Hohenschwangau castle is not as popular as it’s neighboring castle, Neuschwanstein, but I actually really enjoyed this castle, maybe even more than the iconic Neuschwanstein.
I never really thought from the outside of Hohenschwangau that this castle looked attractive. It is painted an orangey-yellow, and reminds me of cheddar cheese. I guess I am not a fan of the yellow color for castles!
The inside of the castle was gorgeous, though.
It originated as a military fortress in the 1200s, and then was took over by the Austrians and used as their military castle. The castle fell to ruins before Maximillian II (Ludwig II’s father) found the location around the 1800s and rebuilt a summer and winter residence. He also lived with his brother, who was handicapped, and added an elevator for his brother. This castle was one of the first of its kind to use electricity.
The furnishings in the castle are all original, a lot of furniture is made of oak, and all is from the 1830s. You can even see the wheelchair used by Maximillian’s brother, who was the last to live in this castle until he passed away in 1913.
The castle had a type of family- or homey feel to me, perhaps because the walls were not as eccentricly decorated as in Neuschwanstein, but simply decorated. On each wall was a painting, as if it was framed, but it was actually painted directly onto the wall with egg tempera paints. This ensured that the colors of the painting would still be vibrant, but were quite sensitive to light, so the family established blue 2and white shades to protect the paintings. To this day, they look as if they were just painted yesterday. Maximillian wanted precision in his paintings, so several families were hired to do the paintings. Instead of having a family work on one painting at a time, the painters were divided into their specialties. Thus, one family painted all the horses in the different paintings in the castle, one painted the landscapes, another family painted the “frames”, and so forth.
Ludwig II took over this castle when his father passed away, and painted a night sky on the ceiling in his bedroom (his father’s old bedroom). This was cool because he used a petroleum lamp built into the ceiling from the floor above to give the appearance of “night stars.”
He also had a telescope brought in so he could monitor the work on his treasured Neuschwanstein from across the valley as it was being built.
In each room, there is a lovely wooden gothic trellis in woodwork in the ceiling, which is a nice addition to the castle, and reminds me of gothic churches.
Ludwig II was raised by a farm family until he was a teenager, from what it sounds like, and when his brother, Otto, was born, he came back to live at the castle. Otto was declared mentally unfit at a young age. When Ludwig II came back to live at the castle, he found his father quite strict, and his father also did not know how to talk to Ludwig II. He did not know what to talk about with a teenager. Ludwig II and his father started going on morning walks, but Maximillian II found it awkward, as he did not know what to chat about. His mother loved the children, but was also kind of cold.
When Ludwig II’s father suddenly died, Ludwig II could no longer pursue his dream of studying at the university and became king. He then had his own castle erected.
It is sad that Ludwig II had such a complicated family structure, and that he was forced into king duties. I wonder if he would have been happier if he had more of a choice in his destiny.
Check out our video of Hohenschwangau below!