I believe we all have seen photos of Cinderella’s Castle but what we may not know is that Disney’s castle was modeled after Neuschwanstein and is the work of architect Eduard Reidel who was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig was a visionary; he had a Romanesque Revival Castle in mind and brought it to fruition. It was built with Ludwig’s own fortune inherited from his father after his death. Ludwig loved getting involved in having the best of everything. The castle was one of the first to have a telephone. Now this may seem a small
item but at the time, Ludwig was one of the first people to have a telephone, therefore he had no one to telephone since he had the only phone in Bavaria. The best Ludwig could do was to telephone down for room service. After touring the castle, it had many great features but for Suzy and I, it was far too large to be of any real use other than to impress his guests. Just getting into the castle was a job. You had to climb at least 300 steps just to get inside. After inside, you could walk forever to get around as the castle is a mammoth accomplishment but unrealistic to be used as a home.
Castle Linderhof was the place where Ludwig spent most of his time; the rooms in this castle are far more of what one might enjoy. Each of the rooms in this castle has different themes and is quite interesting in design. Outside the castle is even more interesting. The gardens are modeled after the gardens in Versailles. The gardens span many acres and are quite beautiful. The garden fountain is also quite an accomplishment; it can shoot water by my guess at least 75 feet in the air. Just another technological innovation acquired by Ludwig.
Suzy and I enjoyed the castles, they are everything we had hoped for; beauty, size and geographic setting. Castle Neuschwanstein is truly a castle built atop a mountain. Castle Linderhof is set into the forest spanning many acres. We found the forest to be a lush green and have many streams and brooks. We are glad we spent the time to come and visit both.