Neuschwanstein Castle: Throne Room

The owner-builder, who increasingly identified with the Holy Grail legend, had this memorial room for Christian royalty designed in 1876, inspired by descriptions of the legendary medieval Hall of the Holy Grail. Ludwig II ordered that the room be modelled on the Court Church of All Saints in the Munich Residence. His grandfather, King Ludwig I (1786-1868), had this church built from 1826 onwards; the design of the side walls with the domed column arcades originates from there.

Another reference to his grandfather is the throne apse, whose picturesque composition was taken directly from the apse of the monastery church of St. Boniface, built by Ludwig I as his burial church until 1850. Here in Neuschwanstein, however, the theme of the apse paintings is different: six canonised kings, among them St. Louis IX of France, progenitor of the Bourbons and patron saint of both Bavarian King Ludwigs, both of whom were born on the saint’s day, 25 August.

The iconographic spatial programme, one of the most complex of the 19th century, was designed by Ludwig II himself, who was well versed in intellectual history; it also incorporates the legal foundations of the monarchy, ancient and biblical law. As a result, this unique space forms a dense network of relationships between distant history, religion and Ludwig II’s own dynasty. The emperors of Byzantium, the kings of France and the Wittelsbachers are assembled. The room was built from 1881.

Uwe Gerd Schatz