Schloss Hohenschwangau

The other castle we visited down in Fussen is Hohenschwangau. It is "across the mountain" from Neuschwanstein. This castle has kind of a homely, lived-in feel to it. It dates back to the 12th century and was heavily reconstructed by Ludwig's father, Maximilian II. King Ludwig II was born and raised here. It was here, too, that he entertained the composer Richard Wagner, who milked him for all he was worth. (It is just my suspicion, that Ludwig and Wagner had kind of a special relationship if you know what I mean.....)

It is a neat castle to see, but again, I could not take pictures inside. Some of the rooms we saw were the dining room, Ludwig's bedroom and dressing rooms, the Queen's rooms and the guest rooms. In Ludwig's bedroom you get a taste of some his extravagance during that time. He had a ceiling with stars cut of out it and at night the servants would go up a story and light candles so the stars would twinkle. There was a also a moon on the ceiling that would light up and you could change it into the different phases. Ludwig also had this huge telescope he would use to watch the construction of Neuschwanstein.

You can see Neuschwanstein in the background here.

That was the tour of the Royal Castles in Fussen. From here we drove through the Austrian Alps to our destination of Garmisch, Germany. Our next stop is Innsbruck, Austria........so stay tuned :-)