Last month, I introduced King Ludwig II, who ascended to the throne at the tender age of eighteen in 1864. He ruled for twenty-two years until his mysterious death in 1886. The first of three castles he had built was Neuschwanstein. If you missed my take on it, you can find it HERE.
Today, I take you on a tour of the second of his three castles, Schloss Linderhof, the only one he saw to completion. Located near his first masterpiece in the Bavarian alps, Linderhof was where Ludwig would spend most of his childhood at his father’s hunting lodge, or Königshäuschen (King’s Cottage). Once he ascended to the throne after his father’s untimely death due to sepsis, he proceeded to tear down much of the lodge. He created a relatively small building, taking inspiration from his idol, King Louis XIV and his Petit Trianon of Versailles. This was a Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles.
Ludwig’s garden designer created a sculpted park that swept up to the white palace walls. Behind the castle, a waterfall cascaded down thirty marble steps to a Neptune fountain.
The grounds and the interior were designed in the Neo-Rococo expression. Wikipedia defines this as “an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, and trompe-l'œil frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama. It is often described as the final expression of the Baroque movement.” The rooms were smaller than Ludwig’s previous grand castle up the hill but no less grandiose.
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| Hall of Mirrors |
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| Tapestry Room |
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| Dining Room |
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| King's Bedroom |
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| Second Bedroom |
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| Music Room |
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| Venus Grotto |
Another person with whom Ludwig obsessed was the operatic composer, Richard Wagner. The king built a grotto just to showcase the first act of his opera Tannhäuser. The man-made cave contained a small lake upon which he rode in a gold-gilded swan boat to the middle where he could watch the performers on a stage. The grotto was the first in Germany to utilize electricity, and colored lights glowed on artificial stalactites hanging from the thirty-three-foot ceiling. A moon was also illuminated that could change colors upon the whim of the king himself. A wave machine created movement upon the water below. These effects were possible due to the first electrical station built in Bavaria with Ludwig being the initial one to utilize it. Heated bricks kept the space warm for the comfort of the king. Pictures can’t even begin to capture the beauty of this grotto, or even of the castle itself. I feel so blessed to have visited Linderhof, as well as the other two castles, in person. As for the purpose of the synthetic cavern, here is an excellent description.
Dr. Michael Petzet, writing in Wilfrid Blunt’s book The Dream King: Ludwig II of Bavaria, describes the grotto’s space as one which allows the visitor an encircled mirage where “stage and auditorium are blended into one,” creating a total theatre as it “did not separate the onlooker from the stage.” -White Hot MagazineBeyond the experience of theater-in-the-round, this technique of entertainment only emphasized Ludwig’s desire to immerse himself in the dream and to live outside of his reality.
Of which I identify. The writers reading this article are no doubt nodding their heads. Nocturnal tendencies and the desire to escape reality? It’s why I became an author.
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Thanks for posting today. I can tell that the pictures you included could not begin to display this opulence. I love the blue and gold, it would be amazing to see it in person, I'm sure.
ReplyDeleteIt was my favorite of the three castles, mostly because of the blue. So rich.
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