Schloß (Palace) Neuschwanstein

Contents

This page is dedicated to the Schloß Neuschwanstein, built by Bavaria's König Ludwig II. This page may expand with more information and more pictures as I find or receive them.

1. A Brief History
2. Image Gallery
3. Miscellaneous Notes
4. Acknowledgments

The foundation stone for the castle was laid on September 5, 1869 at the behest of King Ludwig II. of Bayern (Bavaria, southern Germany.) Ludwig's personal desire for isolation reflected on his political attitude, which was not well-received with the Bavarian government. He was dethroned on June 8, 1886 on grounds of supposed insanity. The second attempt to arrest him succeeded four days later on the 12th. On the 13th he and his doctor were found dead in Lake Starnberg. Suicide? Murder? Assassination? The mystery was never solved.

``In ignorance of the true facts of the case, it is always stated that Ludwig II. had wasted the state's money and taxes for the building of his castles. It is even suggested that he brought the country to the edge of bankruptcy. However, the true facts are such that the King only used money from his own privy purse (that is, from his own personal fortune) and from the Civil List (his ``salary'' as Monarch of a country.)

As this money was not always sufficient, Ludwig II. worked on credit which, after his death, was paid back by his family. According to the main audit books of the Royal Cabinet, which are still in the secret House Archives of the House of Wittelsbach, the building of Schloß Neuschwanstein, up to the end of the year 1886 cost 6,180,047 Goldmarks.''

The castle was reopened to the public on August 1, 1886, less than two months after the king's death, but it was never completed. The castle remains today in the possession of the family of King Ludwig. They own the copyrights to the truly fabulous artworks (such as pictures) housed within the castle walls, which is why they do not allow cameras to be used inside.

This image gallery has been greatly enhanced as of 13-Nov-1997. The images are presented in increasing order of download time, and are annotated with actual size, dimensions, and image type. Clicking on any of the images will start the download.

I hope to make some more images available in the future and provide larger (and higher quality) versions of the smaller images. Numbers in square brackets refer to the acknowledgments section below.

	38K 450×600 JPEG [1]		34K 450×600 JPEG [2]
	39K 640×480 JPEG [2]		39K 640×480 JPEG [2]
	63K 384×256 GIF [3]		110K 320×448 GIF [4]
	105K 340×360 GIF [3]		164K 1160×870 JPEG [3]
	196K 1178×824 GIF [3]		208K 772×1121 GIF [3]
	222K 800×600 GIF [3]

This is an unofficial site about Neuschwanstein

This site comes to you from Maryland, USA. I'm German and I love Neuschwanstein, but that's the end of the relationship. I welcome comments, and can often answer questions about Neuschwanstein, but I'm really not an official source.

Purchases at the Store

I am told that the store in the castle, where you can buy books and other cool stuff about Neuschwanstein, does not accept credit cards, so it is strongly advised to bring cash on your way up so that you can satisfy your need to take some memories home.

18-Aug-2000: A kind reader informed me that some of the shops at the bottom of the crag upon which Neuschwanstein is built, they do accept credit cards. Also of note is the fact that public toilets aren't free: bring some change! Cash rules in Europe. They haven't fallen under the dark spell of the ``live today, pay double tomorrow'' credit system.

If you have anything to report about the situation at Neuschwanstein that would help other visitors avoid snags, why not let me know by email? Thanks!

1. Digitized by Udo Schuermann from a poster
2. Digitized by Udo Schuermann from a photograph
3. Digitized by Mariusz Olejarczyk
4. Digitized by Udo Schuermann from a postcard that I bought at the castle,

I would like to thank all those who enjoy this page and emailed me to say 'thanks'. Keep the emails coming, but I apologize in advance that I will probably not have the time to reply. Cheers!