Neuschwanstein Castle

The construction of the breathtaking Neuschwanstein Castle began in the summer of 1868, when up to eight meters of stone were outcropped to make way for the foundation of the castle. In June the next year, the new access roads which would enable the transportation of material to site were completed.

On September 5th the very same year, the foundation stone was laid and the real construction had begun. Despite its medieval look, the last building techniques, material and innovations were used in the construction of Neuschwanstein Castle. The foundations were cemented and the walls were built of brick with light-colored limestone used merely as cladding.

First stages of construction

As one can imagine, building a castle on a rocky location such as this, is quite hard. Despite the modern building techniques, the construction process was difficult and complicated. Even though it was built rather quickly compared to other great castles, it was not built as rapidly as the founder of the castle - Ludwig II - had hoped.

Neuschwanstein Castle consists of the gatehouse which one walks through when entering, the Knights House with a square tower to the right and a citadel in front of the courtyard.  The first building which was completed was the gateway building in 1872. This building was used as a provisional living quarter Ludwig II when he visited the site, until the main citadel had been built.

Final stages

The construction of the citadel started in 1872 and was finished twelve years later in 1884, though without all the final details completed. By that time, Ludwig moved in to the castle and lived there permanently. The whole castle as such stood ready 1892; which totals a construction time of 24 years.

The effect of this white, fairy-tale castle with its beautiful location is simply amazing. Unfortunately, the man who dedicated his life and a fortune on the project, Ludwig II, never got the see the castle completed, as he died in 1886.

The man behind it

So, who was this man, who had such a masterpiece of a castle constructed and what were his motives? The story behind Ludwig II is almost as intriguing and romanticized as the castle itself.

Ludwig was the oldest son of Crown Prince Maximilian II of Bavaria. He lived a typical life of a young royal, with a strict regimen of study and exercise and rather harsh relations to his father and mother. Ludwig spent much of his time at Castle Hohenschwangau, the former ruined castle of Schwanstein, which his father had rebuilt in a gothic style.

Hohenschwangau” means in a strict translation “The upper land of the Swans” and the castle was decorated with scenes from medieval legends and poetry, including the legend of the swan knight Lohengrin. The swan was also the heraldic animal of the Knights of Schwangau, whose successor the Maximilian II considered himself to be.

Ludwig’s dreamscape

Ludwig had already as a child vivid imagination and he identified himself with Lohengrin, both as a real swan knight and as the fictitious knight Lohengrin. The young Ludwig was also influenced by the romantic mountain scenery and the Hohenschwangau castle became one of his favorite places to stay. It was a place for him to escape the strict and limited reality.

Ludwig soon became an admirer of Richard Wagner, a German composer and theatre director. Wagner had a very classic and romantic way of doing operas. Ludwig was introduced to Wagner's "Lohengrin" on 2 February 1861 in the Munich Court Opera House and he was captivated.

At the age of 18, Ludwig became Ludwig II as he took over the throne after his father who had died in a three-day illness. At that time, one of the very first orders he gave was to summon Richard Wagner to his court. There Ludwig II rescued the composer from a financial crisis which helped him to create new operas.

A devastating blow

Soon after the death of his father, Ludwig II suffered a severe personal blow. As the region of Bavaria was allied with Austria, who in 1866 lost the war against the expanding Prussia, Bavaria was forced into an alliance with Prussia which removed the Ludwig’s right to dispose over his own army in case of war. This meant that Ludwig II no longer was the sovereign ruler, simply a vassal of the Prussian ruler.  One year later, he began planning for a kingdom and castle of his own, where he could be a real king once again.

A castle of his own

This castle would be named “New Hohenschwangau Castle” and would be a better recreation of the ideal medieval castle compared to his fathers.  Perfection was the key with a mixture of original style and modern technical features. The main architecture of the castle was drawn, not by a professional architect, but by the theatrical set designer Christian Jank. This further shows how fascinated Ludwig II was by sagas and fantasies and what his motives for the castle were. Through out the castle, its design pays homage to the German legend of Lohengrin, the Swan Knight.

