Since I wasn’t able to take any trips this summer [much to my chagrin], I’ve been looking through old vacation photos and decided the next best thing would be a digital visit via “Wish I was There Wednesday.”
Today I thought we’d go back to Germany and visit another jewel of the Fairytale King’s palaces. Hohenschwangau Castle is located near the town of Füssen and was initially used as a hunting lodge and retreat for agnates. Reconstructed on a hill above the Alpsee (Alp Lake) by Ludwig’s father, Maximilian in the 1830s, the castle became a museum with guided tours in 1913 following the death of the Ludwig’s uncle, Prince Regent of Bavaria, who electrified the castle and installed an elevator. Over 300,000 visitors each year tour the castle and its grounds.
Lying in the shadow of Neuschwanstein, the Mad King enjoyed his childhood years at Hohenschwangau. While his parents lived in the main castle, he and his brother Otto, lived in the annex. Like the other castles Ludwig owned, this one also had all the modern conveniences available at the time. The beautiful gardens where lions and swans are prominent, boasted alpine plants collected by the Ludwig’s mother, Queen Marie, who loved to hike in the nearby mountains.
Like so many sights in the area, the blue and white flag of Bavaria is prominently displayed, this appearing over the entry gate. 
The interior is decorated in Gothic Revival style with many frescoes depicting heroic German sagas.
Well there you have it. Hope you enjoyed another installment of “Wish I was There Wednesday.” Isn’t nice to bypass TSA and go on these trips (even if they are never as good as in-person ones)? Have you ever visited this region?
Live, love, bark! ❤︎
Oh, those are beautifuls!!! They are much cleaner looking than the castles of my ‘Homeland’ of Ireland! BOL!!! (okays, so ‘I’ am English, MA made me say ‘Irish’ cause she is half. whatevs) . Those in the British Isles are lots more Gothic and scary looking! These are so pristine! I thinks Ma needs to visit and smuggle me in her bag….thinks TSA would notice??? hehehe
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
I’m sure you’d win them over with your sweet kisses. I dare TSA to resist you, Ruby!
I have never seen Ludwig’s castles – one more reason to go back to Germany.
It would totally make the trip worthwhile. I love going to see them and each time I find something new that I’ve missed on previous trips.
Ooh… I love castles! I play at my cardboard castle often! I keep watch from its tower for invading Bestolars of Dragoon & mousecapades. Say, Mom asks how far King Ludwigs’s fairy tale castle (the one that inspired Mr. Disney) is from the castles you show in your pics above? She would love to visit the castles in Germany someday.
Not sure about the distance, Neuschwanstein is visible from Hohenschwangau, maybe 5 or 6 minutes away? Keep those Dragoons at bay, Valentine. 😍
I loved Bavaria. But Ludwig’s castle’s are responsible for me hating Disneyworld at a young age. After reading about real castles, I felt devastated to learn that Sleeping Beauty’s castle in Florida was mostly a gift shop and not much more.
The Disney castle was based on the Fairytale King’s home at Neuschwanstein. They really co-opted it into something hideously commercial. So sad because the real deal is so spectacular as are all of his castles.
I think I’ve had Bavarian pretzels before. That is as close as I have gotten to Ludwig’s castle…
Never been anywhere like that – it looks beautiful
Wow what a beautiful trip.
Wish I was there too!
Looks like a wonderful place to visit.
Enjoyed the “visit” Love history and Castles. 🙂 Thanks and hope that you.get the chance for.real.trips next summer.
Egad, I hope I don’t have to wait that long! LOL
LOL! Hopefully not either. 🙂
😍
You are the best tour guide! And I don’t even have jet lag. 😉
Heh, heh. We aim to please. Thanks for joining Poodle Tours. Don’t forget to tip your favorite poodle. 🐩 BOL
🙂
I would love to visit Germany. My husband went on business and I had the opportunity to go with him but was afraid to leave our kids at the time of our lives. I regret it.
If you ever get a chance, go. It’s such a great country to visit and there’s something for everyone and then some.
I look at that castle and think about all the maintenance work, honey-do and repair projects and say, “Bah! Humbug! Ludwig”. I’ll stick to my humble 3/2 with hot tub.
Well if you were King, you’d probably have sufficient staff for those projects or you could be like Ludwig, a bachelor. 😇
What a a fun idea! We did a bit of traveling this summer, but not to Germany! Love the pictures and the history lesson.
Thanks for swinging by and joining our tour! We 💞 visitors.
Love the photos! Our pawrents said that is someplace they would like to go back to!
Your Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
One of my favorite regions in all of Germany.
I love your virtual tours! I’d love to go to Germany and France one day, but I doubt I’ll get to either in this lifetime.
Aw thanks. Sometimes, I think digital travels are the next best thing to being there. And no TSA or squalling babies next to you for 10 hours. 😈
My humom loves visiting castles on her trips to Europe! She would love this one!
Considering the time when the resident King was alive, he sure knew how to live the good life in his castle.
Yes! Have been to that region (and visited Neuschwanstein in the snow long ago!) but not to that specific spot. Would love to go back. But so many other places also call… My nephew and his wife are on their honeymoon right now at the Amalfi Coast, and the pictures they’ve been posting on IG are killing me!
Oooh, the Amalfi Coast is simply spectacular. Love that shade of blue water. So gorgeous.
You need to submit this to Sammy’s Tuesday Teaser. Then all of your friends would get the answer and be RIGHT for a change.
And for once, even I’d be right! I’d still be late though no doubt.
Yeah, it’s in the middle of the night here in the west.
Here too in the Mile High. Who gets up at that time of night?! Not me (unless there’s a puking dog).
Bavaria is on our list of places to visit – I’m not saying it’s because of beer…but I’m not going to deny it, either.
Trust me, there’s no Oktoberfest like the real deal in Munich. Even if you don’t like beer. It’s simply an incredible event!
I’ve heard that from numerous family members and friends who have been – we just need to get our acts together and get over there.
You won’t regret it. 🍻The sites are incredible as is the food and beer. And Germans have a terrific sense of humor, even if some think it’s kind of ‘dry.’ They love a good joke.
I would love to go there. Who doesn’t love a castle. I hope I can visit there some day…Jeff knows enough of the German language to get us by. Thanks for the beautiful pics.
Even without much of knowledge of German, you’d probably be good. English is spoken nearly everywhere and especially at tourist venues.
Great to know. 🙂
I’ve never been to the region but would love to see these castles. If I had a teleporter like they had on Star Trek I’d travel more 🙃
Ooh a teleporter would sure make it much easier. I kind of like the Bewitched’s nose twitching approach.
Or, I Dream of Jeannie’s arm cross and head nod; which would work better for me since I don’t have a perky little nose that would fit inside a bottle cap.
Ooh yes! That would definitely be a great way to travel! I almost would rather set my hair on fire than travel by plane anymore. It’s so unpleasant.
Castles have always fascinated us but we like the idea of electricity, an elevator and modern conveniences. Thanks for the tour.
I could easily live in any of Ludwig’s castles, they are incredibly appointed and far beyond the times in terms of conveniences.