Churches, Castles, and Crazy Kings

"And that's my home where dreams are born, And time is never planned." ~Peter Pan, Walt Disney's Peter Pan

April 5, 2013

Matt had to work on Friday, so Lizzy and I set out to explore more of Bavaria. After some Cheerios and tea for breakfast, we went to find a number of churches and castles that Matt had told me about the night before.

It was another foggy day, and as we wound along old carriage roads through the forest, I couldn’t help but notice that it was this scenery that had inspired so many Disney sets. Scenes from the earliest  Fairy Tale films (such as Snow White) had been inspired by this scenery. In fact, most of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales had been penned in Germany—although not this part specifically.

Our first stop was the Wieskirche. Initially, we thought this name meant “White Church” but we learned from Matt later that it meant “Meadow Church.” Either way, it was a large white building in the middle of a meadow, nestled on a mountain pass. After an unbelievable history, the church now serves as a pilgrimage site (specifically among Catholic circles) as a site sanctioned by the Vatican to have been a known miracle.

The story goes that a statue of Christ had been constructed for a church. The carving depicted Christ chained and scourged. When revealed to the public, the generation at the time found it too graphic and disturbing. It was therefore tucked away in a farm house for a number of years. One day, in 1738, the statue was found to be crying. As news broke about the story, pilgrims from all over the world came. The statue was said to be a symbol that Christ empathizes with all those who suffer.

In 1739, a small chapel was built for visitors to pray by the statue. As the crowds grew, the need for a larger church grew. The Zimmerman brothers—two well-known architects of the day—were commissioned to design a church for the statue.

When we arrived at the church, the white building practically blended into the fog. After searching for a restroom (which we found—Lizzy was a skilled tour guide who knew were all the restrooms are. She also knew that they were all coin operated, and had come prepared) we walked up the winding dirt road, and into the church.

The first thing that popped out to me was the fresco on the roof. Unlike the fire and brimstone of other churches, this one depicted Jesus riding down to earth on rainbow. The only thing more colorful was the ruby red and sky blue marble used to decorate the altar. While there really weren’t any stained glass windows, the marble had its own rich color that totally popped.

One either side of the altar were small viewing rooms to see the statue (which has actually been built into the shrine above the altar, where most churches would have a crucifix. The small annexes are both filled with rosaries, letters, paintings, and other gifts and offering that pilgrims have left at the site. We even saw someone’s wedding ring (perhaps of a deceased parent or spouse.)

The statue itself was not all that disturbing. It certainly didn’t look as gruesome as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ. In some ways, it looked like a large marionette with red striped painted on it. Of course, considering the generation of 1739, it is understandable that the standard was different.

Before leaving the church, we lit candles on one of the prayer benches and said brief prayers. We also found flyers on the history of the church. I took one, but—ironically—it was in Italian.

“Well that’s one place you can bring your Italian friends next month,” I joked.

The next stop on our journey was Neuschwanstein Palace. This castle is perhaps the most famous castle in Bavaria because Walt Disney modeled Disneyland off it. The castle was one of five that King Ludwig designed. It was the last to be completed during his lifetime.

Growing up in his family’s palace of Hohenschwangau, the then “prince” Ludwig would explore the hills across the valley, and dream of the castle he’d one day build there. After his father died, Ludwig did not want to be king. Without any other options, he was forced into the position at 18 years old. Lacking an interest in political matters, he began building castles across Europe.

Neuschwanstein was dedicated to Ludwig’s favorite composer, Wagner. Ludwig and Wagner were close friends, and after Ludwig called off his marriage to the very attractive Princess Elizabeth “Sissy” several times, it is speculated that Ludwig and Wagner may have been intimate.

Even though Neuschwanstein was Ludwigs dream home—which he dedicated the construct of to Wagner—and took 22 years to construct, he only lived in it for 172 days before his death in 1886.

When we arrived at Neuschwanstein, we parked in a lot just below Hohenschwangau. The giant yellow palace towered overhead. Neuwschwanstein was not visible from this lot, to get to it, there were three options: a bus, a carriage ride, or walking. We decided to walk.

The hike was beautiful. The evergreen trees and freshly plowed snow made the forest feel like a magical winter land. The higher we climbed, the thicker the fog got. As we walked, Lizzy shared more and more of Ludwig’s story with me (all of which was confirmed and expanded on by the guards. The fog was so thick, we didn’t even see the castle until we practically walked into it. I could make out parts of the wall, and the one tallest tower. Lizzy suggested we go down to the bridge that normally had the best view.

