Trips With James schloss

Fabulous Berlin – Germany

Which Berlin do you want to visit? Because there are so many Berlins all rolled into one. There is the modern capital Berlin building itself into the 21^st Century with construction going on everywhere. There is the nightlife and decadent Berlin with endless clubs, fetish bars and late-night raves where 100’s of people line up to get into private places thumping to the endless electronic beat that Germany seems to love so much. There is the cultured Berlin filled with museums and historic buildings plus the exciting avant-garde music, theatre, art and film scenes exploring everything at the same time. Or the quiet, circumspect Berlin paying homage to the victims of its turbulent past with memorials and exhibits to the past and hoping for the future.

Which one do you want? But why choose, because you can have them all at the same time. You can experience many, many things in the wonderful and exciting city that is grounded in the past but reaching for the future with both hands.

Over the last couple of decades, Berlin has become a construction zone with ripped up streets and giant cranes overhead in every part of the city. It is the rebirth of a great European capital right in front of your eyes. City planners seized on the opportunity of the city’s reunification and the return of the central government to completely rebuild Berlin. What used to be rundown, Soviet East Berlin is now the new, modern, vibrant heart of the city filled with shops, hotels, clubs, and soaring modern buildings and plazas. While what used to be West Berlin feels more residential like a very chic suburb. And this is all linked by one of the best metro systems in Europe. You can get anywhere in Berlin in a matter of minutes by train, metro, tram, bus and using your feet.

I stayed in Central Berlin for a week in an AirBnb apartment located across the street from the S. Anhalter Bahnhof (an old pre-WW II train station), now a subway station. The amount of nightlife, clubs and bars that I could walk to in a few blocks was pretty amazing. While I was technically in West Berlin, I was only a few blocks from Checkpoint Charlie (where East Berlin used to begin) and Friedrichstrasse. Along Friedrichstrasse, there are literally hundreds of clubs, cafes, hotel bars, restaurants and other night spots that stretch for blocks from the Checkpoint north up to the Spree River. Yet, all over Berlin there are neighbor restaurants, cafes and bars. Right in the same building complex that I was staying in was the well-known Solar Sky Bar, very upscale bar visited by tourists and locals alike.

If you followed Friedrichstrasse up to the Spree River as you cross the bridge there, you come to Murphey’s Irish Bar, a true Irish bar (full of real Irishmen) right in the heart of Berlin. Turn right as you walk out the front door of Murphey’s and walk one block to come to a whole string of bistros with outdoor eating areas set up along the river serving all kinds of food from German, French, Italian and Turkish. And nothing in Berlin tastes better after some late-night drinking than stopping at a Turkish food stand and getting a hot, fresh kebap which is a large mix of chicken, lamb or beef with herbs and tomatoes, onions and peppers wrapped in a large pita bread. And yes, you have probably had something similar, but somehow it tastes better made by a real Turk cook in Berlin. My personal favorite was Prime Kebap, Friedrichstrasse 100, 10117 Berlin.

On the weekends, if you stay up long enough you will find one the late-night raves that open all over Berlin in the early morning hours. The one that I ran into on Friedrichstasse on my second night in Berlin had about 500 young people all dressed in various forms of black trying to get into store front while thundering electronic music boomed out of the outdoor speakers. Or if your personal taste run to the more exotic, you could try one of Berlin’s fetish clubs like the world-famous Kitt-Katt Klub located in central Berlin. Berlin has long been known since the 1920’s as one of Europe’s most decadent cities, and it is all on display in Berlin if you just try to look for it.

A couple of websites that offer a non-stop list of events happening every day in Berlin would be;

Berlin Programm – berlinprogramm.de
Exberliner Magazine – exberliner.com

Also, a place to buy same day half-priced tickets to any event in the city would be as Hekticket, located at Alexnderplatz at Karl-Libknecht-Strasse.

If museums and art galleries are your thing – then Berlin has entire island in the middle of the Spree River dedicated to that. Literally called Museum Island, the island houses 5 world class museums and art galleries, the ornate Protestant Berlin Cathedral, and one of Berlin’s best open space parks, Lustgarten. Plus now where the old palace of the Hohenzollern dynasty stood, that the Communists tore down to be the East German Parliament building, that the city of Berlin tore down – there a huge public venue known as the Humboldt-Forum Berliner Schloss being built that will house more museums, shops, galleries, and concert halls costing the citizens of Berlin 600 million euros. So hopefully for politicians, it will be worth the expense.

