31 May 2015 (Sunday) – Herrenchiemsee Palace. Initially I was apprehensive about joining Radius Tours to the Herrenchiemsee Palace, especially after the Neuschwanstein outing which failed to meet my expectations. However, thanks to SHL’s encouragement, I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! Our tour guide Franca did a fantastic job and I enjoyed myself tremendously during this trip!
Herrenchiemsee is located on an island called Herreninsel (i.e. The Men’s Island). In 1873, King Ludwig II of Bavaria acquired the Herreninsel as the location for his Royal Palace of Herrenchiemsee. The island is about an hour’s ride from Munich City. We got there by various modes of transport - firstly the DB Bahn before switching to an old railway train and then to a mini ferry.
Being built on an island it is only accessible by water today, via a system of small ferries. Hence, during the winter when the lake freezes, there are no tours in operation. This is with the exception of Christmas when a special event is held in Herrenchiemsee only for special invited guests. As a result, and of being unfinished, Herrenchiemsee always remained slightly in the shadow of Neuschwanstein.
Lady luck was on our side as we travelled under wonderful weather conditions! The skies and lakes were simply so blue!
Thankfully the forest route leading up to the Herrenchiemsee Palace was very gentle compared to the treacherous hike up to Neuschwanstein Palace. Nevertheless you could still choose to take a horse ride which delivers you right to the doorsteps of the palace!
The Herrenchiemsee palace was modelled on Versailles and was built as a ‘Temple of Fame’ for King Louis XIV of France, whom the Bavarian Monarch fervently admired. Ludwig II only had the opportunity to stay within the Palace for a few days in September 1885 . When he died in 1886, the palace was still incomplete, and sections of it were later demolished. Again, photos were not allowed during the castle tour hence the pictures taken were mostly of the palace facade and castle grounds.
The highlights of the large state rooms are the State Staircase (which had great acoustics – there was a really nice echo when the tour guide was giving us an introduction there), the State Bedroom (all in blue since that was Ludwig’s favourite colour) and the Great Hall of Mirrors. The King’s own rooms were in the intimate small apartment, designed in the French Rococo style. Here are some photos from the Herrenchiemsee Museum.
Classic photo of King Ludwig II (in his younger days)
He developed a pot tummy later in his life
Ludwig II's fancy signature
A miniature model of how a room in Ludwig II's castle
would look like if transformed into one of Wagner's opera set.
In 1876, Court Garden Director Carl von Effner completed the plans for a large garden resembling that of Versailles. When the king died, only the sections along the main axis with their famous fountains and waterworks had been completed.
In respect of countries that are lacking water resources, the fountains at Herrenchiemsee are stopped every 15 minutes for a water break.
Lunch was at Schlosswirtschaft Herrenchiemsee on one of the hill tops of Herreninsel. We took our lunch at the terrace and it was a nice vantage point overlooking Herreninsel's sister island, the Fraueninsel (i.e. The Women’s Island). We had Weiss Spargels mit Kartoffel (i.e. White Asparagus with Potato) which is a delicacy of Germany and is in season for only a few weeks here.
Fraueninsel
Schlosswirtschaft Herrenchiemsee
Weiss Spargel mit Kartoffel
Soon it was time to leave Herrenchiemsee. Many people have called Ludwig the mad king… However, Franca insisted that Ludwig was not mad, in fact he was a genius that was greatly misunderstood. In view that his people did not have the same foresight as he did, they often did not understand his ideas and grand visions or the possibilities of building palaces on mountains. Today, Ludwig II palaces (e.g. Herrenchiemsee, Neuschwanstein, Linderhof) are all reaping great profits from the millions of tourists visiting these palaces annually. Mad or genius? You decide.
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