Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Linderhof Palace






King Ludwig II built Linderhof Palace where he lived longer than in any other palace, including Neuschwan- stein. Linderhof is not a large palace but it is ornate to the extreme. Ludwig admired Louis XIV of France and modeled Linderhof after Versailles. No pictures were allowed of the interior.

The Palace includes every kind of marble you can imagine, countless porcelain figures and vases, and 22- and 24-carat gold leaf. Pictures are of French nobility. 

Ludwig didn't require many servants at Linderhof. He had a system installed so that meals could be prepared in the lower level (basement) and raised through the floor--table and all. So his meals could be served without the presence of servants. 

In one room of the palace, mirrors were so placed that the images were endless. When you look to the right (or to the left) the hallway in the mirror appears to go on forever. 

The grounds around Linderhof include many fountains and statutes and beautiful floral gardens and formal hedges. 

Ludwig, an admirer of the works of Richard Wagner, had a man-made cave built to feature the opera Lohengrin. It included warmed waters on which a small ship shaped like a seashell floated. It also included colored lights, a painted scene from the opera, and a waterfall. It's the largest man-made cave in Germany.

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