Excursion to Linderhof Palace

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The thick clouds were gathering around the sun in the western sky on 24 June. We had heard that it would be raining all day in the southern Germany. I was awoken by the rain drops in the early morning.



We had planned eating our own breakfast in our room on 25 June. We all had bread, cheese, and ham and coffee at 7 o’clock. We kept watching the news and weather. I advised everyone to wear pullovers, as well as taking waterproof jacket and umbrella.



We left for the central station at 7:40. We were catching the RB 5413 departing at 8:32. WE were a little anxious that the station name of Murnau wasn’t on the list on the timetable. I checked it with one of the ladies working for Deutsche Bahn. She told us to get on the train for Murnau from the No.29 as the timetable said.



The light on the passengers’ cars wasn’t on when we go on the train but it switched on when the train was about to leave. As expected, the regional express RB 5413 service for Innsbruck did not provide English announcement. The RB 5413 train was running through the lush countryside and it stopped at Stainberg and Tutzing along Starnbergersee (Lake Starnberg) where we learnt that Ludwig II was found dead. The train reached Murnau at 9:28. Arriving at the platform 3, I believed that the platform 4 would be next to where we would get off, however, it was located on the southern edge of the platform 1. As we approached the platform 4, we could see the modern looking cars waiting, and it was the train for Oberammergau departing at 9:42. The little car didn’t have any conductors who would check the railway passes and provided automated Germany announcement for the next station. The train was running across the resort areas of Bavaria and lush countryside with the Alps mountains on the back and brought us to Oberammergau at 10:21. Upon the arrival of the bus terminal, I managed to find the bus for Linderhof Palace which was due to depart at 10:25. The bus was running through Oberammergau and Ettal villages, and it offered opportunities to see very attractive painter houses, e.g. Pilatushaus or Geroldhaus. Having seen numerous hotels and restaurants, we understood that Oberammergau and Ettal villages are resort towns. Afterwards, the bus was running uphill, and it brought us to Linderhof at 10:50.



Linderhof Palace

Unfortunately, the rain was falling continuously when we reached Linderhof. Despite the rain, there were a lot of tourists arriving at Linderhof Palace.



We showed 14 day Bayern Palace cards at the reception and were offered English speaking guided tour at palace starting at 11:55. We followed the footpath, and walked past the swan lake and some of the palace buildings. As we reached the palace early, we strolled around the water parterre, terrace garden, and walked up to Temple of Venus. The palace and water gardens looked beautiful despite the rain. Having managed to find the sheltered place, my mother started sketching the palace. I was amazed to see a number of ornate pots, sculptures, and fountains in the garden.



We walked down to the palace 10 minutes before the session. Mark held the timed ticket for 4 persons, so we stayed with him whilst going through the turnstile.



The guided tour was started at Vestibule which had the equestrian statue of King Louis XIV of France and very striking ceiling decorations of sunburst and two puttos.



The English speaking guide kindly lent Japanese guided notes for my parents at the beginning of the tour. He said that Linderhof Palace was the only palace which was completed when Ludwig II was alive.



After leaving the Vestibule, he took us to Tapestry Rooms, Cabinet Rooms, Audience Room, Bedroom, Dining Room and Hall of Mirrors. He pointed at highlights and features of each room for us, e.g. portraits of people whom Ludwig II adored, a very ornate king sized bed using his favourite colour, i.e. blue and gold, or dining table with the connection of the dumbwaiter from the kitchen, whereby the prepared meals were popped up for the king, etc. He spoke clearly and slowly so that we could understand his personality and his architecture style. All of the rooms, furniture, and tapestries were elaborately decorated with mythological figures, golden statues, gilded carvings, big ornaments of peacocks and swans and crystal chandeliers with loads of candles. The guide told us that Ludwig II was strongly inspired by the medieval Knight Stories, Louis XIV, Versaille Palace, and Richard Wagner. He was a shy guy so that he didn’t even talk to the servants in Linderhof Palace, as well as the fact that he wasn’t interested in carrying out the court duties or meeting up with various people and attending official ceremonies as a king of Bavaria.