The bridge was narrow and suspended hundreds of feet over a steep jagged gorge with a turbulent waterfall below. Looking down through the fog the waterfall was just visible. Looking up however, the castle was nowhere to be seen.

“It’s normally like right there,” Lizzy said pointing into the white abyss. “You know the fog is bad when you lose a castle.”

We went back up to the main entrance. The front did look like the Disney logo, minus the tower in the background. People were crowded everywhere taking pictures with it.  Since we still had some time before the tour started, we went over to a little outdoor gift shop and got some hot chocolate. The drinks were served in ceramic mugs, which cost 2 euros. If you returned the mug after your drink, you got the 2 euros back.

When it got closer to our tour, we went up to the main entrance and through the gate. Eventually, our tour group was followed and we all herded in. There were over 40 people in the group and our guide, who wore a purple beanie, spoke with a German accent, and was almost impossible to hear much less understand, shuttled us all through the castle. We raced up steep spiral staircases, crowded into various rooms, and all tried to keep pace for the whirlwind 30 minute tour.

Pictures were strictly forbidden inside the castle. When one man tried to sneak a few, our Guide said in her thick accent, “I do not want to have to take you outside of the castle.”

As we started the tour, we walked past the servant rooms. Windows allowed us to peek into their quarters. I have to say, even with the cushy set up I had my Freshmen and Sophmore year, the facilities he had for his staff were much nicer than my dorm. With hardwood floors, fully furnished, and running water, they had a very nice set up.

The first major room we went into was the throne room. It was a colorful masterpiece with over a million mosaic tiles on the floor alone. The disciples and Jesus were painted on the wall, with a Technicolor ceiling overhead, and marble steps leading up to his golden throne. It looked like something out of a movie. The color again was unreal and completely hypnotizing.

His bedroom was equally as grand. Fourteen craftsmen worked for over four years continuously carving just his bed. It was decorated with a canopy, various spires, and sculptures. He also had ornate chairs, desks, and reading nooks. His castle was one of the first buildings in Germany to have running water, including a sink and primitive toilet.

Lizzy and I trailed behind the group as they left the bedroom to check out Ludwig’s prayer room off to side of his bedroom. He had a crucifix carved from ivory and his own stained glass windows surrounding an ornate altar.

The group had proceeded through a secret door in one of the walls of bed room. Because we had lagged so far behind, we almost got mixed into a German speaking tour that was following only feet behind our group. Ducking through the secret door as it closed, we caught up with them in the drawing room. This was where we saw Ludwig’s telephone. One of the first working telephones in Bavaria, the device was very tall. It allowed him to make calls to his brother, Otto, and to the post office.

Other rooms we walked through gave history of various dramas and heroic eras that Ludwig was in love with. He fanaticized about the Knights of the Round Table and about the various characters from Wagner’s operas. Each room had paintings, tapestries, carvings, and mosaic tiles on ever square inch of floor, wall, and ceiling. The only exception was one small passage way that was designed to look like the inside of a cave, complete with cement stalactites and artificial humidity.

The tour wrapped up in The Hall of Singers, an elegant ballroom with a stage that was to house Wagner’s operas. No one ever partied in this room until after Ludwig had died. It now hosts a large annual concert, but in the 172 days Wagner lived in Neuschwanstien, no events were held in the castle.

At the end of our tour, Lizzy approached our guide and asked, “Do you have any Italian speaking tour guides?” While she explained her situation with her incoming guests, I walked over to look out a window of the tower. The fog was so thick I couldn’t see down to the ground.

A group of European tourists approached the same window and started talking. They were speaking English but their accents sounded Gaelic or Scottish.

“He was an early day Michael Jackson this king was,” the one woman said. “He was designing his own Neverland.” I laughed, and they looked at me and smiled. “It’s true isn’t it?”

“There is an odd similarity,” I admitted.

Lizzy finished talking to the tour guide and came over to join me.

“Any luck?” I asked.

“She said they have some guides who speak Italian, but you can’t request them, it’s just the luck of who you get,” she said. “She said she speaks Italian, but she didn’t volunteer to help, so I normally don’t ask.”

On the way down the spiral stairs of the tower, we passed through the kitchen. It was massive, like the kitchen in Disney’s Beauty and The Beast. There were rows of shelves lined with pots and pans and every cooking utensil imaginable. There were several different ovens of various sizes, and primitive pressure cookers.

