Royal Train

The photograph shows the Bavarian king’s royal train during a stay in Prien am Chiemsee in 1889. Ludwig II inherited the royal train from his father Maximilian II when he took the throne in 1864. Over the next few years, he had it extended and refurbished in the pomp and splendour of the French Baroque. Ludwig commissioned the veranda coach shortly after taking office. It was delivered in 1865. The saloon coach built for Maximilian by the Nuremberg factory Klett & Comp. in 1860 was lavishly refurbished from 1868 to 1870. For the redesign, Ludwig II engaged the theatrical stage designer Franz von Seitz, who was a professor at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts and artistic director of the court theatre.

On the king’s instructions, the artist took his cue from the Palace of Versailles belonging to France’s Sun King Louis XIV. This later earned the coach the popular nickname "Versailles on wheels". Little is known about Ludwig’s travels on the royal train. It is documented that he took his famous trip to Franconia with it in 1866. However, this journey pre-dated his modifications to the saloon coach. In later years, Ludwig usually travelled incognito. As his royal train was far too conspicuous for this purpose, he used an "incognito train" consisting of simple passenger coaches.

DB Museum Nürnberg