Postcard: Schloss Neuschwanstein

While spring is just beginning to appear, I thought I nice Alpenine panorama would be fun. Here's one entitled "Allgau Schloss Neuschwanstein", showing the stunning Neuschwanstein castle and its surrounding peaks. I've never been to see Neuschwanstein, but it's definitely on my bucket list. My family came from Bavaria (okay, it was over 100 years ago, but still) and I've always wanted to visit.

To be fair, I've had this castle in my head ever since I first saw Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when I was a child, and never knew it was a real place until years later.

Commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria as a tribute to his favorite composer, Richard Wagner, Neuschwanstein was designed as a Gothic Revival palace. Ludwig himself wanted the place to evoke the "authentic style of the old German knight's castles." Of the many castles Ludwig II had built during his reign, this one is the most famous, the most enduring. Indeed, it is almost a parody of itself: picturesque, sprawling, and with no little echo of fairy tales and operas (not to mention a copy at Disneyland), it is sometimes hard to know which Neuschwanstein is the real thing.

Comments

[B]

I love Neuschwanstein! When I did my first petit tour through Europe, it was one of the two places I made sure we visited.

[quintessence]

On my bucket list as well - was always fascinated with it!!