstein Castle required a huge amount of money for that time - 6 million gold marks. Therefore, in order to partly cover the costs, those who wished were allowed in here, as soon as they learned about the death of the autocrat.

Neuschwanstein Castle Interiors: Design and Decor

The throne room is the idea of ​​Eduard Ille and Julius Hoffmann. The blue-glowing dome of the ceiling of the room has become the place where Christ sits, surrounded by Mary and Johannes, as well as the canonized holy kings: Casimir and Stefan, Henry and Ferdinand, Edward and St. Louis. At the forefront is a precious candlestick for 96 candles, made of copper with gilding in the form of a Byzantine crown. The weight of the candelabra reaches 18 centners. The mosaic floor, created by the Viennese master Dermont, looks like a pastiche of flora and fauna. The throne room is crowned with a semicircle of gilded apse. Steps (9 of them) white marble Carrara are framed with images of the 12 apostles and lead to the podium. There was supposed to be a golden throne with the inclusion of ivory elements. But, unfortunately, it remained so only in the project.

Singing Hall - central room at Neuschwanstein Castle. The most significant in size, with a high ceiling and luxurious decoration, the hall impresses with countless elements in the murals. The plots of the frescoes with the participation of Parsifal tell of a young man who went from a naive idea of ​​knights to their idealization. Parsifal also had to learn about love leading to communion from the Holy Grail. The apogee of the legend is the moment when the young man comes to the Holy Grail. The scene of the meeting of Parsifal with the sacred Chalice became the main one on the largest canvas of the Hall of Singers.

The master's bedroom in neo-Gothic design fascinates with carved decor and high relief. 4.5 years 14 carving masters carved jewelry. The paintings mainly depict episodes from the life of Tristan and Isolde: the heroes of the German epic touched the deep strings of the soul of the 20-year-old anointed of God. Through the window opening of the bedroom balcony you can see the amazing Pellata Canyon, into which a waterfall rushes its stream from a 45-meter height.

The bedroom communicates with a small prayer room of the autocrat. She appeared in memory of St. Louis, King Louis of France: Ludwig honored this sovereign. In the painted lancet vault there is an incised folding altar, decorated with exquisite carvings.

Organizers Disneyland Paris, seeing the castle, decided to take advantage of its fabulous exterior. And they embodied this in an amusement park by building the Sleeping Beauty Palace.

The royally decorated living room greets visitors with a bay window located in front at the so-called "swan" angle. The main theme for the design was the image of the swan knight Lohengrin (Ludwig II was unusually devoted to him). In the creation of large panels, the handwriting of the painters Gauschild and von Haeckel can be traced. The paintings reproduce the plots of the legend of Lohengrin. These are the Miracle of the Grail and the Arrival of Lohengrin in Antwerp. The swan theme can be seen in the patterned decor of the wooden panels, and in the gold embroidery of the curtains and silk drapery.

The kitchen (dining room) of the castle is lined with oak paneling, which houses the paintings of Ferdinand Riloti and Joseph Aigner.

In the study, the eye is attracted by the tabletop in thick green silk with gold embroidery. Curtains are sewn from the same material. They were made by women of the villages of Bavaria for more than one year. Sketches of embroidery were made by famous artists and the most crowned person. The office and the home chapel were separated by a partition in the form of screens decorated with embroidery. The crowned Bavaria, as a zealous Catholic, devoted many hours to prayers, strictly adhered to fasts, and often meditated.

Writing accessories - to match everything in the office: their sophistication is achieved by using gold, ivory and natural stones. And everywhere there are swan images.

Rumors around the castle.

Rumor claims that during the days of Nazi Germany, one of the "ideological" garrisons of the 3rd Reich was quartered in the chambers. Soldiers were instructed to study the occult, the Nibelungs, the runes and the foundations of the Germanic spirit. However, even the Nazis, who are ruthless with people of non-traditional sexual orientation, agreed with the statement that the romantic worldview of the king prevails over all his vices.

Another rumor concerns World War II. It is believed that during this period, part of the gold of the Reichsbank was preserved in the Neuschwanstein castle, which was taken away to no one knows where in the final war days. He may have been drowned in the nearby Alat Lake. The palace also kept stolen jewelry, paintings and furniture collections - they were to be transferred to Hitler for personal use.

