Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill on the foothills of the Alps in the very south of Bavaria, Germany, close to border with Austria. The castle served as the inspiration for Walt Disney’s “Cinderella Castle” in Magic Kingdom Theme park, Florida, USA.
After ascending to the throne in 1864, King Ludwig II of Bavaria felt the need to escape from the constraints he saw himself exposed to in Munich, and commissioned Neuschwanstein Palace on the remote northern edges of the Alps as a retreat but also in honor of composer Richard Wagner, whom he greatly admired.
Ludwig chose to pay for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing rather than Bavarian public funds. Construction began in 1869 but was never completed. The castle was intended to serve as a private residence for the king but he died in 1886, and it was opened to the public shortly after his death. Since then, more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer.
Neuschwanstein welcomes almost 1.5 million visitors per year, making it one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe. For security reasons, the palace can only be visited via a 35-minute guided tour, and no photography is allowed inside the castle. There are also special guided tours that focus on specific topics. Those without tickets may still walk the long driveway from the base to the top of the mountain and visit the grounds and courtyard without a ticket, but they will not be admitted to the interior of the castle. Ticket sales are processed exclusively via the ticket centre in Hohenschwangau.
Watch the video clip below for a virtual tour of Neuschwanstein.
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