It is worth noting that the museums are the Bode, Pergamon, the Neues, and Altes Museums plus the Old National Gallery of Art. Each museum specializes in a different historical era like Roman, Hellenistic, Babylonian and Islamic art and treasures. Of special interest is the 3000-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti located in the Neues Museum. The bust has been called “Berlin’s most beautiful woman”. It is amazing that after 3000 years, this statue makes such an impression not only because of its age, but her sheer beauty that still astonishes after 30 centuries. Right across the bridge toward the Brandenburg gate, is the German History Museum and the German State Opera house both worth consideration. Plus there are museums and art galleries in every part of the city exploring Berlin’s history and artistic contributions.

Since my background is in live theatre, I took some time to explore Berlin’s avant garde theatre scene. Berlin possesses more than 50 or so working theaters and produces more than 1,000 new live shows a year. Deutsche Welle’s Ben Knight describes the Berlin theatre scene as “Berlin theater is a hard thing to love – it’s pretentious, abstruse, cerebral and elitist. But on a good night, it’s also unique, iconoclastic, bizarre, and compelling.”

While I understand that Berlin’s theatre scene was one of the richest in Europe, it is really elitist and hard to understand sometimes. Even if you just take in the four international known theatres in Berlin, the Berliner Ensemble (formed by Bertol Becht’s wife), the Deutsches Theatre, the Schaubuhne, and the Volksbuhne, you are going to get four completely different experiences based on the artistic direction of each theatre, and they play to completely different audiences. Yet, I found some of the work I saw to be compelling and inventive, but emotionally distant as if I was watching an exercise in a theatre class. I am told the Berlin music and film scenes are just as inventive and wild.

If you are looking for something a little more quiet and not quite so cerebral, then check out Tiergarten Park in the middle of Berlin, right across from the Brandenburg Gate. Huge, green, quiet and filled with bike paths and walking paths, where you are always finding a rose garden or a fountain or a memorial hidden among the lush green trees. To US citizens, it will remind you of New York City’s Central Park because of its large size, placement in the city, and how several streets run right through the middle of it.

Along its eastern edge you will find several important sites and memorials including the Brandenburg Gate, the Terror Museum, the Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe, the German Resistance Memorial, and the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims (the official names of the Gypsy race).

History, shopping, music, art, culture, food, cafes and clubs, Berlin has everything that you could want in a capital city. When I visit Europe, I often trying to envision myself living there and where would feel like home if at all. Rome is the first place that I think about, but Berlin while it can give you a cold distant feeling has an energy that I have not found in many European cities. It does not feel old and tired, it feels alive, new and vibrant, and that is why I came to like the city so much.

The Night Watchman of Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Germany

You find yourself in Germany and you are on a budget. You are staying in hostels, taking regional trains to save money. You are eating in small cafes or roadside stands. Anything to save a few euros. You are always looking for a bargain. Some way to save money so you stay on the road longer. But you are tired of the castles, churches, and endless tours to see this and that. Yet you want something entertaining. Something that does not require you to buy a meal or a drink or a ticket, yet is fun and entertaining.

Well, buddy, I have a deal for you.

In Rothenberg ob der Tauber not far from Munich is the best entertainment deal in Germany. Cheap, fun, entertaining, and educational. There are no tickets. No long lines. You pay at the end not the beginning. If you don’t like it just leave, no problem. It lasts an hour and walking is involved. Yet, I guarantee that you will laugh, be entertained and learn a whole bunch of things you did not know.

What is this fantastic deal – it is the Night Watchman’s Tour of Rothenburg ob der Tauber featuring the most famous, non-famous actor in Germany.

Ok, lets stop here a moment and fill in some gaps.

