Hohenschwangau Castle — Attraction in Schwangau

Hohenschwangau Castle is a 19th-century palace in southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. It is located in the German village of Hohenschwangau near the town of Füssen, part of the county of Ostallgäu in southwestern Bavaria, Germany, very close to the border with Austria.

The present day Hohenschwangau ("Upper Schwangau") castle was first mentioned in 1397, though under the name of Schwanstein. Only in the 19th century the names of the two castles have switched. It was built on a hill above lake Alpsee, below the older fortress. Between 1440 and 1521 the Lords had to sell their fief with Imperial immediacy to the Wittelsbach dukes of Bavaria, but continued to occupy the castle as Burgraves. In 1521 they became owners again but had to sell their land in 1535. The purchaser, Johann Paumgartner, a wealthy Augsburg merchant, had the lower castle reconstructed by Italian architect Lucio di Spazzi who already worked on the Hofburg, Innsbruck. He kept the exterior walls and the towers but rebuilt the inner parts until 1547, on a floor plan that still today exists. The older Schwangau fortress however continued to fall into ruins. Paumgartner, after having been elevated to the rank of baron, died in 1549 and his sons sold their new castle to Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria.

The Wittelsbachs used the castle for bear hunting or as a retreat for agnatic princes. In 1743 it was plundered by Austrian troops. In the German mediatization the county of Schwangau became officially a part of the Electorate of Bavaria in 1803. King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria sold the castle in 1820. Only in 1832 his grandson Maximilian II of Bavaria, then crown prince, bought it back. In April 1829, he had discovered the historic site during a walking tour and reacted enthusiastically to the beauty of the surrounding area. He acquired the dilapidated building – then still known as Schwanstein – in 1832, abandoning his father's wish that he should move into the old castle (Hohes Schloss) in the nearby town of Füssen. In February 1833, the reconstruction of the castle began, continuing until 1837, with additions up to 1855. The architect in charge, Domenico Quaglio, was responsible for the neogothic style of the exterior design. He died in 1837 and the task was continued by Joseph Daniel Ohlmüller (died 1839) and Georg Friedrich Ziebland. More than 90 wall paintings represent the history of Schwangau (literally translated the Swan District), as well as medieval German romances such as Parzival and the story of Lohengrin, the Knight of the Swan, on which Richard Wagner later based his operas Lohengrin of 1848 and Parsifal of 1882, sponsored by Ludwig II who had grown up with these stories at Hohenschwangau.

King Maximilian died in 1864 and his son Ludwig succeeded to the throne, moving into his father's room in the castle. As Ludwig never married, his mother Marie was able to continue living on her floor during the summer months. King Ludwig enjoyed living in Hohenschwangau, however mostly in the absence of his disliked mother, especially after 1869 when the building of his own castle, Neuschwanstein, began on the site of the old Schwangau fortress, high above his parent's castle.

In 1923, the Bavarian State Parliament recognised the right of the former royal family to reside in the castle. From 1933 to 1939, Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and his family used the castle as their summer residence, and it continues to be a favourite residence of...

You can't go wrong with coming here. It's majestic to say the least. If you're up for it, take the hike up because it's worth the extra adventure. There also I few extra trails you can get to out of the way of the touristy stuff, most of which are on all trails and google. The tour inside is decent but, I must say I'm not one for doing those kind of tours. If you like getting guided tours and can beat most of the usual traveler traffic it's not a bad gig. The paintings and adornments inside are really interesting. Just keep in mind they do push you out right into a souvenir shop however, the second souvenir shop is better. I must also mention the main drag has tons of other souvenir shops.... All with the usual tourist attraction prices... But still cool. You can do lunch, or dinner, in the staging area but I recommend just going into Füssen or any other town ten minutes outside the castle area. You will get more choices of food styles and in my opinion, better quality. As far as how my family got up to Neuschwanstein, after my hike in the AM up, we bused up and they took the horse buggy down (I walked down cause it was easy). Bus, roundtrip up, was 3.50 a pop... We did round trip as an emergency since it was only .50 extra. After the tour we walked downhill about 400M and stopped at the horse buggies. It was 4.00 a pop and the driver my family had was amazing! He stopped the pushy people trying to cut the line and put kids in front and gave all of them a chance to hold the reigns! My daughter loved it obviously, so I highly recommend. If you're wondering why we took the bus, roundtrip, and the horse buggy down it's because we had older people in the party. At the bus stop it was a downhill walk to the castle and again uphill right at the entrance. After the tour we walked downhill, again, to the buggies and boom. The majority of their walk was downhill, shaded, and super easy. We didn't go to the popular overlook bridge where everyone gets the good pictures due to the MASSIVE line. It was crowded and honestly, not worth it. I MUST SAY THIS, IF YOU'RE A HIKER MAKE THE HIKE UP!!!! it's worth it, and you can but tour tickets...

Highly recommend to buy a ticket and visit this castle instead of the Neuschwanstein Castle, as the latter is under construction, with limited interior to see, and you will need to book the ticket in advance (I tried the day before and wasn't able to get a ticket) else you won't get a slot in.

There are 11 rooms to visit here, and the guide or audio guide will be able to provide you some information on the use and history of each room.

For this castle, you will still need to book your timed ticket online before going, but chances are you will be able to get a slot even if you do it the night before. Your booking time will appear on the screen near the entrance gantry and then you will be able to scan your QR code in. If you are early, you won't be able to go in, but you can explore the palace garden which is free of charge.

To get there, just walk up a 5-10min short walk. There is no shuttle for this castle.

To get the best of both castles, I would recommend a ticket for Hohenschwangau, then get a shuttle ticket to Neuschwanstein Castle, and it will drop you at a halfway stop, you can take the right path up to the viewing point for a great photo of the castle. Left path leads to the castle, where you can see it close up, but won't be able to get a picture of the full castle. Shuttle bus ticket is sold on board by the driver. You may want to get one way up, and walk down a path (easy, about 10-15min), where you can get some photos of the...