During the Middle-Ages, three castles overlooked the town of Swangan. One of them, known as Schwanstein, was bought by Ludwig’s father, Maximillian II, in 1832. He planned on demolishing the ruins and constructing a Neo-Gothic palace in its place. When Ludwig inherited the throne in 1864, he developed plans to replace the ruins of the other two castles higher on the hill with a new palace. Enthralled with the idea of Medievil Knights Castles, Ludwig drew inspiration for this new palace from his visits to the Wantburg palace near Eisenach and the Chateau de Pierrefonds northeast of Paris. He also wanted to memorialize the “musical mythology” of Wagner’s operas. Ludwig commissioned stage designer, Christian Jank, to draft plans for the new palace. By 1868, the ruins were demolished and construction began. Ludwig moved into the partially completed palace in 1882 in order to personally supervise the rest of the construction. For two decades, between 200 and 300 laborers were involved in the daily building efforts.
While the palace is huge, there are rooms only for the king’s residence and for his servants. There was no space allocated for the royal court.
Ludwig amassed a very large debt constructing his various castles. As a result, parliament decided to depose him. In retaliation, Ludwig had the deposition commission arrested. A second commission was appointed and Ludwig was put under the supervision of psychiatrist, Bernard Von Gudden. On June 13, 1886, while walking near Lake Starnberg, both Ludeig and Gudden mysteriously died. Six weeks later, Neuschwanstein was opened to the public.
During World War II, because of its isolation, Neuschwanstein Palace was a perfect spot for the Nazis to hide some of the art stolen from countries they had invaded. This fact was featured in the film “Monuments Men.”
Walt Disney was so impressed with Neuschwanstein’s looks that he modeled Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World after it.
Today, visitors to Neuschwanstein Palace need to walk up a winding road through the forest for half an hour (or purchase a ride in a horse-drawn carriage). Once the palace is reached, its whiteness against the backdrop of the green forest creates a wonderful picture (but this is evident even from along the highway approaching the site).