Hohenschwangau Castle

Hohenschwangau Castle is situated near the famous Neuschwanstein Castle, which was built by King Ludwig II. Ludwig’s father Maximilian II by chance discovered a ruin on that spot, which had been known as “Schwanstein”). In 1833 Maximilian II commissioned his art teacher, the painter Domenico Quaglio, to reconstruct the castle ruin into a romantic castle. Originally the building was to be financed with 12,000 guilders, however the costs rose to more than 100,000 guilders. Quaglio complained frequently to Maximilian II that he was no longer able to sleep peacefully due to the rising costs. The painter was inexperienced in building construction, overexerted himself to the point of exhaustion and died shortly before the completion of the building in 1837. The royal family then used Hohenschwangau as a summer residence.

Quaglio himself called his building a “specimen of taste in the German style”). He didn’t only carry out the reconstruction, he also decorated the castle with Gothic elements in order to emphasize a romantic awareness of life. The painter Moritz von Schwind equipped the interior rooms with numerous wall paintings whose topics were related to each other. The rooms were named after the topics of the wall paintings and were meant to represent a journey into the past. The outer façade was given a bright yellow coat of paint and numerous decorative additions like balconies and window ornamentations.

In 1842 Maximilian II married Princess Marie of Prussia. When King Ludwig I abdicated in 1848, Maximilan II was crowned king. His son, Ludwig II, was three years old at the time. At the age of 19 he himself became King of Bavaria after his father’s death. His distinctive interest in legends and myths was probably already created in his childhood through the very romantic design of Hohenschwangau Castle. This interest played an important role in the building of all of Ludwig II’s castles. He had his famous Neuschwanstein Castle built in 1869 on a mountain opposite Hohenschwangau. In order to be able to observe the building, he had a telescope installed at a window of Hohenschwangau Castle, and it can still be seen today when having a tour through the castle.

In addition to Hohenschwangau, the following castles of Ludwig II are available as Schreiber Sheets: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Nymphenburg.