Neuschwanstein Castle

The castle of Neuschwanstein (Spanish: "The New Swan of Stone") is located in the federal state of Bavaria near Füssen, Germany. It was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1869. Its original name was New Castle of Hohenschwangau, in honor of the castle where the king spent much of his childhood.

Construction: Neuschwanstein Castle stands on the site of two fortresses, the front and rear Schwangau, at the time of the commencement of work lay in ruins. King Ludwig II ordered on this site to lower the plateau by about 8 meters by means of an explosion of rock and thereby create a place for the construction of a “fairy-tale palace”. After the construction of the road and the laying of the pipeline on September 5, 1869, the first stone was laid for the construction of a huge castle. It was entrusted to the court architect, Edward Riedel. Munich master Christian Yank embodied his plans into artistic forms, the so-called "Lead" (pictorial images). The king insisted on personal approval of each drawing, and his participation in the development turned out to be so significant that the castle was considered his personal creation.

In the years 1869-1873 the gates were built. The king’s private chambers on the 3rd floor, as well as comfortable rooms on the 2nd floor contributed to the convenience of the entire building. Starting from 1873, construction work was carried out at a very intense pace, but after a decade they were not completed, and the king decided to move to an unfinished castle in 1884. A year later, the 60th anniversary of mother Ludwig Maria was celebrated at the castle. In total, the king lived in the castle 172 days, and at the time of his death in June 1886, construction was still not completed.

Construction history: Sandstone for the portal and the bay window was brought from Nürtingen, Württemberg. Marble from under Salzburg was used for windows, ledges of the vault, columns and capitals.

A huge amount of building material raised from the west side of the building in the trolleys with the help of a crane operating on steam traction. They were delivered and installed in the right place with the help of a special system of lifting blocks. Construction machines were already annually tested for safety and reliability by the Bavarian Steam Boilers Revision Commission, from which the Technical Inspection Association (TÜV) came out.

In 1880, 209 carpenters and stone cutters were employed at the construction site and ancillary workers. After the death of the king in 1886, all construction work was suspended. At the time of the death of the king, the value of the castle exceeded seven and a half million marks, at the initial cost of the entire project of 3.2 million. The king himself owes his creditors an even larger amount. Just six weeks after the death of Ludwig, the regent who joined the rights made the decision to open the lock for a paid visit in order to return the debts and also gradually complete the project. For several years, the work was completed, but the king’s plans were not fully implemented, the knight’s hall was not completely completed, the 90-meter tower with the church was not built at all, just like a few more rooms, and a large park with terraces and a fountain west of the building. However, the castle turned out to be the main local landmark.