castle in the world. The construction of this breathtaking castle

began in the summer of 1868, when up to eight meters of stone were outcropped to make way

for the foundation of the castle. In June the next year, the new access roads which

would enable the transportation of material to site were completed. On September 5th the

very same year, the foundation stone was laid and the real construction had begun. Despite

its medieval look, the last building techniques, material and innovations were used in the

construction of the castle. The foundations were cemented and the walls were built of

brick with light-colored limestone used merely as cladding.

As you probably can imagine, building a castle on a place such as this, is quite hard. Despite

the modern building techniques, the construction process was difficult and complicated. Even

though it was built rather quickly compared to other great castles, it was not built as

rapidly as the founder of the castle, Ludwig II, had hoped. The castle consists of the

gatehouse which you pass through when you enter, the Knights House with a square tower

to the right and a citadel in front of the courtyard. The first building which was completed

was the gateway building in 1872. This building was used as a provisional living quarter Ludwig

II when he visited the site, until the main citadel had been built. The construction of

the citadel started in 1872 and was finished twelve years later in 1884, though without

all the final details completed. By that time, Ludwig moved in to the castle and lived there

permanently. The whole castle as such stood ready 1892; which totals a construction time

of 24 years. The effect of this white, fairy-tale castle with its beautiful location is simply

amazing. Unfortunately, the man who dedicated his life and a fortune on the project, Ludwig

II, never got the see the castle completed, as he died in 1886.

So, who was this man, who had such a masterpiece of a castle constructed and what were his

motives? The story behind Ludwig II is almost as intriguing and romanticized as the castle

itself. Ludwig was the oldest son of Crown Prince

Maximilian II of Bavaria. He lived a typical life of a young royal, with a strict regimen

of study and exercise and rather harsh relations to his father and mother. Ludwig spent much

of his time at Castle Hohenschwangau, the former ruined castle of Schwanstein, which

his father had rebuilt in a gothic style. "Hohenschwangau" means in a strict translation

"The upper land of the Swans" and the castle was decorated with scenes from medieval legends

and poetry, including the legend of the swan knight Lohengrin. The swan was also the heraldic

animal of the Knights of Schwangau, whose successor the Maximilian II considered himself

to be. Ludwig had already as a child vivid imagination and he identified himself with

Lohengrin, both as a real swan knight and as the fictitious knight Lohengrin. The young

Ludwig was also influenced by the romantic mountain scenery and the castle became one

of his favorite places to stay. It was a place for him to escape the strict and limited reality.

Ludwig soon became an admirer of Richard Wagner, a German composer and theatre director. Wagner

had a very classic and romantic way of doing operas. Ludwig was introduced to Wagner's

"Lohengrin" on 2 February 1861 in the Munich Court Opera House and he was captivated.

At the age of 18, Ludwig became Ludwig II as he took over the throne after his father

who had died in a three-day illness. At that time, one of the very first orders he gave

was to summon Richard Wagner to his court. There Ludwig II rescued the composer from

a financial crisis which helped him to create new operas.

Soon after the death of his father, Ludwig II suffered a severe personal blow. As the

region of Bavaria was allied with Austria, who in 1866 lost the war against the expanding

Prussia, Bavaria was forced into an alliance with Prussia which removed the Ludwig's right

to dispose over his own army in case of war. This meant that Ludwig II no longer was the

sovereign ruler, simply a vassal of the Prussian ruler. One year later, he began planning for

a kingdom and castle of his own, where he could be a real king once again.

This castle would be named "New Hohenschwangau Castle" and would be a better recreation of

the ideal medieval castle compared to his fathers. Perfection was the key with a mixture

of original style and modern technical features. The main architecture of the castle was drawn,

not by a professional architect, but by the theatrical set designer Christian Jank. This

further shows how fascinated Ludwig II was by sagas and fantasies and what his motives

for the castle were. Through out the castle, its design pays homage to the German legend

of Lohengrin, the Swan Knight. As the construction of castle progressed,

Ludwig alienated himself from people and spent more and more time in the mountains and less

time in Munich as he drifted into his fantasy world. Ludwig II increasingly identified himself

with Parzival, a legendary medieval figure who became the Grail King through his purity

and faith. Ludwig was so intrigued that he asked Wagner to write an opera about it, which

he did in 1877. Wagner and his circle privately even referred to Ludwig as "Parsifal", and

his problems were incorporated into the drama of the Grail. This opera was then played exclusively

several times for Ludwig. During this stage, Ludwig started to redesign many of the castle

rooms. For example, the "Writing Room" was changed into a small grotto. The modest "Audience

Room" became a huge Throne Room. The room was no longer intended for giving audiences,

but was built as a monument to kingship and a copy of the legendary Grail hall. A massive

Knights Keep was planned for the middle of the upper courtyard but was never built; only

the foundation for the keep which is still visible.

However, Ludwig's behavior was in the long run not compatible with his duties as a head

of state. Reality was knocking on Ludwig's door 1885 as foreign banks threatened to seize

his property due to his overwhelming depts. The construction of the castle had cost him

a fortune. When Ludwig refused to react rationally, he was declared insane by the government,

and interned in Berg Palace. The next day he was found drowned under mysterious circumstances

in Lake Starnberg, together with the psychiatrist who had certified him as insane.

After Ludwig's death, the castle and all its glory was opened up to the public. The castle

was also renamed from "New Hohenschwangau Castle" to its current name Neuschwanstein

Castle -- meaning New Swan of Stone Castle. Even though photography is forbidden inside

the castle, it is the most photographed building in Germany and it is visited by around 1.3

million people each year. If it feels like you have seen this castle before, it might

be because it has appeared in several movies and is the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty

Castle in the Disneylands. Ludwig once said; "I want to remain an eternal

mystery to myself and others". It is certainly what he has become and his mysterious element

still fascinates people today. Even though Ludwig II passed away, the story of his life

and his masterpiece work in form of Neuschwanstein Castle, will live on a long, long time.