Linderhof Palace -Schloss Linderhof Ettal, Germany

Official website: http://www.schlosslinderhof.de/

http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/index.htm#inhalt

Linderhof Palace: Location Linderhof Palace is in Ettal, in Bavaria

state, which is located at the south

end of Germany, about 120 Km from

Munich, which is Bavaria's capital

and largest city, and the 3rd largest

city in Germany.

Bavaria is the southeast of the

country and is the largest state,

making up almost a fifth of the total

land area of Germany, and with 12.5

million inhabitants

Bavaria is Germany's second most

populous state.

Bavaria

How to get there

1. By car or coach

• Linderhof Palace is situated in the Graswang Valley, near the village of Ettal.

• Take the A95 motorway and the road B2 to Oberau. Follow the signs in Oberau to the road B23 (Ettaler Straße). Outside Ettal turn left to the road ST2060. In Linderhof turn right to reach the palace.

2. By public transport

• Take the train (www.bahn.com) to Oberammergau: from Oberammergau there is a bus connection to Linderhof (9622).

• The name of this small castle comes from a mighty weeping-willow, Linde in German, which is in the park for centuries

• Construction started in 1869 and wasn't finished until 1879.

• It was the only one of Ludwig's three castles that was completed.

• It's style is a mixture of Renaissance and baroque. It was built inside to resemble a small Versailles Palace (Ludwig admired King Louis XIV of France).

• There is even a small Hall of Mirrors with a one-ton crystal chandelier.

About Linderhof Palace • Linderhof Palace, the "Royal Villa" of Ludwig II, originated as a hunting lodge

belonging to his father Maximilian II - the "Königshäuschen". – It was enlarged by Georg Dollmann between 1870 and 1872 with a U-shaped complex centred

on the King's Bedchamber. Like its predecessor, the new building was a wooden post-and-infill construction.

– It was not until 1874 that the exterior façade was clad in stone, and the old hunting lodge was taken down and rebuilt in the park.

– The palace was then completed with the Hall of Mirrors and Staircase and furnished in the style of the "second Rococo" period.

• Linderhof Park – The Palace Park was completed from 1870 to 1880 from designs by Carl von Effner.

Surrounding the palace are imitation baroque gardens and terraces and cascades in the Italian Renaissance style.

– The adjoining landscape garden continues into the mountain forest of the Ammergau Mountains.

– Ludwig II introduced architectural features into the park based on the world of the Orient, such as the Moorish Kiosk and the Moroccan House, and on scenes from Wagner's music dramas such as the Venus Grotto, Hunding's Hut and the Hermitage of Gurnemanz.

– The linden tree, from which the palace takes its name, is now 300 years old.

http://www.bavaria.by/linderhof-palace-bavaria

Linderhof Palace and its surrounding park is one of the most artistic and stylistically complex ensembles of the 19th century.

The "Royal Villa" is the only palace King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845–1886) was able to complete (1878).

It is influenced by French architecture and modelled on the small summer palaces, usually set in parkland, that were built in France in the 18th century and were also often to be found in Germany in the parks of larger palaces.

http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/englisch/palace/objects/li_schl.htm

Linderhof Palace: Short History Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his

building activities in 1867/68 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle.

First Byzantine palace project, watercolour by Georg Dollmann, 1869

In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.

Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.

Linderhof Palace, the eventual result of a long period of building and rebuilding, is the only large palace King Ludwig II lived to see completed.

http://www.schlosslinderhof.de/englisch/palace/history.htm

View of the main, south-north axis of the central complex

Linderhof Palace Map

Linderhof: Inside the palace

Linderhof Bedroom

Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung

Linderhof Park

• The Linderhof Palace park is among the most outstanding of its era. It combines elements of the French Baroque garden and the English landscape garden.

• The terraces on the central and horizontal axes of the palace with their water basins and geometric flower beds, the long cascade with its elaborate fountains and the two focal points, the pavilion and the Venus Temple, are Baroque motifs. The natural, irregular design of the surrounding park with the exotic buildings is based on English models. Cascade, Neptune Fountain, and Music Pavilion

The beautiful Ettal Abbey, nestled in the little village of Ettal in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, is close to Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Ettal Abbey

• The beautiful Ettal Abbey, nestled in the little village of Ettal in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps, is close to Garmisch-Partenkirchen as well Oberammergau.

• As the abbey is still an active monastery and school, most of it is not open to the public. But it is worth stopping while you are in the area to view the exterior from an impressive approach, and to step inside the beautiful church sanctuary.

• A small Bavarian town. • The town is in a valley next to a small meandering river called the

Ammer. • Oberammergau is famous for the frescoes painted on the walls of

the houses and also wood craving. • Some have Bavarian pictures, but most have religious themes. Franz

Seraph Zwinck (1748-1792), the "inventor" of the Italian-influenced fresco technique known as "Lüftlmalerei" (house wall painting), lived and worked here in the 18th century. Zwinck decorated a great many beautiful facades in Oberammergau and its area.

• The most prominent of them would be the "Forsthaus" (Forest House), the "Mußldomahaus" and the "Pilatushaus" (Pontius Pilate House).

• Also there are two very nice houses located at the entrance of Oberammergau, the "Hänsel und Gretelhaus"

Creative wood carvers of Oberammergau

• Oberammergau has a very long tradition in wood carving.

• With all the forests around this is easy to understand.

• However it is not really known since when the locals are so artistic in this craft, most probably it was even a result of the waggoners’ route and the transport of goods in all directions ….

Stunning painted houses in Oberammergau

https://kimberlywarner.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/oberammergau/

http://www.answer123.com/gallery3/index.php/Germany-2011/IMG_0787-Oberammergau_church