Every night (from March to Christmas) just before dark (7 PM in the fall and early spring, and 8 PM in the summer), a single bearded man dressed in a long grey cape, a tri-corner hat, carrying a lantern and a hellebarde (a type of ancient spear with an axe head on the top used in medieval times) strolls into the main square of Rothenburg. He stands on the steps of the ancient city hall and groups of people who have been waiting for his arrival – some for an hour – gather around him. Some nights the crowd could be 50 to 100 people, and some nights in the summer the crowd could be as large as 300. From all over the world – people gather in front of this stranger and wait for him to speak. In a soft, sing-song voice that somehow carries quite far, speaking in English he advises the people that if they want to take a photo with him – to do it now, and that it is free. And as many as 30 to 40 people will rush up and take selfies, or group shots with this mysterious man.

Who is this person? Is he a cult figure, or some religious or political figure? No, he is Hans Georg Baumgartner, an actor, and he has been doing this wonderful tour for 25 years.

Awarded the TripAdvisor Award for Excellence in 2014, Baumgartner tells his stories about Rothenburg’s medieval history using dry wit and sly puns with a comic’s timing. He tells you just enough without boring you with endless details and too much information. Yet, he does convey the harshness of medieval life even in what was one of Germany’s grandest cities of the 14th to 16^th centuries. He talks about the day-to-day life in a walled city where the livestock were stored inside the city gates at night in the people’s homes, the constant fear of famines, and the unpleasant odors (especially in the summer) from people throwing their waste into the streets each day and the open sewers that ran through the city. He talks about plagues, the wars, how the city became wealthy, and how it slipped away.

All while he manages to hold an audience’s attention without aid of microphones or projections or sound effects. Just a single performer using his voice and his story-telling ability to weave his story as he walks the streets of his small town as cars, motorbikes, other tourists and residents pass by. It is really a very impressive performance as he leads through the streets and down alleyways, through gates, in and out of tunnels and to vantage points that offer sweeping views of Rothenberg and the surrounding valley.

Yet, Baumgartner is not really acting a role, he is the role because after doing this tour for 25 years the entire tour reflects his wit, style and personality. His bright blue eyes flash with humor and his devilish smile and inflection get constant laughs from his engaged audience. Yet, the narrative is what drives this interesting tale full of legends and true stories.

A legend like a 1631 drinking contest, in which the mayor of the town supposedly saved Rothenburg from being destroyed by the Catholic army during the Thirty Years War. It’s said that he downed three liters of wine in one gulp, besting the conquering general.

Or the very true story of how the town suffered during the end of World War II, when Allied bombing destroyed about 40 percent of its buildings and 2,000 feet of its wall. The town was about to be destroyed by the Allies when an official in the US State Department halted the bombardment because his Mother had gone to the village as a young woman and fallen in love with it. Years later, she often talked about the experience around the family dinner table, so when he heard about the possible destruction of the village he had to act. The official told the US commander to offer the Germans a chance to evacuate or be destroyed. The Germans withdrew and Rothenburg was saved all because a son honored his mother’s memories.

Rick Steves, the travel guide-book author, savvy in what American tourists will pay to see in Europe, calls the watchman tour “flat-out the most entertaining hour of medieval wonder anywhere in Germany.”

At the end of the tour – which lasts almost exactly an hour – he passes the hat and almost not one person refuses to pay him. Many in fact give him more Euros because of the quality and fun of the tour. He has a DVD for sale as well, that he hawks a couple of time during the tour, but even that gets a laugh. Baumgartner is a rock star storyteller and you can tell he loves the audience reaction.

This is without a doubt the best entertainment deal in Germany. Check it out and enjoy the ride.

NOTE: There are several Rothenburg’s in Germany. Do not go to the wrong one. You must go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber (the city’s official name) or you will miss out on Germany’s kept medieval city.

NOTE 2: There is also a strictly German-speaking tour later in the evening. Baumgartner sometimes does this one as well, but there is another Night Watchman for the German tour. Check local travel guides for the times of this tour.

Romantic Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Germany

After 5 rainy days in Munich, I took the train out of Munich to Rothenburg to experience the community that has been on this site since 1150 AD. The official name of the city is Rothenburg ob de Tauber, or “Red Fort on the River Tauber.” Around 1160, Rothenburg was swiftly became a commercial center because of its’ enviable position on the age old trade routes through Germany where goods from the East passed through, but also because of “the white gold” known as salt.

