Ludwig II of Barvaria was a dreamer, and he also had a deep desire to know God, but he sought knowledge of God from the wrong sources. He died a sad death, never finding the faith and assurance he was looking for.
Ludwig became King of Barvaria at the young age of 18, and he himself described himself as unprepared for being king. He talked of not even being through with his education when he had to assume the responsibilities of the throne. When the Bavarians sided with Austria in a war against Prussia, their defeated alliance resulted in Bavaria becoming a part of the German Empire. Ludwig became a King in name only.
Ludwig withdrew from most of the state affairs of Bavaria, and instead he persuaded life as an eccentric patron of the arts and architecture. He also loved the legends of Bavaria, and even viewed them as based in reality. Known as the Swan King, because of his fascination with the legion of a knight in shining armor who rescues a beautiful princess after the death of her father from Count Telramund. Elsa, the beautiful princess is the choice of her dying father of the next to rule over the kingdom, and all of the king's knights promise to be true to Elsa and her father's wishes for her, except that Count Telramund declares he is to marry Elsa, and to become King instead.
When the heroic Knight Lohengrin arrives to save the day in the legend, he is pulled in a boat drawn by a silver swan. There is more to the story, but I will save it for the next post. Instead I will show you the beauty which surrounds the castle which Ludwig built to honor this legend.
At first as the sun rose on our trip the clouds hung low and prevented our seeing the road ahead.
Then the clouds began to clear and the countryside opened before us!
The mountains began to appear in the background!
There was only one hope of me making the final leg of the journey to
see Ludwig's "new swan castle," and that was with the help of this means
of transportation. That is because his beautiful castle sits high on
the side of a mountain in the most beautiful countryside you have ever
seen!
Our own driver was a character, and had a lot to say on the slow ride up the mountain! Eventually we were left to walk the final leg up the mountain to the castle.
The views from the mountain upon which the castle is built are breath taking!
Finally we reached the top, and got our first views of this magnificent structure whose structure began in 1869 which is known as Schloss Neuschwanstein, "New Swan-on-the Rock Castle!"
More of the beauty of this beautiful castle in the mountains of Germany,
and the story of King Ludwig II will follow, so come back soon!
