The fabulous Ludwig’s castles have no lack of creativity and taste, a man obsessed with a fairy-tale world. During his lifetime he completely built the smallest castle Linderhof and almost completely built Herrenchiemsee.
Three? Really? Not quite.
In Neuschwanstein has only 15 of the rooms completed. In the long gallery hall of Neuschwanstein, the King hung plans for the fourth castle, named Falkenstein.
Background
King Ludwig II, born in 1845. His father was father King Maximillian II of Bavaria, and his mother Princess Marie of Prussia. While being young, he spent a lot of time as a Prince at Hohenschwangau Castle. His father’s biggest project was the Castle Hohenschwangau. Hohenschwangau is a spectacular and secluded castle, decorated in a gothic revival style with frescoes depicting heroic sagas. Castle Hohenschwangau was the summer residence from the family Wittelsbach.
By the age of 18, after the death of his Father, the Prince became King Ludwig II. King Ludwig’s greatest passions and his real interests were in art, music, and architecture. Notably, one of his first acts in reign was to summon Richard Wagner to his court. Furthermore, in 1864, he laid the foundation stone to a new court of theatre. This now known as the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz (Gärtnerplatz Theatre).
However, only 2 years after his coronation, the state of the expanding Prussia conquered Bavaria. This also along with Austria, in only a matter of weeks. This demoted Bavaria from an independent nation to a part of Prussia. A greatly humiliating vanquish for Ludwig II and Bavaria, which then later joined the North German Confederation in 1870. This great defeat is believed to have made Ludwig retreat into himself. This torment followed him until his death.
Ludwig’s change
It was then a year later that Ludwig mostly withdrew himself from politics. Devoting his time to his creative projects. Those he is most well-known for, the creation of his castles Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof, and Neuschwanstein.
The King had a great obsession with the works of Richard Wagner, a German composer. Those were especially appealing to his fantastical imagination. It is believed that Wagner inspired Ludwig and his castles. However, in December 1865, Ludwig had to ask Wagner to leave Bavaria. His perceived scandalous and extravagant behavior in the capital, which unsettled conservative individuals. After this, Ludwig had considerations of abdicating the crown to follow Wagner in his exile. Wagner persuaded the King to remain in Bavaria to continue his rule.
The Fourth Castle
During their visit to the castle, they received a tour which included a gallery hall. In the gallery, hall hung drawings of the three castles Ludwig had built. Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee, and Neuschwanstein itself. However, it was one drawing, in particular, a design for the castle unfamiliar to the couple, that caught their attention the most. It was only after personally inquiring about the art piece, that it appeared to be a plan for a fourth castle to be built by Ludwig. Falkenstein.
Falkenstein castle was to be built by Ludwig on the ruins of an older castle named Castrum Pfronten. Situated in the Bavarian Alps, near the town Pfronten, lies the ruins of this 13th-century castle which was destroyed in the 17th century, during the thirty-year war. This is where Ludwig planned to build his fairy-tale castle. Only water lines and roads were constructed to service the site. The only completed work on the castle itself was a paper Mache version and the final plans for King Ludwig’s fairy-tale castle. All work seized after the King’s death, and even to this day, the ruins of Castrum remain.
The castle plans
The King hid the drawings and plans for Falkenstein in his castle Neuschwanstein. This is because he did not see eye to eye with his uncle, over his construction projects, and so he decided to keep them from him. When Youngs inquired to see these drawings, they had been informed that Wilhelm Kienberger, the previous director of Neuschwanstein, had taken the drawings with him whilst working on his book about King Ludwig II. The Youngs located the previous director Mr. Kienberger with the help of the current Director. Mr. Kienberger created copies of Christian Jank’s artistic rendering of the castle. He was also the designer of Neuschwanstein. They also received other detailed sketches of the castle plans. The Youngs decided to build their very own Falkenstein Castle in Texas after having an immense feeling that they had come across something extremely special.
Upon Young’s return to their hometown of Burnet, Texas in the United States, the couple commenced work on Falkenstein. Positioned above the rolling Texas hills country, within the preserved Texas parkland, it has a 360-degree view of up to 30 miles in any direction. A castle once completed, has a footprint of 174,240 square feet (4 acres). In the construction, hundreds of thousands of pounds of limestone, granite, sand, cement, rock, and block had been used.
The castle is authentic on the inside as it is on the outside, with examples such as a gothic-style chapel. A hand-carved French gothic altar, enough room for 195 people could extend to 250, and a 35ft high ceiling. Enough for a King and all his guests. Other features include spectacularly arched doors and stained-glass windows, very much like the original castles built by Ludwig.
Falkenstein in Texas
The finished Texas-based castle looks from the exterior evidently like a Ludwig castle, with its iconic crenulations, and steep conical tower roofs. Ludwig had great fairy-tale plans with almost unrealistic proportions.
These fantastic influences are evident in the final designs for Ludwig’s Falkenstein, by Julius Hofmann and Eugen Drollinger. These architects knew that Falkenstein’s construction never be possible. Because of this, they created spectacular and extravagant designs.
Drollinger was working on the design for the King’s bedchamber when he learned of his death. Although the Texas-based castle is more symmetrical and has fewer towers than Ludwig’s original plan, it has a hint of modern realism, still looking like a fantastical creation.
It leaves you wondering what, if “The Mad King” was more realistic and economical with his designs, at least his 3 constructed castles might have been completed. But then, would they be as spectacular and as world-famous as they are? Probably not.
Now a dream for everyone
Now serving as a private residence, it formerly served as a popular wedding destination and has even been used for film and television projects, as well as charitable events. However, it is normally closed to the public and is ‘no longer offering weddings’ (stated on their Facebook page). Sincerely, if you know Ludwig’s castle and the projects from Falkenstein, you expect a little more.
So, after almost a century’s wait to complete Falkenstein, a place Ludwig writes about in his diary on the 16th of October 1867 as “Falkenstein wild, romantic”, ‘der Märchenkönig (the fairy-tale King)’ no longer only has 3 castles.
He himself was not involved in the construction of Falkenstein or Young’s own modern-day plans before they commenced their work in 1996. However, in some sense, the King truly did gain the fourth castle. The day the Youngs toured Neuschwanstein back in 1995, he inspired them to do something, even Ludwig’s architects thought would never be completed.
Funnily, it might be even beyond “The Mad King” Ludwig’s imagination, that one of his castles would be in Texas. It is truly magical what the Youngs achieved. In some sense, it is even more magical than what Ludwig did, as they didn’t have the title of King and the power that is bestowed upon that.
Even so, they completed what King Ludwig II couldn’t, which is his fourth castle. The castle of Falkenstein in Burnet, Texas, USA.
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