History of Hohenschwangau Castle

NARRATOR: Bavaria, near the town of Füssen, Germany - here, nestled in the wilderness, stands Hohenschwangau Castle. It was first mentioned in the 12th century as the residence of the noble line of Schwangau. The castle has a very eventful history. It was destroyed and rebuilt. Then, in 1832, King Maximilian of Bavaria acquired it and converted it into the royal family's summer residence. Hohenschwangau was the childhood home of Ludwig II, who succeeded his father on the Bavarian throne and remodelled the castle to fit his personal tastes.

RUDOLF CIRI: "We are now in the castle's bed chambers. Ludwig the Second had his father's daytime sky repainted as a nighttime sky. The tiny stars up there on the ceiling are transparent; they could be lit up with gas lanterns from the third floor so the king had the feeling he was sleeping outside. Using that little cover over there, one could even select the various phases of the moon."

NARRATOR: Ludwig II loved opulence and today, castle visitors can't help but see this everywhere they go in the Hohenschwangau Castle. He loved the fine arts, and was particularly smitten with a certain great composer of his time.

CIRI: "And, of course, the music room wouldn't be complete without Richard Wagner. And he even stayed here for an entire week once. But he never saw Ludwig's palaces. Here is the famous Wagner piano. The maestro himself played it when he visited this castle. Ludwig II invited Richard Wagner to Hohenschwangau in November of 1865, and the two of them had a real jam session for seven days on end."

NARRATOR: Nonetheless, Ludwig outgrew Hohenschwangau Castle and built his own castle, Neuschwanstein, just across the way from Hohenschwangau. The king had a very practical solution to overseeing the construction. He could oversee them from his chambers using a telescope. Hohenschwangau Castle - a model of 19th century architecture nestled in the Bavarian wilderness.