By 1400, the city was one of the largest and most successful cities in the area. The city had a population that topped 6000 people, and business was booming. Rothenburg was becoming very wealthy and was much worried about the safety of its’ wealth and citizenry. The city elders through the years constructed a sophisticated system of walls, towers, and gates for the protection of the city. Massive stone walls were constructed that were pierced with 7 main gateways and aided by 42 stone towers for defensive positions and protecting the town. Along the inside length of much of the city’s walls, covered walkways were built that allowed for archers and other solders to take up protected positions for watching or shooting at possible invaders.

However during the early 1500’s and into the late 1600’s, the city began to experience a steady decline because of political and religious upheavals like the Peasants War, the Reformation, the counter-Reformation and the 30 Years War. Plus the “Black Plague” that were sweeping through Europe killing millions of people also visited Rothenburg and killed as many as one-third of the citizens. What remained by the 1800’s was a walled village that was once famous yet now was a backwater town with no real business and thus no real reason to change anything. It was if the once prosperous medieval village was trapped in a time warp. Narrow cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses with red tile roofs, massive stone walls that no longer protected anything but a poor half-empty village that recalled a more ancient time.

Massive stone walls and towers are part of the defense.

Yet along about 1850, fortune began to smile on Rothenburg once again. This time it was because of the very backward nature of the village that people were attracted. Because of its’ very medieval look and feel, artists, poets and writers discovered the old town and painted it, wrote about it, and talked about it. What was considered ancient and backward now became quaint. And as is true through the ages of man, when the artists and creative types come, soon the general public follow and you have tourism. Tourists helped make Rothenburg relevant again.

They came for the quaint ancient walls and half-timber houses that were 500 years old. They came to see the old churches like St. James Church, the Gothic masterpiece with its hand carved altar. They came for the excellent Franconian wine, food and hospitality. They came for the chance to step back time and experience a little of what it must have been like in the Middle Ages.

And that is what you get when you spend a day or two in Rothenburg – living history. Walls and houses and buildings that are in some cases over 700 years old, but people still use and live in them. A chance to walk cobblestone streets that have carried people and goods for over a thousand years. Walking the same covered walkways along the village walls that some guard walked 500 years before you.

You can actually walk the city by using the guards walkway

There is a suggested Town Walk around the village that will lead you through large squares where you will see historic buildings, along the city walls where you will find towers, churches, gateways and bridges that date from the 12^th century and leads to other parts of the city where you may decide to wander off the “official” tour to see some mysterious door or walkway of Rothenburg that interests you. There are several museums in Rothenburg like the German Christmas Museum showing the history of Christmas through the centuries, the Imperial City Museum with its’ collection of items covering 9 centuries, and the gruesome and very interesting Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum featuring scary examples of torture and execution devices.

The most interesting thing to see in Rothenburg is actually live entertainment. It is the world-famous Night Watchman’s Tour which I will write about in my next blog, but it is without a doubt the best hour of entertainment in Rothenburg and at 8 Euros the best deal in Germany.

400 year old cover bridge (rebuilt of course)

The most romantic place in Rothenburg is the Castle Garden and Burgtor Gate. A huge quiet garden at one end of the town as you pass through the Burgtor Gate with spectacular views of the city and the surrounding valley. There is a small old chapel that has stood there since the 14^th century and a lovely herb garden. The area is quite large with many old trees and benches to sit and read or just chill. If you walk further in the park past the chapel and herb garden to another viewpoint of the surrounding valley, rumor has it that this is the best place to grab a kiss with your significant other.

View of Rothenburg from the Castle Garden Park

And of course as a tourist destination, there are plenty of eateries of all types and places to sleep inside and outside the village walls. For something to eat, you have traditional German fare, non-German styles foods, Italian food (because it is just on the other side of the nearby Alps), sandwiches and snacks plus several Biergartens (beer gardens) all covering a range of prices and styles. But make sure that you eat early. Rothenburg shuts down early. In the Old Town there are no night spots, although a couple of places stay open till mid-night during the summer where locals mix with tourists.

If you are staying in the Old Town there are more than 20 hotels and hostels to chose from and in all different prices ranges from very expensive to a very reasonable hostel located in a former horse-powered mill house. Outside the walls, there are even more choices of food and hotels.

