Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

 Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as an homage to Richard Wagner. Contrary to common belief,Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and extensive borrowing, not with Bavarian public funds (see below).

The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886.Since then over 60 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disneyland's Cinderella Castle and later, similar structures.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle

The ruins above the family palace were known to the crown prince from his excursions. He first sketched one of them in his diary in 1859.When the young king came to power in 1864, the construction of a new palace in place of the two ruined castles became the first in his series of palace building projects.Ludwig himself called the new palace New Hohenschwangau Castle – only after his death was it renamed Neuschwanstein.

 The confusing result is that Hohenschwangau and Schwanstein have effectively swapped names: Hohenschwangau Castle replaced the ruins of Schwanstein Castle, and Neuschwanstein Castle replaced the ruins of the two Hohenschwangau Castles.