How to get to Neuschwanstein Castle

Get here by train from Munich. Having bought a ticket to Fussen in the machine, they get into the car and go to the Bukhloe station, where they transfer to the train, which takes them to the final stop. The journey will take approximately 2 hours. Then they change to a bus (taxi) and after 8 minutes. arrive in the village of Hohenschwangau with the castle of the same name. His office sells tickets to both castles. You can climb to Neuschwanstein Castle on foot in 40 minutes, by bus or by carriage.

You can visit Neuschwanstein daily, with the exception of Christmas days. Opening hours: 9.00 - 18.00 in summer and 10.00 - 16.00 in winter. The ticket will cost 9 €.

You can get acquainted with the palace only as part of an excursion group. Each tour starts 5 minutes after the previous one. The guide will narrate in German and English alternately. The story begins with the automatic activation of the audio guide (the buttons light up). Tourists who have ascended to the 4th floor are met by a guide, who in the halls of the palace will turn on the audio guide on his own, therefore
buttons will not light up.

It is forbidden to enter the territory and inside the Neuschwanstein Castle with dimensional objects ( travel bags, wheelchairs). Photography is also prohibited. Those who stay more than 25 minutes after the tour can listen to Wagner's music at concerts that are held here all the time.

Since 1970, Neuschwanstein Castle has hosted the Wagner Festival every September. It plays the classical music of the adored composer, adored by Ludwig II.

What to see near Neuschwanstein Castle

Near the castle, a suspension bridge stretched over a 90-meter abyss. His anointed of God named after his mother, Queen Mary, Princess of Prussia. Instead of a wooden one, in 1866 a metal viaduct was thrown over. Tourists who have climbed it have the opportunity to admire the magnificent panorama of the fairy-tale fortress.

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Basic moments

Slender, soaring Neuschwanstein is located near the town of Füssen and Hohenschwangau Castle in southern Germany, near the border with Austria. The white-stone building with patterned windows is crowned with graceful pointed turrets with loopholes and arched balconies. Neuschwanstein Castle fits perfectly into the surrounding Alpine landscape. From afar, it looks like a theatrical scenery. The architectural concept belonged to Ludwig II. He began building it in September 1869." The most beautiful place of all that can be found, the king wrote to Wagner. “Here I will build a castle in the style of the old German knightly fortresses.” Six months before his death, the king moved to an unfinished castle.

There is no militancy in Neuschwanstein. This is a fortified palace. Not for war, but for lofty dreams and beautiful music. On the walls and tapestries, in the design of furniture, the interior of stairs and passages, on the ceilings, images of swans prevail - drawn, stone, wooden, metal. The wall paintings in many of the rooms are based on Wagner's operas Tristan and Isolde, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Parsifal and Tannhäuser. 12 luxurious halls of the royal chambers are open for inspection.

The castle was designed by Christian Junk. Neuschwanstein is located near Hohenschwangau, where Ludwig grew up. Its bizarre outlines are so beautiful that it was he who suggested to Walt Disney the look of Cinderella's castle, which later became the company's logo.

Ludwig was removed from power even before the completion of the construction of the castle, and the palace after mysterious death King in 1886 was opened to visitors.

What to see

Neuschwanstein - the embodiment of the spirit of romanticism of the XIX century. The castle is high up and can only be reached by a winding road from the valley below. There are many medieval details here - narrow spiral staircases, many towers and turrets - combined with advanced engineering achievements: air heating, plumbing on all floors and toilets with automatic flushing.

The length of the site on which Neuschwanstein Castle stands is 130 m, total area of all premises is almost 60 thousand square meters. m. The height of the main tower is 80 m, the square tower is 48 m, the main building is 57 m. The construction cost 6 million 180 thousand gold marks.

After 17 years of construction, only 14 out of 360 rooms were completed before the death of King Ludwig, but even for them it is worth visiting the castle.

On the ground floor of Neuschwanstein are the servants' quarters and the palace kitchen. The royal staircase leads to the fourth floor of the palace, where the Throne Room and the royal chambers (bedroom, dining room, home chapel, study, living room) are located opposite each other. Between them are the valet and adjutant rooms. In the design of the Throne Hall, elements of the Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia are visible. hall recalls Orthodox church with the firmament of the dome and the faces of the saints. Its ceiling is studded with golden stars on a green background. A huge gilded bronze chandelier in the shape of a royal crown weighs more than 1.5 tons and is designed for 96 candles. Nine steps of a staircase made of Carrara marble lead to the platform where the royal throne should have stood. It was never made, because the king passed away. Above the platform in a golden dome - Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist surrounded by angels. Below them, between green palms, are images of six canonized European monarchs. Royal power comes from God - the main motive of the composition.

