July 8- Julie’s Birthday at Ludwig’s Castles

Oberammergau is a small town that we fell in love with back in 2001 when we made a whirlwind trip through Germany. It is best known for it’s Passion Play which it holds every ten years. It is also known for the many murals that decorate the walls of the businesses and homes, for wood carving, and for its Bavarian charm. We are staying in a pension that is decorated very much like the other buildings in town. Inside, it smells a little like Grandma Jung’s house and the color palette of much of the décor seems to come from the 1930s-1960s. It gives it a homey feel.

We ate breakfast in the cozy dining room this morning. While Julie was working on getting a little laundry done for the rest of us, the girls made her birthday cards using the doodle pads and markers that they brought for the car rides. Scott tried getting more of the blogs uploaded.

Our first stop today was Hohenschwangau Castle. We bought our timed tickets for the English language tour, and strolled around the grounds (and the gift shops) while we waited for our tour’s number to be posted on the signs. The castle was where the famous King Ludwig II grew up, and was built by his father in the 1800s. The castle contains much of its original furniture and objects d’art. The walls are all painted in the Romantic style with scenes from German myths and history. It was a little embarrassing to only recognize a few of the many scenes, but Scott was intrigued that the Catholic rulers of the area had Martin Luther painted as one of the heroes in the scenes. We saw the queen’s chambers on the first floor and the dining room and princes’ chambers on the second floor. In spite of how large it appears on the outside, the castle seems relatively small on the inside because it was more of a get-away castle for the royal family. The main palace was in Munich. The rooms are fascinating and richly decorated nonetheless.

We then caught a horse and buggy to Neuschwanstein Castle. The two horses pulled our carriage most of the way up the hill. When we got out we got a quick lunch of bratwurst and pretzels, and hurried to the castle for our timed tour.

Neuschwanstein is possibly the most famous castle in Europe. We loved it when we came here in 2001. Those who are reading this blog who know our house would recognize it from the huge wall hanging that we have over the stairs in our living room. Everyone else might know it as the most “Disney-like” castle outside of a Disney park. That is not a coincidence. The “mad” King Ludwig had the castle built because he loved the ancient German sagas from Richard Wagner’s operas and fancied himself one of the knights of ancient yore. He was a 19th Century Romantic, and even though many people might think that the castle was built in the high Gothic period of the Late Middle Ages, it was actually built after our American Civil War. The castle’s charm lies in the fact that it is intentionally built as the perfect fairy tale castle, and yet, it is also a very personal statement by Ludwig, and for his own ego and enjoyment. There are few buildings in the world that are so completely an expression of the unique personality of their owners while still being so emblematic of the times that they were built in. Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello is one of these rare personal expressions of a world view that also shows visitors the inner workings of his mind. Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein is similar in that way. No one else would build a castle like this one. No one else could have.

Neuschwanstein’s rooms are decorated even more sumptuously than Hohenschwangau, and once again the walls are decorated with murals from German myth and history. Dad challenged Anastasia to find as many swans as she could in the castle because Ludwig used it as his personal symbol. Our tour group was very large, too large for many of the rooms. We saw the king’s throne room (though his throne was never built), his bedchamber and living room, as well as the theater he had built for command performances of Wagner’s operas. Scott thought that we passed quickly through some of the rooms that we had seen more of in 2001, perhaps because of the number of people on the tour. Either way, most of the castle was unfinished when Ludwig died, so there isn’t more than what we saw.

After we exited the castle, we trudged up the hill further to the bridge where so many of the beautiful pictures of the castle are taken from. In spite of the climb, the bridge is the easiest way for most people to get a panoramic view of the castle. Back in 2001, Julie complained that Scott had tricked her into making the climb up the hill, but she forgave him when she saw the incredible view of the castle. Today, it was Julie that was excited to see the view again and Scott who was reluctant to start the trek up the hill. Unfortunately, we were all disappointed to see that the whole side of the castle that faced the bridge was covered in scaffolding. (There seems to be a lot of construction in Europe this year.) We should have expected it because we saw some of the workers tinking away at the stone by the windows as we were on the tour. When Julie asked the guide about them, the guide said that the workers were repairing cracks that had been developing in the walls.

We walked all of the way down the hill, and Daddy told the girls that they should be looking for fairies and elves in the woods as they went. If there is any castle that they would gather near, it would be this one.

When we got to the bottom, we drove to a surprise for the girls. It was a long summertime luge run, very near the castles themselves. The wheeled sleds are first pulled up a hill by a towline. Then, they coast down a long metal track, swerving through swooping curves. The riders can control their speed using the break lever between their legs. Anna rode down on one sled, while Emma and Julie rode together on the second. (Scott was taking video and pictures.) They liked the first ride so much that they tried it again. This time, Julie tried to see how fast they could go, and she and Emma were flipped in one of the turns. Julie skinned her knee a little and Emma scraped her finger, but they both quickly scrambled back on. Dad’s picture shows that they were both smiling as they rounded the last turn, and all three girls said that the ride was a “high” for the day.

We arrived back in Oberammergau to stay at the same place we did last night. We walked to dinner and enjoyed the murals on some of the houses. Anna and Emma both liked the Rotkäppchen House, which has pictures of the story of Little Red Riding Hood, and the Hansel and Gretel House. We went to dinner at the Alte Post hotel, where we had eaten and stayed back in 2001. We had schnitzel and noodles for dinner, and Julie had crisp apple strudel for her birthday cake. The waitress got a kick out of how Emma was telling her sister to say, “Danke,” when the desert came. All three girls played a happy game of follow the leader back to the hotel. It was a really good day, and a happy birthday for Julie.