Linderhof Castle

The Linderhof Castle, also called „royal villa“, is the smallest of fairy-tale king Ludwig II's castles and is situated in the Upper Bavarian municipality of Ettal, in southern Bavaria (ca. 30 min. from Reutte).

The castle that was built in several stages between 1869 and 1886 is known as the favourite castle of Ludwig II, in which he resided for the most time by far. It was created in a historical style and in the rococo style and reminds one of the summer residences of the 18th century. The walls and ceilings of the castle rooms are pompously decorated and many ornaments stand to prove the fairy-tale king's admiration for the French royal dynasty. As an example, in the enormous dining hall there are images on the ceiling depicting the life at the court of Versailles, and the biggest room in the building, which is the royal bedroom, had in its function been created in the image of the bedroom of the French Sun King.

Also belonging to the castle, there are richly decorated gardens, of which several extensive areas offer aspects reminiscent of baroque or rococo gardens, as well as English landscaped gardens. In the castle park there are several ornamental buildings, a waterfalls and an artificially created water basin with a fountain up to 22m high. Moreover, there is a pompous „Moroccan House“ furnished in a pompous oriental style, the Moorish Kiosk, which is a pavillon, and the so-called Hunding's Hut, a romantic log cabin. On the site there is also the „Hermitage of Gurnemanz“, a hermit dwelling that was built due to Ludwig II's inspiration from an opera by Wagner. The artificial Venus Grotto which also stems from an opera by Wagner, is another highlight of the castle grounds.

The castle and its gardens are open for visitors, and guarantee some hours rich with history and culture. Richly decorated gardens also belong to the castle grounds.