The living room is the largest room in the royal apartments. Four columns highlight the Swan Corner in it, where the king liked to read alone. Colorful panels depict scenes from the Lohengrin saga. A painting on the theme of the Holy Grail is filled with warm light.

The throne room of Neuschwanstein Castle is decorated in an exquisite Byzantine style, inspired by the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. The architects envisioned a two-tier throne room with columns made of imitation porphyry and lapis lazuli.

The walls of the office are finished with bog oak with skillful carvings and fine chasing. Fourteen of the best craftsmen in Germany have been engaged in woodworking for more than four years when decorating the royal bedroom. From the window opens beautiful view to the Pellat gorge and the waterfall. Here, on June 11, 1886, Ludwig II was deposed.

The royal chapel is designed in elegant neo gothic style. Saint Louis IX, canonized in 1297, is depicted in the center of the three-leaved altar. Paintings from the life of the German troubadours Walter von der Vogelweide and Hans Sachs are mounted in the oak panels of the royal dressing room.

The Neuschwanstein Song Hall has the same massive dark wood trapezoid ceiling as the Wartburg Castle's Party Hall. But instead of the frozen images of the German kings, colorful paintings on the motifs of the legend of Parsifal and the legend of Tannhäuser are mounted in the wooden panels covered with golden ornaments between the windows. The singing hall is the largest in the castle.

The royal dining room of Neuschwanstein Castle is small. Ludwig preferred to dine alone. The order was written on the table, it went down with the help of a manual elevator three floors lower to the kitchen and rose already, respectively, with the dishes covered.

Higher in the mountains, a suspension bridge is thrown over the gorge. Below it is a 45-meter waterfall. From here opens the most best view the mountains surrounding the castle.

Information for tourists

Today Neuschwanstein Castle is open as a museum. An adult ticket costs 12 euros, a reduced ticket costs 11 euros. Tourists are delivered to Neuschwanstein along the serpentine road by horse teams, but you can also climb on foot.

Neuschwanstein is open to the public from April to September 9.00-18.00, Thu 9.00-20.00, from October to March from 10.00-16.00. For Christmas and New Year the entrance is closed.

Visits are only possible with excursion groups. You can take a player-audio guide in Russian.

Be sure to pick up something for your desktop :-)

Seven weeks after the death of King Ludwig II in 1886, Neuschwanstein Castle was opened to the public. The humble king built the castle in the hope of hiding from public life, and now crowds of people came to look at his refuge.

Today, Neuschwanstein is one of the most famous castles and palaces in Europe. Every year, about 1.2 million tourists come to see the "castle of the fairytale king." During the summer, about 6,000 visitors a day rush through halls that were once reserved for just one resident.

It would be difficult to think of a place more suitable for the location of the castle, however, you need to constantly monitor the movements in the area of ​​​​the castle foundation, and the sheer rocky walls need to be periodically strengthened. The harsh climate is also damaging the limestone façades, which need to be restored piece by piece over the next few years.

Neuschwanstein Castle (German) Schloss Neuschwanstein, literally: "New Swan Rock") is a 19th-century castle near the town of Füssen and Hohenschwangau Castle in southwestern Bavaria, near the Austrian border.

As we already know, Ludwig II began the construction of three palaces - Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee And Linderhof, however, only Linderhof was completed during his lifetime. It is worth noting that Neuschwanstein is called a “castle” in vain, in fact it never was, since it never had a defensive value. Neuschwanstein is a whim of the king, who was fascinated by the music of Wagner and built this castle-palace for his beloved composer in the spirit of his works, for which the castle serves as some kind of illustration or theater stage.

Clickable 5000 px, panorama

“I decided to rebuild the old castle. Its architectural style will reproduce the original German knight's castles. Its location is one of the most beautiful you can find. The castle will be sacred and impregnable. The singing hall, from where a general view of the castle opens, will remind you of the Tannhäuser saga, and the courtyard and the chapel will remind you of a song about Lohengrin. This building will be more majestic than the lower castle of Hohenschwangau. Here we will feel the divine breath of heaven, ”the King of Bavaria Ludwig II will write to Richard Wagner about the idea of ​​​​building Neuschwanstein.

