Germany - from Helga

For A Ray of Hope" to many in the world!
May you always have an abundance of Peace, Love, Joy and Health!
On this joyous day you are cordially invited to a special journey to some of the most famous castles in Germany, known throughout the world and all built by Ludwig II (1845 1886) using his personal fortune, he was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his mysterious death. He is also referred to as the Swan King or the Fairytale King. His legacy is intertwined with the history of art and architecture, and he was a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner. Now, the horse carriage is waiting for you, take a seat, lean comfortably back and enjoy :)
The first part of the journey will take you to the Neuschwanstein castle, also known as the Cinderella castle. In 1869, King Ludwig II oversaw the laying of the cornerstone for Neuschwanstein castle on a breathtaking mountaintop site overlooking his childhood home, the castle his father had built at Hohenschwangau and the lake Alpsee. The walls of Neuschwanstein are decorated with frescoes depicting scenes from many of Wagner's operas, to whom the King dedicated the castle. The pictures also deal with love and guilt, repentance and salvation. A further motive of the interiors is the swan. The swan was the heraldic animal of the Counts of Schwangau, whose successor the king considered himself to be. It is also the Christian symbol of the "purity" for which Ludwig strived. Neuschwanstein illustrates the ideals and longings of Ludwig II more vividly than any of his other buildings.
The castle was not designed for royal representation, but as a place of retreat. Here King Ludwig II escaped into a dream world - the poetic world of the Middle Ages. Even though Neuschwanstein is an unfinished castle, only 40 % of the rooms are finished, its breathtakingly beauty attracts a vast number of visitors (1.3 million) every year.It is supposed to be the most photographed building in the world. Actually, the famous Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland was modeled after this. Leaving the idyllic setting of Neuschwanstein castle the tour will take you further on to the Chiemsee, which is a freshwater lake scenically perched at the foot of the eastern Bavarian Alps, surrounded only by small resort towns. It was perhaps this sense of minor seclusion that inspired King Ludwig II to acquire the Herreninsel as the location for his Royal Palace of Herrenchiemsee. Modelled on Versailles, this palace was built as a "Temple of Fame" for King Louis XIV of France, whom the Bavarian monarch fervently admired. The actual building of this "Bavarian Versailles" was begun in 1878.
When the King died, only the sections along the main axis with their famous fountains and waterworks of the large garden resembling that of Versailles had been completed.The highlights of the large state rooms are the State Bedroom and the fabulous Great Hall of Mirrors with a length of 98 meters and lined with about fifty massive candelabras along each wall. The King's own rooms were in the intimate Small Apartment, designed in the French rococo style.
After a last view into the Great Hall of Mirrors, a short view into the nature and with a new piece of music, the journey will come, while passing the Moorish Kiosk, to its final destination Linderhof Palace one of the most beautiful attractions in Bavaria. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II and the only one of which he lived to see completion. When Ludwig II became King in 1864 he inherited the so called Königshäuschen from his father and from 1869 on he started enlarging the old building. In 1874 he decided to tear down the Königshäuschen and rebuild it on the location in the park where we still can find it today. Although Linderhof is much smaller than Versailles, it is evident that the palace of the French Sun-King Louis XIV was its inspiration. The symbol of the sun can be found everywhere in the decoration of the rooms.
The Bedchamber and the Hall of Mirrors are truly impressive with all the artwork. With a little Highlight the tour will end at the Venus Grotto which is located at the park of Linderhof Palace. The building is wholly artificial and was built for the King as an illustration of the First Act of Wagner's "Tannhäuser". Ludwig liked to be rowed over the lake in his golden swan-boat but at the same time he wanted his own blue grotto of Capri.Thank you for sharing this journey!