Outside the kitchen was a gift shop that sold all of the standard souvenirs—post cards, shot glasses, etc. We passed through it and continued down the stairs. At the bottom of the next flight, was another gift shop.

“This really could be Disney Land,” I joked.

“For a minute,” Lizzy said, “I was totally turned around.

At the bottom, we found a restroom before going outside. It was snowing a little, and Lizzy suggested we duck into the restaurant on the way down the hill for some lunch. It was crowded with lots of people trying to get warm from the snow, but we found a table near the back and took a seat. We both ordered Apple Shirleys. I got pork schnitzel for my meal. The portion—of both the schnitzel and the fries—was huge and it all tasted so good!

We walked down the car, making jokes about Ludwig his telephone. “I’m not sure I’ve ever needed to call the post office,” I said.

“And once they locked up his brother, I wonder who he was calling,” Lizzy said.

Linderhoff was a little under an hour away. As we drove, we talked more about church, and prayer, and seminar. Being of a demographic that tends to be fairly non-religious (white, American, college students) and living in a very secular country for the past months, it was nice to not only talk about faith with someone (I had done that with my parents and friends back home) but to be physically surrounded by people who shared my beliefs.

Linderhoff was the palace that Ludwig actually lived in for most of his rule as king. He attended to political matters at the palace in Munich, and would go stay at his mother’s castle when she was in Switzerland (we learned from our tour guide that his mother didn’t like him much) but Linderhoff was his home.

Modeled after the palace in Versaille, Linderhoff is hidden in a tiny valley surrounded by fountains and manmade waterfalls. Ludwig would actually conduct meetings in his bedroom so he could lie in bed and look at his waterfall out of the window.

It was during the time that Ludwig lived here where he became increasingly isolated and detached from people. He constructed his eating quarters directly above the kitchen. His servants could set the table and raise it up to him through a hole in the ceiling so that he could eat alone and without being seen. He also reversed night and day, sleeping during the day and waking during the night. He often spent the nights going on sleigh rides (which his servants had to accompany him on) or visiting his families hunting lodge, five miles up the mountain. Ludwig outlawed hunting when he was king, but kept the families hunting lodge so that he could go and sit there to be alone. His servants would have to carry him and his portable toilet up to the lodge when we wanted to go for a visit.

Due to construction around the castle, we had to park a ways away from the main ticket office. After buying tickets, it was another short little hike back to see the castle. When we arrived, it was another cool spectacle. Much less ornate than Neuschwanstien, it looked like a regal government building. The fountains outside were all winterized still and covered with wooden crates. The waterfall was also shut down for the winter, but it still seemed like a secret hideaway in the valley.

We were the only people in the courtyard besides one other German family. Two gruff looking women came out to take the tour groups. The gentler of the two took the German family. We got the one who looked like she would kill you if you mispronounced “Neuschwanstien.”

In reality, she turned out to be a great guide. She was super friendly and informative, and we had our own private tour through the castle (she even took kindly to Lizzy asking if she spoke Italian!) She shared with us how Ludwig had worshipped the French Kings and modeled both Linderhoff and Harren Kim Say after Versaille. He believed he was born in the worst era of history and wished he’d experienced life in the earlier ages.

She also shared some interesting facts with us. Apparently, his mother had not liked him much at all, especially after cancelling his marriage to Sissy. He would only go home to visit Hohenschwangau when his mother was away at Switzerland.

“Perhaps that’s why he called his brother,” I joked. Doing my best King Ludwig impression and holding my hand up to my ear as a phone, I said, “Hey is Mom there? Cool, I’ll be over as soon as I can find a servant to carry my toilet.”

This castle was just as cool as Neuschwanstein. Every wall and ceiling was painted with elaborate murals and frescos. An avid collector of some of the most expensive porcelain in Bavaria, Ludwig displayed vases, plates, and sculptures everywhere. Many of them were of his two favorite animals, the swan and the peacock.  Neuschwanstein actually translated—although not directly, as Ludwig made up the word—to “New Swan Palace.” The peacock was utilized in Linderhoff. Peacocks would actually be set lose in the courtyard to notify the people that the king was in (much like raising a flag when the Queen is in.)

Lizzy and I were able to ask lots of questions as we walked through. I wanted to know about the feathers he had on top of his bed and other furniture. Apparently they were ostrich feathers, a sign of extreme royalty. He certainly was extreme from the size of his bed, and the fact he constructed four different waiting rooms, but never scheduled any appointments that would require visitors.