Ludwig II decided to build his first castle in his native places since childhood, on top of a cliff in the neighborhood of Hohenschwangau. In total, there were four fortresses on this territory that protected the road to Tyrol. The best preserved castle is Schwanstein, which was rebuilt by Maximilian II in Hohenschwangau. Further west were the ruins of the Frauenstein, which Maximilian decided to keep intact as a monument. Two more castles - Vorderhohenschwangau and Hinderhohenschwangau - remained in ruins to the east of Hohenschwangau. Ludwig called this place "the rock of youth". Initially, Ludwig planned a typical 19th-century restoration of both castles in the style of the 12th-13th centuries, based on the experience of Hohenschwangau. The first sketches of New Schwangau differed significantly from the final version of the castle. The projects involved the unification of two castles into a single ensemble. Vorderschwangau in this case became the main tower of the castle, and Hinterschwangau was transformed into the main building. However, a number of circumstances changed the original idea.

Ludwig II

To create a project for the future castle, Ludwig II invites an architect Eduard Riedel who had previously rebuilt Berg Castle for Ludwig's father. Also, a theater artist is involved in the development of the appearance of Neuschwanstein Christian Yank, which embodies the ideas of Riedel in a picturesque and graphic form, in order to provide the customer with the most full impression about the project. Yank was considered an expert in medieval fortresses, after he created the scenery of the "fortress on the Rhine" for the ball of the Art Union "Jung-Munich", made in a romantic way. To create the Neuschwanstein plan, Riedel and Jank, as well as Ludwig, went to the Wartburg for inspiration. Yank provided several sketches of the future castle. the first of them showed a desire for fanatical and Gothic forms, but after the king's revision, they acquired a calmer Romanesque outline.

Work on the future masterpiece of architecture began in the summer of 1868. In order to lay the foundation, it was necessary to blow up about eight meters of rock. In June 1869, the access road was completed. The first stone was laid on September 5, 1869, along with the building plan, portraits of King Ludwig II and coins from the era of his reign.

During the construction of the castle, the most modern technologies at that time were used. Advanced technology was involved in the construction. For example, in order to facilitate the transportation of materials to the construction site, a steam crane was built in the western part of it. For the same purposes, locomobiles were used - mobile steam engines, prototypes of cars. They were in charge of the “Bavarian Audit Commission for steam boilers". In addition, the latest achievements of technology were installed in the building itself, being invisible to the viewer. Among them are plumbing installed on each floor, central steam heating, electric telephone system, etc. All this functioned during the life of Ludwig II, and ensured a comfortable stay of the king in the castle.

It is difficult to imagine what problems one had to face then and how much building material was required. The cement manufacturer alone, Jakob Lang of Schongau, supplied no less than 9,000 quintals of cement in 1872. In the same year, Unhoh supplied 184,500 liters of lime. For 1879/80. there are statistics on the use of building material: 9,300 centners of marble from Salzburg, 91,000 centners of Nurthing sandstone, 400,000 bricks, 3,600 cubic meters of sand, 12,000 centners of cement, 1,000 centners of charcoal, 2,050 cubic meters of boards (for scaffolding). Sandstone for the portal and bay window was brought from Nürtingen, Württemberg. For windows, arches, columns and capitals, marble from Salzburg was used. A huge amount of building material was lifted from the west side of the building in trolleys using a steam-powered crane. They were delivered and installed in the right place using a special system of lifting blocks. Construction machines were already tested annually for safety and reliability by the "Bavarian Steam Boiler Audit Committee", from which today's Technical Supervisory Association (TUV) emerged. In 1880, 209 carpenters, masons and auxiliary workers were employed at the construction site.

After the death of the king (in 1886), all construction work was suspended. The third floor of the castle and the knight's quarters were not completed. main tower the castle with a church, 90 m high, which was supposed to rise above all the buildings, was not built at all. The western terrace, which was supposed to lead to the unfinished bath, was not finished either.

When the foundation stone of the castle was laid, the kingdom of Bavaria had already lost its sovereignty, and the fantasy of the young king found solace in insulted pride in visions of a fantastic new kingdom, where Ludwig was one hundred percent sovereign. The dream castle was built as the embodiment of the dreams of the monarch, so even the Munich theater artist Christian Jank was appointed the chief architect.

