Today we took a road trip to a castle called Neuschwanstein. This translates to “New Swan Stone”, which is a surprisingly fitting name. Once we arrived, we took some pictures from the bottom and then took a hike up to the mountain. When we were there, we took a tour of the castle. Unlike most castles, this one was constructed in the late 1800’s, meaning that there was relatively modern amenities on the inside for a castle; for example, there was a battery powered pager system for the servants in the castle. The man who the castle is for, King Ludwig, was very extravagant in the design, including this state of the art pager system and filling the palace with works of art. I find this very relatable actually. If I were king, I would probably fill my castle with modern technology and art as well.
As I mentioned before, the castle was filled with art, and this is no hyperbole. The first room we were brought in was modeled after a Byzantine church, including paintings on the walls and the roof of biblical stories. Another room had over 100 swans in it, between the paintings, engravings in the wall, and even the door handles. For this reason, I found the name “New Swan Stone” to be very fitting. I appreciated the amount of detail that went into designing a room with so many swans hidden in it. I really think that King Ludwig acted as if a regular guy was made king and built a castle.
The last thing we did today was visit a Catholic church with Rococo architecture. This means that there is gold everywhere and it has a really grand design. I found this church to be one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The gold fit really well with the white color scheme. I also found the paintings in this church to be magnificent. There were various biblical references covering the walls and the ceilings.
Overall, I think today we have seen some of the best art that Germany has to offer. I think today I got some of the best pictures I have taken over the entire trip between the castle, the mountain the castle was built on, and of course the Rococo style church.
Signing off,
Nate