Perhaps the most famous part of the palace was the kitchen table. Featured in the movie Ludwig, this nuance was another way Ludwig hid from the world. He would have his servants set his table in the kitchen. He then had an elaborate “lift” system created to pass the table up through a hole in the ceiling, where he could wait in his chair for his present meal to arrive. Speculation is he may have had bad teeth and didn’t want people to see him eat, but others wonder if it was just another eccentricity.

Having modeled the whole castle after Versaille, it was complete with its own hall of mirrors. While the room wasn’t much bigger than the standard guest bedroom, the walls were lined with gold framed mirrors. As the reflections reflected off one another, the room appeared to be an endless series of hallways branching out in every imaginable direction.

Also on the property of Linderhoff are two unique buildings that build upon Ludwig’s persona. The first is a Moorish prayer house. This house was built for the 1867 world fair in Paris, which Ludwig attended. He liked the house so much, be bought it and had it moved to Linderhoff.

The second is Ludwig’s personal grotto. Called “The Venus Grotto” the structure looks like a cave from the outside, but is actually manmade of cement poured over a steel frames. Inside is a manmade lake. The lake is about 18 inches deep. Floating on the lake is a giant wooden boat in the shape of a swan. On one wall of the grotto is a mural of his favorite Wagner opera. Because Ludwig was king in the mid 1800’s, electronic lighting was possible, so the cave is equipped with white, red, and blue lights that could be turned on for different mood lighting. The cave also had a wood burning heating system. It took 8 days to heat the air of the grotto, and 3 days to heat the water in the lake.

Ludwig would go to his grotto to listen to his Wagner recordings. He would have one of his servants paddle him around the lake in the boat, while another controlled the lights, and others made waves in the water.

Our tour guide for the Grotto was just as friendly and entirely impressive. She took both the German family and us through at the same time, simultaneously switching between German and English. At the end of her ten minute presentation, she turned on the waterfall, started a Wagner recording, and set us loose to take pictures of the insanity.

The entire story of Ludwig—as well as his brother Otto, and would be wife Sissy—is like something out of a Shakespearean play. Otto was committed at a young age as being insane. Fed up with Ludwig’s excessive spending on castle building and inattention to public matters, a movement (spearheaded by his uncle) set about to remove him from the throne. His uncle Luitpold hired a psychiatrist to declare Ludwig insane as well. The psychiatrist was not allowed to meet with Ludwig or his actual doctors, but only sent to interview his servants—the same people who had to raise his table through the ceiling, carry his toilet up the mountain, and make waves for this swam boat in the grotto. The servants all testified that he was crazy and Ludwig was removed from power.

Dejected, Ludwig challenged the psychiatrist saying “How can you say I am mad? You have never even met me!” Two days after he was removed from power, at 40 years old, both Ludwig and the Psychiatrist were found dead in a nearby lake. The cause of death was determined to be drowning. It occurred at their first meeting.

 “To this day, there are fourteen different theories as to what happened to King Ludwig,” our first tour guide in Nueschwanstien said.

Lizzy and I laughed. “Sure,” Lizzy said, a little sarcastically. “Fourteen theories... She just doesn’t want to say, his Uncle killed him to become king.”

“I don’t know,” I said. “If there were any iPhone photos of him dancing in that grotto, I’m thinking the evidence for insanity would have been easy to find.”

Leaving Linderhoff, we called Matt to let him know were on our way home. He offered to start making dinner, but Lizzy said we would just pick something up on the way. Stopping just a few blocks from their house, we decided to grab Chinese food. It cracked me up as the Chinese lady behind the counter tried to translate the German menu into English for us. There were only about four dishes she knew how to say so we ordered those, along with three egg rolls. As we waited, we drank green tea at a table and continued to make fun of poor King Ludwig.

Back at the house, we recanted all of our stories to Matt. Despite having seen all of Ludwig’s castles before, Lizzy said that our tours today were far more informative. We made more jokes about his phone, his mother, his grotto. The only thing that stopped the jokes where when we realized that instead of three egg rolls, we’d gotten 24 (three orders of eight!)

As we laughed Matt turned to me and asked, “What was your favorite part of today?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “It was all so cool. I like castles since we just don’t have anything like that in America. The one in Prague is cool but these all looked just like I’d pictured a castle would look.”

“We’ll it’s good you like castles,” Matt said. “Cause we are going to see an awesome castle tomorrow.”