The king, with youthful passion, devoted himself entirely to construction. Despite this, the construction of the castle progressed far from as fast as the Bavarian dreamer saw it. The fact is that building such an architecturally and communicationally complex structure in a mountainous alpine area was a very difficult task. People worked day and night, but still did not keep up with the ruler's flight of fancy, who, moreover, constantly revised the project, in order to please the visions that visited him again. As a result, for example, a fairly modest reception room turned into a pompous Throne Room.

Completely immersed in the world of his sweet dreams, Ludwig increasingly lost touch with reality. The leadership of the Bavarian lands was left to chance, the king increasingly committed rash and inexplicable, from the point of view of common sense, actions, which resulted in natural and deplorable consequences for the sovereign. In 1886, after a psychiatric examination, the king was declared insane. Soon, under mysterious circumstances, while boating in Lake Starnberg, the deposed monarch, along with the psychiatrist who concluded his incapacity, drowned. As they say, ends in the water.

The construction of Neuschwanstein at that time was in full swing. The craftsmen began the construction of the donjon - the main castle tower. After the death of Ludwig, the construction of the century was hastily curtailed, and already seven weeks after his death, the castle was opened to the public. However, sluggish construction continued almost until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1891, the grandiose romantic project was finally declared completed and immediately acquired the status of a national treasure.

Clickable

Neuschwanstein Castle is a symbiosis of three different, in terms of use, parts: this is the central building of the castle - the Palace and the wings extending from it. The left one is called the Kemenate Building (the entrance to the castle), the right one is the House of the Knights. The interior decoration of the grandiose building is made in an incredible mixture and variety of styles belonging to different time periods. Moorish, Gothic and, at the same time, Baroque elements coexist in the rooms, but, oddly enough, there is no feeling of a tasteless eclectic mishmash. The stalactite columns of the artificial grotto, inscribed in the general architecture of the structure, the decadent decor of the Byzantine style of the Throne Hall, in which the throne was never installed, the exquisite and at the same time quite powerful lighting of the singing hall - a kind of castle theater designed to stage Wagner's romantic works. In total, the castle has about 360 rooms and halls, but since the construction was not completed in full, the final decoration was carried out only in some of them.

The interior decoration of the already mentioned Hall of Singers is striking, the walls of which are decorated with frescoes based on the opera of the beloved composer Ludwig II - Wagner, "Tannhäuser". The central, largest fresco immortalized the knight of Parsifal at the moment when he first saw the Holy Grail. The luxurious patterned ceiling of the hall is decorated with wooden panels with images of the signs of the Zodiac on them. Both the ceiling, the walls, and the Singing Arcade of the building are also decorated with rich ornamental painting. Currently, the Hall of Singers hosts classical music concerts. This hall occupies the entire fourth floor of the five-story Palace.

Directly below it, on the third floor, there is an artificial inclusion of a man-made wildlife, which should have been surprising to visitors - a cave with stalactites and stalagmites located inside the castle. Initially, to enliven the interior and make it more like nature, a real cascade of water beat here. Nowadays, the water supply system is either broken or turned off, there are no more fountains or waterfalls in the grotto.

Another, leaving a rich impression on tourists, the premises of the third floor are the bedroom and the personal chapel of the king. Both of them are made in the Gothic style, and the bedroom houses, perhaps, the main attraction of the castle - the carved bed of the owner of the apartment. In order to imagine its luxury and magnificence of patterned painting, it is enough to say that 14 woodcarvers worked non-stop on the manufacture of this structure for 4.5 years. The walls of the bedroom are hung with paintings on the theme of the life of Tristan and Isolde - legendary lovers from medieval European legends. There is also an opera of the same name by Richard Wagner, which at one time made a great impression on the romantic soul of Ludwig.

The king's personal chapel adjoins his bedroom. It is dedicated to the owner's guardian angel - the canonized French king Louis the Saint, after whom the Bavarian monarch was named. Noteworthy is the richly decorated folding altar embedded in the painted lancet vault.

The Neuschwanstein throne room was designed by the architects Eduard Ille and Julius Hoffmann in the style of Byzantine satiated luxury. Long rows of columns run through the entire two-tiered hall with decorations made of imitation porphyry and lapis lazuli. The room ends with a semicircular gilded apse - the location of the royal throne. Nine marble steps lead to the foot of the platform, on which the throne, decorated with gold and ivory, was supposed to be located. History ordered otherwise - the monarch died before the symbol of power was made and installed in the place intended for him.

