Linderhof Palace, King Ludwig's of Bavaria favorite castle. The Linderhof Palace in southwest Bavaria Germany near Ettal Abbey. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria Germany and the only one which he lived to see completed.
The history of Linderhof castle – the name comes from a mighty weeping-willow, Linde in German, which is in the park for centuries – certainly since the fifteenth century, when its presence was remarked in the Graswang valley, in the south of Bavaria near the Austrian border.
Linderhof Palace. Garden fountain.
It happened to be in a farm belonging to the nearby Benedictine Abbey of Ettal. In the Nineteenth Century King Maximilian II turned it into a hunting lodge and in 1869 his son Ludwig II bought the land around it in view of building a “royal villa”.
Sculpture In Fountain Linderhof Palace Bavaria
Linderhof Palace. Sculpture in palace garden
Nor is this the end of surprises! In Venus’ grotto (Venusgrotte), inspired by Capri’s ‘Grotta Azzurra’, Ludwig loved to spend hours on end dreaming and thinking, lulled by the water in a small shell- like boat which can still be admired. The display of lights, supplied by the first power plant in the world (1878), adds magic to the place. Here, a scene of Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner, Ludwig’s favourite composer, is re-inacted. The Hunding's Hut (Hundinghütte) is the setting of the first act of the Valkyrie.
The history of Linderhof castle – the name comes from a mighty weeping-willow, Linde in German, which is in the park for centuries – certainly since the fifteenth century, when its presence was remarked in the Graswang valley, in the south of Bavaria near the Austrian border.
Linderhof Palace. Garden fountain.
It happened to be in a farm belonging to the nearby Benedictine Abbey of Ettal. In the Nineteenth Century King Maximilian II turned it into a hunting lodge and in 1869 his son Ludwig II bought the land around it in view of building a “royal villa”.
Sculpture In Fountain Linderhof Palace Bavaria
Ludwig did not intend to build a luxurious ‘home’ where distinguished guests could be welcomed, but merely a place of refuge for himself on the model of Versailles’ Petit Trianon, which was the refuge, ‘lieu of divertissement’ and relaxation of Queen Marie Antoinette. After the plans of architect Georg Dollmann were approved, the work began immediately and was completed by 1879. That same architect also built the castle of Herrenchiemsee.
Moroccan House Linderhof Palace
In 1880 the beautiful garden surrounding the small castle with its perfect geometrical lines took shape, the fountains, the imposing statues and two pavillions of eastern taste, purchased at the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1867 and in 1878: The Moorish Kiosk (Maurischer Kiosk) with its striking peafoul throne and the Moroccan house (Marokkanisches Haus) sold by the Bavarian government when Ludwig’s death occurred in 1886, has been purchased again and returned to the park in 1998.
Linderhof Palace. Sculpture in palace garden
Nor is this the end of surprises! In Venus’ grotto (Venusgrotte), inspired by Capri’s ‘Grotta Azzurra’, Ludwig loved to spend hours on end dreaming and thinking, lulled by the water in a small shell- like boat which can still be admired. The display of lights, supplied by the first power plant in the world (1878), adds magic to the place. Here, a scene of Tannhäuser by Richard Wagner, Ludwig’s favourite composer, is re-inacted. The Hunding's Hut (Hundinghütte) is the setting of the first act of the Valkyrie.
Linderhof Palace hermitage
Linderhof Palace interior
Source text and more: www.tuttobaviera.it
Fot. Elżbieta Fazel
