Schloss Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein: The King’s Delusion, Disney’s Inspiration, and a Surprisingly Good Castle

Neuschwanstein Castle sits on a forested crag above the village of Hohenschwangau in the Bavarian Alps, 130 kilometres southwest of Munich. King Ludwig II of Bavaria commissioned it in 1869 as a personal retreat, inspired by Wagnerian opera and medieval romantic imagery rather than any practical requirement. Ludwig was retreating from reality in an expensive and elaborate way. He spent 6.2 million Marks on the construction, emptied the Bavarian treasury, and lived in the completed sections for 172 days before being declared mentally unfit to govern in 1886. He died under mysterious circumstances three days later. The castle was opened to the public seven weeks after his death to help recoup costs.

Neuschwanstein is one of the most visited castles in the world. It receives approximately 1.4 million visitors annually. The irony of a retreat built to escape the world becoming one of the most crowded tourist attractions in Europe is not lost on anyone who arrives on a summer weekend.

The Interior

The interior is accessible only by guided tour, which runs approximately 30-35 minutes. The finished rooms are elaborately decorated with scenes from Wagnerian operas and medieval German legends: the Singers’ Hall (which was built to represent the performance spaces in Wagner’s Tannhauser, though Wagner never visited and no performance was ever held there during Ludwig’s lifetime), the Throne Room with its Byzantine floor mosaic and absence of an actual throne (it was never installed before Ludwig’s death), and the King’s bedroom with elaborate wood carvings that took 14 craftsmen four and a half years to complete.

Ludwig’s stated intention was to create a genuine medieval castle in the spirit of the operas he loved. The result is a 19th-century building that looks medieval rather than being medieval, which is a different thing. The craftsmanship throughout is extraordinary regardless of this distinction.

Marienbrucke

The Marienbrucke (Mary’s Bridge) is an iron footbridge spanning the Pollat Gorge 90 metres above the waterfall below it, 10 minutes’ walk from the castle. The view from the bridge is the classic photograph: Neuschwanstein in its cliff setting with the mountains and Alpsee lake in the background. The bridge is crowded in summer and is sometimes closed in winter due to ice. Go early or go late to have any reasonable view without queuing.

Getting Tickets

Tickets must be purchased from the Ticket Centre in Hohenschwangau village, not at the castle. Online advance booking is available and strongly advisable from April to October; same-day tickets at the Ticket Centre go quickly. Adult admission is 15 euros. The castle is then a 40-minute steep walk up from the village, or accessible by horse-drawn carriage (8 euros) or shuttle bus (2.50 euros up, 1 euro down).

Hohenschwangau Castle

Immediately below Neuschwanstein in the village is Hohenschwangau, the castle where Ludwig II grew up. It dates to the 12th century and was restored in 1832 by Ludwig’s father Maximilian II. The interior shows the apartments where Ludwig spent his childhood and the murals depicting medieval German legends that formed his imagination. The contrast with Neuschwanstein – a real medieval structure versus Ludwig’s elaborated fantasy of the medieval – is instructive. Combined tickets for both castles are available and the combination takes most of a day.

Getting There

From Munich, the Füssen regional train (Bayerische Oberlandbahn, line 9) takes approximately 2 hours and runs every 1-2 hours. From Füssen station, buses run to Hohenschwangau. Day trips from Munich are standard; a private tour from Munich removes the logistics but costs considerably more than the train.

Staying Nearby

Füssen, the nearest town (5 kilometres from Hohenschwangau), has mid-range hotels and guesthouses. Staying overnight gives you access to the castle in the early morning before the day-trip crowds from Munich arrive; the first admission slot at 9 AM is considerably less crowded than those between 11 AM and 3 PM. The Hotel Müller in Hohenschwangau is directly at the castle approach and books out months in advance in summer.

The Allgau region around Füssen has lakes, hiking trails, and Bavarian village walking that is worth an additional day or two if you have the time. The cycling route around Forggensee lake (27 kilometres, mostly flat) is accessible from Füssen and gives views of both castles from the water level perspective.