The dome of the apse is decorated with paintings on theological themes. Here Jesus Christ is depicted surrounded by the Mother of God Mary and the Apostle John, and below are the figures of kings canonized as saints, among which is the already mentioned heavenly patron of Ludwig - Louis of France. The interior is complemented by a majestic chandelier, made in the form of a Byzantine crown. The chandelier is made of gilded copper, designed for 96 candles and weighs almost 2 tons - 18 centners.

Another fully completed building of the castle was the royal kitchen located on the ground floor. Despite the stylization of the Middle Ages, the castle was engineered with the latest technology of the 19th century. Excellent water supply and drainage systems were installed here, and the air heating system was advanced for its time. Water for castle needs was delivered from a source located two hundred meters above, and entered the premises, as in the famous fountains of Petrodvorets, by gravity, using the principle of communicating vessels. Returning to the kitchen, it should be noted that water was not just supplied here, but was divided into cold and hot. The kitchen is equipped not only with stoves, ovens and braziers for cooking, but also with a specially designed mechanism, the function of which was to serve cooked dishes to the royal dining room, so as not to distract His Majesty with the flickering of servants from lofty thoughts. The dining room itself is decorated with oak panels, and the walls are hung with paintings by artists Ferdinand Riloti and Joseph Aigner depicting scenes from the legendary Minnesinger song contest in the Wartburg in 1207.

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The architects of Neuschwanstein perfectly managed to fulfill one of the cornerstone tasks of architecture - to tie the building to the surrounding area, to fit a detached castle into the nature of Upper Bavaria. Perched on a lonely cliff with steep slopes, Neuschwanstein looks what it should seem - an impregnable medieval defensive structure. The castle windows offer an incredibly picturesque view of the Hohenschwangau valley, which Ludwig planned to improve by building another pseudo-old castle higher in the mountains, the purpose of which was to make the view from Neuschwanstein even more picturesque. Unfortunately, these plans were not destined to come true.

The inner courtyard of the castle is magnificent park local vegetation, where even an artificial cave was made to amuse the guests.

Neuschwanstein became a place of public visit and landmark in Bavaria as early as the 19th century. Since then, the flow of tourists to the building, which was intended by the customer for solitary dreams and escape from the realities of the world, has been increasing year by year. More than 1.3 million tourists visit the castle every year. According to this indicator, the "Swan Stone" is second only to the Parisian eiffel tower. The influx of visitors is especially high in summer time when about 6,000 visitors a day pass through the bedroom of a single dreamer.

The inaccessibility and secluded location made Neuschwanstein attractive for its utilitarian use by Nazi Germany. Here, at the end of the Second World War, the gold reserves of the Reichsbank were located, which later disappeared in an unknown direction. A personal collection of jewelry, works of art and furniture, selected by Adolf Hitler from the general mass of valuables taken out by the invaders from Europe, was also kept here.

It is interesting that it was the appearance of Neuschwanstein that inspired Walt Disney to create the residence of Sleeping Beauty - the Fairy Kingdom from the cartoon of the same name. That's why appearance most famous castle Bavaria is well known even to the smallest Russians who have never been to Germany - the central image of the Disney Hour on our television is Neuschwanstein.

The German government is attentive to current state national treasure. At the end of the 20th century, more than 11 million euros were spent from the state budget for a large-scale reconstruction. Restoration work, by the way, does not stop until now - tourists regularly survey one or another part of the castle in the scaffolding. But this, of course, cannot spoil the impression of visiting the most significant attraction of these places - Neuschwanstein Castle.

The castle is currently a museum. Visiting is possible only as part of a group (at the same time, automatic audio guides are issued in various languages, including Russian). To visit the castle, you need to buy a ticket at the ticket center (the desired time can be agreed on the website of the center) and go up to the castle by bus, as well as on foot or in a horse carriage. The only person who "lives" in the castle on this moment and is its guardian, is the watchman.

"I want to remain in people's memory as an eternal mystery..." the king said, so it happened,
after his mysterious death, people made up legends. And now there is no complete information about death
king, it is known that they found two bodies on the banks of the river - the king and his attending physician.

Prince Ludwig was born on the same day that Louis IX, King of France, founder of the House of Bourbon, ascended the throne. The godfather of Ludwig II was Louis XVI, these friendly relations were maintained throughout the life of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. When the prince was 16 years old, an event occurred in his life that determined his fate, in 1861 he attended Wagner's opera Lohengrin. Wagner's music shocked him, since then he has become a passionate admirer of Wagner and a collector of his works. After his coronation, he arranged a meeting with Wagner. In Munich, Wagner was not loved for his revolutionary past, and under pressure from the people, Ludwig was forced to ask Wagner to leave Munich, but their friendship did not end there.

