[ SUNDAY TRAVEL ]
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Neuschwanstein Castle, as seen in autumn, is one of three of Ludwig's spectacular castles in Fussen, Germany.
My wife has a thing for another man.
By David Swann
dswann@starbulletin.comGranted, he lived a long time ago in a land far, far away. Still, a crush is a crush, and these matters must be dealt with before they get out of hand. The solution? A trip to Europe, back to where it all started. But first, a bit of history.
Ten years ago, I offered to take my wife to Europe to see sights that aren't common in the United States: namely, ancient buildings and fairy-tale castles. Especially fairy-tale castles.
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Fourteen wood carvers spent 4-1/2 years creating King Ludwig II's Neo-Gothic bedroom in Neuschwanstein Castle.
Over the years she had talked about castles she had read about in American books when she was a child in Thailand, and I sensed she would really enjoy seeing some of those castles in real life, first person. As it turned out, I was right in ways I hadn't foreseen.
On a list of famous castles to see, one had always stood out in my mind from the pictures I had seen in books and magazines. In fact, the one I had in mind is one of the most famous in the world, familiar to people even if they had never heard of it. Walt Disney used it as a basis for the famous Sleeping Beauty's Castle at both his theme parks. How much more famous can you get?
The name of the castle is Neuschwanstein and it is located in southern Germany near the Austrian border. The name means "New swan place," the theme being built around, you guessed it, swans. Seems the man in question, "Mad" King Ludwig II, liked swans, especially the big white ones. But we're getting ahead of ourselves.
As our train approached the small town of Fussen, Germany, in May of 1992, my wife jumped to her feet and stared, transfixed at something in the distance. I asked her what she was looking at, but she didn't answer. She just pointed and her mouth fell open in shock.
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Tthe Tasso Room was the bedroom of King Maximilian II at Hohenschwangau Castle. At right, Neuschwanstein in the fading evening sun.
I peered out the train window and saw, on a hill above the town, the white spires of what looked like a genuine fairy-tale castle, standing tall among the snow-capped peaks of the German Alps. It was a stunning sight, the kind of thing that makes you believe, just for an instant, that you've been transported not to just another time, but also to another world.
Once we got off the train, my wife walked slowly toward the castle, transfixed as if sleepwalking. When she finally spoke, she said softly, "It's just like I imagined from the stories, but it's so beautiful I can't believe it." From then on, she was hooked on Neuschwanstein. But the thing that made it even more interesting was the amazing but tragic story of how the castle came to be.
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Neuschwanstein in the fading evening sun.
In 1864, Crown Prince Ludwig became King of Bavaria (the largest and southern-most region of Germany) at the tender age of 18. Ludwig was a sensitive and withdrawn youth who had become obsessed with the music of the famous composer Richard Wagner.
Wagner's work was grand and dramatic, and the romantic notions his music aroused in Ludwig had a profound effect on the young king. Ludwig's childhood had been emotionally lonely and now his taste for a fantasy life of a bygone age began to take form.
Ludwig had no interest in the mundane responsibilities of a king. After conflicting with the Munich court over a variety of issues, Ludwig began to slowly withdraw into a world where he could realize his childhood fantasies: the operatic works of Wagner and his glorified vision of the past.
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The richly decorated living room at Neuschwanstein Castle houses a large mural, "The Miracle of the Grail."
Ludwig's personal hero was Louis XIV of France, and the influence this French king had on Ludwig is obvious. In 1869, Ludwig began construction of Neuschwanstein and 17 years later, the castle was completed. Built on a piece of land called Swan Rock, the castle was conceived to be, in Ludwig's words, "in the style of the old German knightly fortresses ... The spot is one of the most beautiful that one could ever find."
Built in a Romanesque style, Neuschwanstein is the embodiment of a romantic, Medieval castle.
While Neuschwanstein was being built, Ludwig began another project. In 1870, he purchased land 25 miles away in the Graswang Valley for the site of Linderhof Castle. Completed in 1878, Linderhof was where Ludwig spent most of his time, due in large part to the fact that it was the first castle to be completed.
In 1873, Ludwig bought a small island on the Chiemsee Lake, 80 miles east of Neuschwanstein, for yet another castle, his most elaborate. Ludwig wanted to build a monument in honor of the absolute monarchy enjoyed by the French Kings. He would call this Herrenchiemsee Castle, his own version of the Hall of Versailles in France.
Herrenchiemsee Castle was more or less completed in 1881, but the interior is only partly finished.
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The throne room at Neuschwanstein is designed in the elaborate Byzantine style.
All the while, Ludwig was ignoring any actual work or responsibilities while he spent massive amounts of the state's money on lavish castles. This situation was noted within the government, and it was at this point that plans were laid to remove this lonely and isolated young man.
PART OF THE PROBLEM was that Ludwig did everything he could to stay away from any kind of reality. He slept during the day and crept around his castles at night, always alone.
He resisted the most basic functions of a king, one of which included marrying and producing offspring. It seems that Ludwig had no interest in women, and Germany in the 1870s was not exactly the ideal place to announce one's "alternate sexual preference."
At some point in the middle of the 1880s, the decision was made within the government to finally remove Ludwig from the throne. By declaring him "mad," the Munich court could easily and quietly get Ludwig out of the picture and restore some kind of real leadership to Bavaria.
Ludwig's personal doctor thereby declared Ludwig insane and unfit for his role as king. Sent away to an insane asylum in 1886 at Starnberger Lake near Munich, Ludwig had nothing to live for anymore and either drowned while attempting to escape or committed suicide by drowning himself. He was only 41.
Which brings us back to my wife's obsession with the "mad one." We recently made a return trip to Neuschwanstein, and having seen Ludwig's castle a second time, she seems a bit more content.
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Singers' Hall occupies the entire fourth floor of the castle.
Not that her interest in the castles and Ludwig have waned. Quite the contrary. She now has numerous books on the subject, not to mention many prints of his stunning castles. But after seconds, the urgency to see the castle again seems to have faded.
And perhaps more important, I have come to the conclusion that I have a slight edge in the fight for my wife's heart, since my competition is, at the very least, gay and dead. As for crazy, I guess one out of three ain't bad.
Neuschwanstein is located in the town of Fussen, 60 miles southwest of Munich. Fussen is easily accessible by train or car. Recommended hotel in Fussen: Altstadthotel zum Hechten, at $50 to $80 for two per night.
