Ludwig I. sacrificed millions of guldens in order to beautify his capital with structures in the antique and Renaissance styles.

Ludwig II. inherited his grandfather’s love of building. Writing to his son, King Otto of Greece, at Christmas 1852, Ludwig I. says: “When the Christmas presents were distributed, Ludwig was given some wooden bricks with which to construct a triumphal arch. I saw buildings by him which were excellent. I find a striking likeness between the future Ludwig II. and the politically defunct Ludwig I.!” He was at that time only seven years of age. At eleven he drew the plan of a hunting-box, which was to be built at Hintersee, in the vicinity of Berchtesgaden. The lodge was not built; but both his grandfather and Queen Maria were astonished at his early-developed gift. This drawing was given a place in his mother’s album.

Until he had completed his eighteenth year Ludwig had never any money in his hands: a few months after his eighteenth birthday he became the possessor of a yearly income of many millions of guldens. His riches appeared inexhaustible to him, and he thought it an easy matter to realise all his dreams.

The summer mansions of Berg and Herzogenstand which he had inherited from his father, even his favourite place of residence, Hohenschwangau, no longer satisfied him. It was his intention to build a new castle in the neighbourhood of the latter, high up on a rocky site. The foundation-stone of Neuschwanstein was laid in 1869. Of the various castles built by Ludwig this is the one which is the most satisfactory in the impression it affords. From whatever side the spectator sees it, the effect is beautiful and imposing. There is no trace in it of the insane lavishness, and, on the whole, of the inartistic conception which is strikingly evident in the palaces of Linderhof and Chiemsee.

Neuschwanstein is in pure Romanesque style. The interior is decorated with pictures from German hero legends and songs. They represent the TannhÄuser and Lohengrin legends, the Niebelungenlied and Parsifal, and are conceived and executed in an artistic spirit. After the conclusion of the Franco-German war, building became the thought in Ludwig’s mind round which all others revolved. He occupied himself with the smallest details in the construction of his castles, and gave exact descriptions as to how the different apartments were to be decorated. He procured, with much trouble from foreign countries, copies of objects of art which were inaccessible to others. King Maximilian had a hunting-box in the vicinity of Ober-Ammergau; here his son built the fantastic fairy chÂteau of Linderhof, himself drawing the plans and carefully studying works on the various styles of architecture. During the building he continually had new ideas, and was seized with a desire to change parts of the building. Despite his sure eye for general effects, he had no idea as to the manner in which the building should be executed. In order to ascertain how the mansion would look when complete, he caused walls to be built and resorted to other radical expedients, which necessitated a considerable increase of expenditure and eventually led to his financial ruin. The foundation-stone of Linderhof was laid in 1869. It was not till ten years later that it approached completion. The mansion is not large, nor does it give the impression of being in any particular style. It contains ten reception-rooms of different sizes and shapes, in which there are collected a multitude of objects, oil paintings and pastel drawings. The furniture is partly of rosewood. The richly-carved doors and walls are gilded. On gilded consoles stand Japanese and Chinese porcelain, majolica, and works in bronze, as well as some magnificent old Dresden china. The silver-gilt domestic utensils are studded with precious stones. The material with which the furniture is upholstered, the curtains and portiÈres, are all of heavy velvet and silk with gold embroideries. In the big drawing-rooms the chandeliers and candelabra are of massive gold. This magnificence is reflected by several hundred large mirrors.

The building is surrounded by gardens and terraces. Busts and statues of Greek gods stand on high pillars among the trees in the shrubberies. In Ludwig’s lifetime a fountain threw its jets of water a hundred and fifty feet into the air. Close by Linderhof lies “The Blue Grotto,” a copy of the grotto at Capri, and the “Hunding-HÜtte,” which was built at Richard Wagner’s desire. King Maximilian’s hunting-lodge was moved, but an old lime-tree which had stood close by was allowed to retain its place. A stair led up into the branches of the tree where a summer-house had been constructed from which there was a fine view of the surrounding country. When Ludwig was at Linderhof, he spent many hours of his day in this tree.

As time went on he became absorbed in the art period of Louis XIV. He built the enormous Schloss Herrenchiemsee, which is a copy of Versailles and which swallowed many millions of guldens, although it was never brought to completion. At the time when he drew the plan of this palace his passion for building was no longer a fancy which he could tame, but the outcome of a diseased brain, where the power of will and judgment was impaired. He went, impelled by his building operations, several journeys to France. His stay was on each occasion of very short duration; the feverish disquiet which drove him thither drove him back again almost as quickly. Hardly a year after the days when Versailles had echoed to the cheers of the German Princes for the newly elected Emperor, he went, without giving his Ministers the slightest hint of his intention, in strictest incognito to Paris. He spent several days at Versailles. The following year he returned there once more, this time visiting in addition the town of Rheims, the seat of the coronation of the Kings of France.

Chiemsee, called also “the Bavarian sea,” surrounds three islands: Herrenchiemsee, Frauenchiemsee, and the uninhabited Krautinsel. Herrenchiemsee, or “HerrenwÖrth,” was originally a monastery, which at the time of their suppression went over into private hands. In 1868 it was in the possession of some business men, who sold it to King Ludwig. He chose the island as the site of his Versailles. The King’s advisers raised objections, but these only aroused his defiance. He sent off experts to study the subject, and threw himself heart and soul into the undertaking. Eight years, however, passed before the plans were completed. Herrenchiemsee consists of an intermediate building three hundred feet in length, and of two wings surrounding a quadrangle, the latter being entirely paved with black and white marble. Everywhere in the palace there are pictures of the Kings and Queens of France, and the fleurs-de-lys of the Bourbons. The sixteen living apartments are named after the rooms to which they answer at Versailles. The finest of these is the mirror gallery, which is about 250 feet long, 35 feet broad, and 40 feet high. Piercing one of the walls are 27 lofty arched windows, and on the other a similar number of large mirrors. Two-and-fifty candelabra of gold and 35 chandeliers provide space for 2500 wax candles.

It was but for few nights that this sea of light burned in honour of Ludwig II. and his imaginary guests from the time of the French Kings. From the year 1881 he arrived regularly at Herrenchiemsee on the 29th of September and remained there till the 8th of October, inhabiting the first years of this period the so-called royal apartments in a neighbouring monastery, which could easily have been changed into an agreeable place of residence had the King had thoughts for anything but the new palace. He was in the habit of arriving at midnight. The railway station was near the banks of the lake. A beautiful gondola, which was used for no other purpose, was waiting to take him across to the island; it was rowed by two men in Neapolitan costume. When the King came he examined everything; on one occasion, by way of example, he discovered that some groups of statuary in the park were of plaster instead of marble, as he had ordered, and he became so angry that he broke them in pieces.

Linderhof, Neuschwanstein, and Herrenchiemsee, on which he sacrificed so much time and thought, and which caused his financial ruin, have been later the means of paying his debts. The veil of mystery which surrounded his person rested likewise as long as he lived over his residences. But after his death these objects of his pride, so jealously guarded by him from profane eyes, became accessible to the public. They are considered, and rightly so, as sights of the first order. Thousands of visitors yearly, from all countries, admire the edifices of the splendour-loving King.