Getting to Rothenburg is very easy. By car or bus, you are on the Romantic Road, a route that extends from Fussen in the south to Frankfurt in the north, and you pass right through Rothenburg. There several car parks in and around the Old Town, and cars are allowed to drive in parts of the Old Town. If you are coming by train, the station is literally a block away from the main gate of the Old Town. You can only get to Rothenburg if you make a connection in Steinach. It is a little spur line with a small train that runs about every hour until 10:30 PM. If you arrived after 10:30 in Steinach, there is a subsidized taxi service that can take you to Rothenburg, but you must call them 2 hours ahead of time to make a reservation. To use them call AST at 09861/2000 in advance, and they will take you to Old Town for 4.60 Euros per person instead of the regular 31 Euro daytime charge.

Enjoy Rothenburg and step back in time for a romantic and fun adventure.

5 German Castles in 3 Days – Part 2 – Munich

Continuing on with the castles of Munich, we come to the town of Hohenschwangau which is a village in Germany’s southeastern state of Bavaria about one hour’s drive from Munich. This is the home of not one but two of Ludwig’s castles. His childhood home is here Schloss Hohenschwangau, and his dream castle, Schloss Neuschwanstein whose entrances are literally across the main village road from each other.

Ludwig’s father raised his sons primarily in the country at the family palace of Hohenschwag to be far away from the court intrigue of Munich and the two palaces there. So Ludwig would never developed the hard shell needed for the political hardball that Munich and governing required.

HOHENSCHWANGAU

Built high about Lake Alpsee in the foothills of the Alps, Schloss (German for castle) Hohenschwangau started out as a fortress in the 12th century. The castle started to take shape around 1535 when the owners brought in an Italian architect to create a new interior floor plan while keeping the existing walls. That owner then sold the residence to the Wittelsbach family, the Kings of Bavaria in 1550 and it stayed in their family (mostly) until Ludwig II’s time. The place was used mostly as a hunting lodge and retreat for the family. However, in 1832, Maximilian II, King of Bavaria and Ludwig’s father, began a new reconstruction of the old place and turned it into his official summer palace. This is where Ludwig grew up and fell in love with the beauty and seclusion of the area. From windows in Schloss Hohenschwangau, he could see the location of where his future palace, Newschwanstein would be. He continued to live in Hohenschwangau for large sections of time during his reign splitting his time between Hohenschwangau and Schloss Linderhof after it was finished.

After Ludwig II was deposed by his family, the castle continued to stay in family hands, and even after the King of Bavaria stepped down, the German state allowed the family to continue to use the residence up until the current day. While belonging to the German state and being used as a museum/tour destination since 1913, the family has continued to live there even during World War I and II.

While I did not actually tour the castle during my Grey Line tour, you can clearly see it from below in the village and if I had more time on the tour, I would have loved to see it. You can tour Hohenschwangau separately or as part of different tours that run out of Munich. If you happen to be in the village itself, you can purchase tickets right from the local ticket booth which handles tours for both castles.

NEUSCHWANSTEIN

Young Ludwig was a dreamer and romantic at heart. He was born at a time when as King of Bavaria he would not have absolute power but was part of a “constitutional monarchy” where he shared power with a legislature in Munich. He hated this position plus as well his government was being played by Prussia on one side and Austria on the other. With no real power and not being able to do much about it, he turned inward and began to dream of magnificent castles like Versailles and his personal hero, Louis 14^thof France. Imagining himself to be like Louis, he envisioned great castles that would reflect his hoped for and never to be achieved power and control, and Neuschwanstein is the zenith of that dream and desire.

As king of a constitution government like Great Britain, the cost of the building came from his personal and his family’s fortune, and he borrowed that money from the Bavarian State Treasury. As he was building three or more castles at the same time, the cost was immense and as the members of his family saw their fortune being eaten away and were now in huge debt to the State, they conceived of a plan to remove Ludwig from power by proclaiming him mad. Thus Neuschwanstein and another castle were not finished during his life. He actually only lived in Neuschwanstein for about 170 days before he was removed in a coup. He was mysteriously killed or committed suicide the next day.

Schloss Neuschwanstein which in German means “new swan stone” was built as a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace. The swan was Ludwig’s favorite bird so the name reflects that and images of swans are on displayed throughout the castle. The palace was also as a homage to Richard Wagner, and the romantic German legends that his operas are about – myths, legend and heroic characters.

