Worlds of illusion and fantasy

Worlds of illusion

Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845-1886) is the world’s best-known exponent and antagonist of his era. Antagonist because he went against the current trends: nationalism, capitalism, politicisation. By strictly rejecting his assigned task as a constitutional monarch, he became an exponent: as the most consistent realiser of the intentions of historicism; not merely representative as was the case with the nobility and citizens at the time.

He created a counter world to realise his concept of life, not occasional historicising retreats for recreation as his contemporaries did. With him, however, it was an evocation of history, not merely its representation and cultivation. Neuschwanstein Castle as a monument to the culture and royalty of the Middle Ages, Herrenchiemsee Palace and Linderhof Palace as monuments to absolutist royalty focus on the intellectual and cultural aspirations of their time because of their owner-builder’s unparalleled conceptual and artistic quality.

A major goal of 19th century European art was to create a synthesis of the arts. With his castles, King Ludwig II of Bavaria brought the epochal, idealistic idea of the synthesis of the arts to architectural perfection. His buildings are the most famous architectural testimonies of 19th century European culture in the world.

Uwe Gerd Schatz

Worlds of fantasy

Ludwig II had been studying the culture of Byzantium and its imperial rule since 1869. His increasingly strong identification with this led to two projects on "Byzantine palaces". Both imperial palaces were to be built in the vicinity of Linderhof in the Graswang Valley, in fact in the ideal and dynastic neighbourhood of the knights’ monastery in Ettal founded by Ludwig II’s imperial ancestor Ludwig the Bavarian (Emperor 1328-1347), who he related to.

As early as 1869 Ludwig II commissioned court architect Georg Dollmann (1830-1895) to draw up a first project for a Byzantine palace. Extensive notes on ceremonials at the imperial court of Byzantium can be found from the same period in Ludwig II’s estate.

In the project, Dollmann grouped the described and required buildings as free-standing. Julius Hofmann’s (1840-1896) project from 1885 is compact like a fortress. In 1886 Ludwig II had Julius Hofmann design a Chinese summer palace for him. He chose the imperial summer palace Yuanming Yuan ("The Garden of Perfection and Light") near Beijing as his model. Ludwig had read about this world-famous complex in French publications and had also educated himself on the Winter Palace in Beijing and about Chinese court ceremonials.

Falkenstein Castle (Burg Falkenstein), planned from 1883, was to have a bedroom that would have been a fusion of the Byzantine Emperor, Louis IX the Saint (1214-1270) and Louis XIV (1638-1715) – a fascinating climax of all the late Ludwig II’s ideals.

Uwe Gerd Schatz

To chapter: Worlds of travel