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In 1869, Ludwig laid the first stone on the site of an ancient fortress on the slopes of the Alps. The Bavarian Neuschwanstein Castle was built in the form of medieval castle with a fortress wall, towers and passages and looked very beautiful against the backdrop of the park. Its construction took 17 years, but was never completed. By an evil twist of fate, Ludwig II experienced the greatest humiliation of his life in this romantic castle. In 1886, he suffered a huge disappointment in his life - the war with Prussia did not bring the desired results, but only huge losses and debts.

Rampant construction and the funds spent on it did not contribute to the popularity of the once adored monarch. He poured his own annual income of 5.5 million marks into his projects and dug deep into the public pocket. By the time of Ludwig's death, his debt to the state was 21 million marks. The wealth of the country, acquired over 800 years by many generations of Bavarian monarchs, was wasted in just 20 years.

As a result of the conspiracy, Ludwig was declared legally incompetent, power was transferred to the reins of his uncle Lutpold. The king himself refused to recognize his incapacity, based on the fact that the doctor who made such a conclusion was never his doctor. Ludwig II was taken to the Berg Palace, where the next day he was found dead on Lake Starnberg under mysterious circumstances, along with the attending physician, who concluded that he was incapacitated.

], literally: "New swan stone (cliff)") - romantic bavarian king's castle Ludwig II near the town Füssen and castle Hohenschwangau in the southwestern Bavaria, close to Austrian borders. One of the most popular tourist destinations in southern Germany.

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Construction

Neuschwanstein Castle stands on the site of two fortresses, front and back Schwangau, at the time of the start of work lying in ruins. King Ludwig II ordered at this place to lower the plateau by about 8 m by blasting the rock and thereby create a place for the construction " fairytale palace". After the construction of the road and the laying of the pipeline, on September 5, 1869, the first stone was laid for the construction of a huge castle. It was entrusted to the court architect Eduard Riedel. The Munich master Christian Jank embodied his plans in artistic forms, the so-called. "Veduta" (paintings). The king insisted on the personal approval of each drawing, and his participation in the development was so significant that the castle began to be considered his personal creation.

In 1869-1873 the gates were built. The private quarters of the king on the 3rd floor, as well as comfortable rooms on the 2nd floor, contributed to the convenience of the entire building. Starting from 1873, construction work was carried out at a very intense pace, but a decade later it was not completed, and the king decided to move to the unfinished castle in 1884. A year later, the 60th birthday of Ludwig's mother Maria was celebrated in the castle. In total, the king lived in the castle for 172 days, and at the time of his death in June 1886, construction was still not completed.

Construction history

Sandstone for the portal and bay window was brought from Nürtingen, Württemberg. For windows, projections of the vault, columns and capitals, marble from under Salzburg.

A huge amount of building material was lifted from the west side of the building in trolleys using a steam-powered crane. They were delivered and installed in the right place using a special system of lifting blocks. Construction machines were already then checked annually for safety and reliability by the "Bavarian Steam Boiler Audit Committee", from which today's Association of Technical Supervision (TÜV).

In 1880, 209 carpenters were employed at the construction site, masons and auxiliary workers. After the death of the king in 1886, all construction work was suspended. At the time of the death of the king, the cost of the castle exceeded seven and a half million marks, while the initial cost of the entire project was 3.2 million. The king himself owed his creditors an even larger sum. Just six weeks after Ludwig's death, the incumbent regent decided to open the castle to paid visits in order to repay debts, as well as to gradually complete the project. For several years, the work was completed, but the plans of the king were not fully implemented: the knight's hall was not finally completed, the 90-meter tower with the church was not built at all, as well as several other rooms, and big park with terraces and a fountain to the west of the structure. Nevertheless, the castle turned out to be the main local attraction, by 1899 the debt was fully repaid, and from that moment Neuschwanstein became a stable source of income for the treasury, continuing to attract more and more tourists from all over the world to this day.

Interior decoration

Illustrations for Wagner's operas and old German legends play the main role in the interior of the castle. The swan motif is what permeates the entire architecture and artistic decorations of the castle. Swan - the heraldic bird of the old family of the counts of Schwangau - the father of Ludwig considered himself the successor of this family,