The castle was never completely finished although it was far enough along that he could move in. After his death, the family immediately opened it to the public as a museum and tour destination. Since then more than it is estimated at over 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Great Escape, and served as the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty Castle at the Disney Theme Parks.

Tours of Neuschwanstein can be brought almost anywhere. Online, local tour companies in Munich, or locally in Hohenschwangau if you take the train down from Munich at the local ticket office. Please read the entrance requirements before you come because the tour is very strict about time of entrance. There is a new tour starting every 5 minutes and if you miss your time you are out your money. No refunds or excuses. Also be prepared to walk a lot. You have to walk up hill to the castle and in good weather it can take 45 minutes. There are buses, horse carriages, and other forms of rides part way to the castle but they do not go all the way up, so you will have to walk at least some of it uphill. Please check for any handicapped access or help with the local German tour office or view online.

NYMPHENBURG

The final stop to the Palaces of Munich happened on the 3rd day. Again a wet, windy, cold day in Munich, I ventured out once more to see the exalted lifestyle of the former Kings of Bavaria, the Wittelsbach family.

Schloss Nymphenburg or “Castle of the Nymph (or Nymphs)”, is a Italian Baroque style palace located on the outside of old Munich. The palace served as the main summer residence for the House of Wittelsbach. The palace was commissioned by the King Ferdinand Maria and his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy after the birth of their son, Maximilian II. The castle was gradually expanded and transformed over the years. (The Wittelsbachs still live and use the Palace as a residence living in one wing of the Palace.)

Starting in 1701, Max Emanuel, the heir to Bavaria, undertook a huge redo of the entire palace. Two pavilions were added one on the south and one on the north connected with the center pavilion by two gallery wings. Other parts were added to the Palace to make it equal on both wings and huge formal gardens with lakes were added in the back of the Palace as well.

Interesting factual note – to those who trace the line of legitimate British monarchy down through the legal heirs of James II of England (Jacobites), the head of the house of Wittelsbach is the legitimate heir of the Stuart claims to the thrones of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland; this claim is not being actively pursued.

Where the Residenz tour goes on for miles, this tour only shows about 16 rooms in total. The tour starts in the Great Hall, which barely begins to describe how huge it is and the effect that it was supposed to have on visitors. It is truly a beautiful and grand statement of power and royal taste.

Then you view North wing which were more state rooms for the king’s business and then return to the great hall to view the more interesting South wing which were official apartments for the Wittelsbach kings.

Most impressive is King Ludwig I’s Gallery of Beauties. Using the greatest single pickup line in history, “I would like to have a portrait painted of you”, King Ludwig would invite beautiful women from all over Munich and all classes – elite and commoner – to come to the summer palace and have their portrait painted by the court painter. During this time, the affair would start – some short, some lasted very long. Who could refuse that offer? King, Portrait, Affair! He used it 36 times, and the beauties all hang in a room of the tour. You will notice one physical trait that they share – I will leave you to find it.

The tour is relatively short but you get a real sense of this place and the type of people who lived here. Again most the furniture and paintings are not original to the house. Many were lost to bombing in the war or stolen. The replacements are from other palaces in Germany or donated by the public after the war.

This palace is also the birth place of Ludwig II, the mad king. He was Ludwig I’s grandson.

The gardens in the back extend far back beyond the palace and are open to everyone. Joggers and walkers alike.

After my 5th palace in 3 days in a cold, wet Munich – I stopped for (when in Munich) a cold beer and rested my feet. That was a lot of walking, but totally worth understanding the history and position of Munich and Bavaria during Europe’s long history of war and struggle among all the royal families.

Enjoy Munich!

5 German Castles in 3 Days – Munich

So when people come to Europe, some like museums, some churches and some castles. I fit into the castle branch. After two or three churches – yawn. Museums are amazing, but only so many paintings or sculptures can I retain in my head unless it is astonishing like the David in Florence or a Cavagio in Rome. So on this trip to Germany, I planned to see a few castles, but the weather in Munich suddenly turned cold and rainy, and castles became the main focus for the next few days. Three days to be exact and in those three days I managed to cram in 5 castles either in or around Munich. And thus we begin –

The first castle that I was went to one cold rainy day was the Residenz. For 500 years, this mammoth complex of buildings was the official residence and seat of power for the rulers of Bavaria, the Wittelsbach family. It began in 1345 and continued to be used and added to until 18th century. It was almost destroyed in World War II and what you see today has been reconstructed using old photos, paintings and original plans.

