Neuschwanstein Castle - King Ludwig II

Referred in German as 'Schloss Neuschwanstein' meaning 'New Swan Stone Castle', is one of the most beautiful and famous castles of Germany.
More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer.  The palace has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle !

This famous German castle is located near the Pöllat Gorge overlooking the picturesque Hohenschwangau valley and is located only a short distance from the popular tourist town, Fussen.

The palace was commissioned by King Ludwig II as a retreat and an homage to Richard Wagner. The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king.
Ludwig himself called this new palace as 'New Hohenschwangau Castle'...but only after his death it was renamed 'Neuschwanstein'

The King took keen personal interest in the design and decoration of the castle.

This is pretty much how the castle looks on a snowy day!

From the town of Hohenschwangau, the castle can be reached in bus, horse carriage or by walk. The walk would have been great fun, but owing to the weather, we opted for the horse carriage :)

This is the view of the Marien Bruck (Marie's Bridge ... named after King's mother), as seen from the castle. This steel bridge was constructed by the King in 1886 over the Polat Gorge for the spectacular view of the castle.
As you may see, the bridge is often crowded with tourists. The first picture on this post is shot from there !

Don't be disappointed when the view of the castle isn't the same as seen in most popular postcard pictures. Those are shot from a hot air ballon or may be even by adventurous paragliders like the ones above :-)

Very close to the 'Neuschwanstein Castle' is an older castle where King Ludwig is believed to have spent a large part of his childhood. This is the 'Hohenschwangau Castle' named after the small town where it is situated. This once used to be the royal family's summer residence.

Linderhof palace is another small castle built by the same king near to city of Oberammergau.

By now you must have realised King Ludwig's love for castles.
Linderhof however was the only castle of which he lived to see the completion !

If you are one of those who loves visiting castles and palaces, you will surely not be disappointed on your visit to south Germany :-)

(All images by Anupama Puneeth. Information courtesy http://en.wikipedia.org/)