Day 16: European Family History Trip: Neuschwanstein Castle and Garmisch-PartenKirchen, Germany
Neuschwanstein Castle Tour, Oberammergau, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
On the final full day of our trip to Europe, we took a tour of the inside of Mad King Ludwig’s Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps. It’s the one the Disney Cinderella Castle is patterned after. It was quite fascinating to learn about King Ludwig II who built all these elaborate castles for only himself to live in. The tour guide mused that if King Ludwig II had lived during our time, he could get lost in virtual realities with video games. But for his time, he had to build these elaborate worlds where he could pretend that he was a powerful king … when he really was only a figurehead in a Constitutional Monarchy.
The paintings on the walls were wonderful. For example, his bedroom had scenes from Tristin and Isolde all over the walls. This way he could sit in his room and pretend he was living out the story. Each room had different themes. No photos were allowed inside.
It was an incredibly cloudy/foggy day for this tour so we were not able to see the views around the castle or get any really good photos of it. But, at least we got to see the inside. We were able to get some descent pictures of the castle the day before. Click here if you’d like to see those.
Oberammergau, Germany
Our flight home the next day was out of Munich so we drove through Oberammergau which is a beautiful city with lots of Christmas shops.
Handmade Nativities in Oberammergau, Germany
One shop had hundreds of different kinds of hand carved Nativities. I took a video of a sampling of them.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
Next, we went to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. This is one of the spots my mother visited during her time in Germany back in 1953.
My mother wrote in her personal history, “I spent the month of August 1953 in Munich with my friend Phyllis Walker and her husband, who had Army quarters (a nice house with garden). Phyllis was one of my friends from Pekin. Phyllis and I spent time sightseeing in Munich (riding the street cars). Roger was away doing border patrol on the east-west border.”
Roger and Betty (my mother) in Garmisch-Partenkirschen in the Bavarian Alps
This is a photo of Betty and Phyllis in Garmisch, Germany.
Chocolate Shop
We got some amazing chocolate in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
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