The place is so large that it now consists of three different museums that you can see separately or together in a couple of different combinations. There is the Residenz Museum which is the palace itself, the Residenz Treasury where some of the Bavaria crown jewels are located, and the Cuvillies Theatre which is a perfectly restored Rococo opera house. If you decide to see all three, then the price tag is 13 Euros.

The Residenz Museum is really about 90 rooms of Rococo banquet and reception halls (you will see about 70 rooms if you take the long tour), and the royal family apartments. Because of the war, most of the furniture that you see is of the time, but not the original items. There are a couple of amazing rooms like the Shell Grotto and Antiquarium, but in all honesty (maybe because of the weather) the palace was very blah. Just endless room after endless room. The place (or palace) is huge covering hundreds of meters of floor space. You can wander around until you say “enough already.”

The most gruesome room was the Reliquary Room which contains a very odd collection of Christian relics which were very big items to have in the Middle Ages. You will see mummified hands, skulls and bones all contained in golden cases. It is a little disquieting to be honest.

The most impressive room to me and where you can see the painstaking work that the city of Munich has done to restore this monstrously huge palace complex is the Court Chapel which was completely destroyed in the bombing. They have rebuilt it as a very simple space showing you all the steel beams and walls made of simple red brick. Not like it was before the war. They use it as a concert hall for about 300 people and it was just moving to me. Plus the rebuilt windows are beautiful.

The Residenz Complex is right in the middle of Munich and worth the view, but be prepared to WALK!

The next morning I got up early and took the S Bahn (subway) to the main train/bus station. There I bought a tour on Gray Lines, a very large tour bus company in Germany. The tour was going to cover 2 of the 3 main “Mad Ludwig” castles.

Ludwig II was a young gay man of 18 when he assumed the throne of Bavaria in 1845. He ruled for 22 years at a time when Bavaria had become very weak in terms of power. He spent his entire reign being played by either Prussia on one side or Austria on the other. Instead of being depressed in Munich as a powerless king, he stayed at the family country palace of Hohenschwangau, a former hunting lodge that had been enlarged to palace scale. From here, he dreamed up his three amazing castles – Linderhof, Neuschwanstein, and his castle in the middle of lake, Herrenchiemsee.

The only one to be finished in his life time was Linderhof. It is very small, compact, frilly, and personal to the only man who ever lived in it – Ludwig. Rather than face being a weakened king, he dreamed and spent his family’s fortune on building and building these images in his head. Linderhof’s tour offers the grounds which look much like Versailles but on a smaller scale, and in the “castle” 10 rooms have been set aside to view. It is frilly in it’s overly ornamented Rococo and Baroque styles and is filled with priceless furniture, chandeliers and porcelain figurines. It is not really a castle either in size or scale – but because a king lived here for 8 years and surrounded himself with land and priceless objects, it gets the name. Yet in size, it is not any larger than Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello either in scale or design. You could call it a mini-castle, but whatever it size it is amazing to view and consider this sad lonely man living here along by choice.

Atlas Shoulders the World – Top of Linderhof

Possibly the saddest thing to consider is that he did not want to see anyone or be seen even by his servants. His personal dining room was designed in such a way that the table was prepared with all the food, drink and dishes already on it in the kitchen, and then was lifted by elevator through a hole in the floor in front of Ludwig who was sitting in the dining room waiting for dinner. When done, he would ring a bell and the table would disappear back through the floor. The entire time he was totally alone and saw no one. Yet he did have long imaginary conversations with kings of past that he admired like Louis the 14th and others.

I am told that the highlight of Linderhof is the Grotto which he had built so he could sail around in this underground lake/cavern listening to a opera company perform works by his favorite composer, Richard Wagner. Of course, the opera singers and musicians never saw him at all. Unfortunately the Grotto is under repair until 2019, and I did not get a chance to see it.

Next column – the final three castles of Munich.

Tag: schloss

Fabulous Berlin – Germany

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The Night Watchman of Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Germany

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Romantic Rothenburg ob der Tauber – Germany

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5 German Castles in 3 Days – Part 2 – Munich

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5 German Castles in 3 Days – Munich

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