Having seen an awful lot of luxurious but cumbersome statues and sculptures, etc inside or outside the palace, my father was wondering how they had been conveyed to the middle of the mountain, which was 900 metres above sea level, without having proper concrete roads being constructed. Mark guessed Ludwig II and his secretary must have ordered loads of horses to carry those statues. My father felt that Ludwig II must have believed that he would be sent to the heaven if he faithfully kept looking after angels and nymphs, whist comparing the fact that there were such shoguns who kept loads of Buddha statues and golden shrines. He added, “Basically, these type of people were just interested in themselves. They did not care about their countries and people.” Understandably, Ludwig II didn’t like carrying out court duties or attending official ceremonies as a king of Bavaria. He just spent millions of money on his building projects. Although he was criticised that he was living in a dream, he seemed to have gained posthumous recognition through his spectacular building projects, which have been appreciated by a huge number of tourists internationally and his buildings have contributed to the tourism industry for the state of Bayern.



The rain was falling continuously in Linderhof and it was getting heavier in the lunch time. My father was moaning about the wet weather and asked me if we could leave early. We explained to him that there weren’t very many bus or train services around Linderhof and Oberammergau and it was the best to take the 16:40 bus for us to get the train departing at 17:38 from Oberammergau. My mother persuaded him that there were still more buildings to see in the site.



Moroccan House

Moroccan House was one of the nearest buildings from the main entrance. The exotic building with red and white stripe was standing in the middle of the mountain slope overlooking the swan lake. We looked at the inside through the glass, which was decorated with Islamic architectural style with fountain in the centre of the room.



Royal Lodge

Next, we popped in the Royal Lodge, which Ludwig II often lived before the completion of the palace. Special exhibition was held. We were given the English guide notes to look round the exhibitions. A series of documents, memorabilia, and exhibitions showed the life of Ludwig II and how he designed the fairytale castle as an architect. He was indeed a genius architect who could design the immaculate layout of the symmetrical buildings and gardens in the medieval architectural style, incorporating the modern technology for his buildings. There were portraits of his fellow architects and artists who were involved in designing and processing the building work of Linderhof, Neushwanstein, and Herrenchiemsee palaces.



Moorish Kiosk

We walked across the palace garden and headed for Moorish Kiosk. Another exotic building was standing on the high plain. It was even surprising to see palm trees on the land where it snows every winter. We looked at the interiors through the glass. It was not only decorated in the Islamic style but also several ornaments of peacocks and the marble fountain incorporating golden domes and shrines were very striking.



Venus Grotto

Finally, we went to Venus Grotto. We had to wait a bit in the rain for the next sessions when we reached the site. Two of ushers greeted visitors in German and English. As soon as we started following the trail on the cave, we could hear Wagner’s music and were shown the mysterious place with water magically illuminated in different colours. We saw the big mythological painting and golden boats with attachment of a golden angel doll, both of which were reflected on the illuminated water. The guided talk was carried on, but it seemed that they were only providing German session, so we just walked through the trail and took some photos.



We reached the Music Pavilion, overlooking the cascade and palace. We saw the Alps mountains beyond and found glaciers on the mountainside.



We went back to the main entrance. There were numerous souvenir shops, cafes, and restaurants. We found some interesting goods and bought a couple of postcards, guides, and souvenirs.


We went down to the car park at 4pm. The rain started easing off when the bus was leaving Linderhof and the mountainous area, and blue sky appeared when the bus approached Oberammergau village.



We took the 17:38 train for Murnau from Oberammergau. We enjoyed wonderful scenery of Alps mountains and lush countryside with Swiss cottages. We were amazed with the structure of Murnau station, which allows the people to ride on the bus at the same platform as the train, which we had never seen in the UK and Japan.

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