A new world

As the construction of castle progressed, Ludwig alienated himself from people and spent more and more time in the mountains and less time in Munich as he drifted into his fantasy world. Ludwig II increasingly identified himself with Parzival, a legendary medieval figure who became the Grail King through his purity and faith.

Ludwig was so intrigued that he asked Wagner to write an opera about it, which he did in 1877. Wagner and his circle privately even referred to Ludwig as "Parsifal", and his problems were incorporated into the drama of the Grail. This opera was then played exclusively several times for Ludwig.

During this stage, Ludwig started to redesign many of the castle rooms. For example, the "Writing Room" was changed into a small grotto. The modest "Audience Room" became a huge Throne Room. The room was no longer intended for giving audiences, but was built as a monument to kingship and a copy of the legendary Grail hall. A massive Knights Keep was planned for the middle of the upper courtyard but was never built; only the foundation for the keep which is still visible.
 

Reality catches up

However, Ludwig’s behavior was in the long run not compatible with his duties as a head of state. Reality was knocking on Ludwig’s door 1885 as foreign banks threatened to seize his property due to his overwhelming depts. The construction of the castle had cost him a fortune.

When Ludwig refused to react rationally, he was declared insane by the government, and interned in Berg Palace. The next day he was found drowned under mysterious circumstances in Lake Starnberg, together with the same psychiatrist who had certified him as insane.

Post Ludwig

After Ludwig’s death, Neuschwanstein Castle and all its glory was opened up to the public. The castle was also renamed from “New Hohenschwangau Castle” to its current name Neuschwanstein Castle – meaning New Swan of Stone Castle.

Château de Chalus-Chabrol

Châlus-Chabrol is one of the principal castles of the territory of the Monts de Châlus, and certainly the most symbolic. It is situated on the left bank of the Tardoire and the town of Châlus developed around it. It stands on a rocky outcrop that overlooks three very ancient trade routes.

The first castle was constructed in the 11^th century by the Chabrols, a family of local lords. The castle became the centre of a castellany (the lordship of a castle and its territory) within the Viscounty of Limoges. The original castle building enclosed the houses of about ten minor knights. At this time, the castles in Limousin were often fortified collections of houses belonging to various families of knight and lords. These castles were often run as co-lordships.

The castle of Châlus-Chabrol experienced a number of sieges, including that of 1199, which brought Richard the Lionheart to Limousin to fight against the viscounts of Limoges. His army laid siege to the castle and it was while inspecting the siege works that the king was hit by a crossbow bolt, probably fired by a Limousin knight called Pierre Basile. The king died of his wound.

In this period, the castle would have been very different from today, when there remain very few traces of the castle of the 11^th and 12^th centuries. Among these can be seen the remains of the church of Notre Dame, annexed to the Parish of Pageas since the 11^th century. A number of towers and other buildings would also have existed, but they have now disappeared. The arrow that killed Richard the Lionheart was fired from one of these buildings.

The present remains, including the tall round tower, date back to the 13^th century when the castle had been rebuilt according to the latest innovations in design. The round tower in the centre can be dated to the beginning of the 13^th century, that is, just after Richard’s death. Later, in 1265, the castle experienced another siege, led by Bozon de Bourdeilles against Adémar de Maulmont who held it in the name of the viscount of Limoges. Adémar was killed during the taking of the castle. After receiving compensation for the murder of his brother and the rights to the lordship of Châlus, Géraud de Maulmont became proprietor of the castle.

This powerful figure, close to the viscounts of Limoges and the kings of France, was also the founder of Châlucet-haut, situated in the Commune of Solignac where one can still admire the size of the castle that he built. At Châlus, he set about numerous building projects, including the construction of a second castle, Châlus-Maulmont, where he received Marie de Comborn, also known as Marie de Limoges. She had recently become Viscountess of Limoges, partly thanks to the support of Géraud de Maulmont who was one of her principal allies. He also undertook a reconstruction of Châlus-Chabrol, in particular the main living accommodation in the south-west corner. Part of it is still visible.

Corps de logis de Châlus Maulmont (photo Office de tourisme des Monts de Châlus)

Géraud de Maulmont also had a second castle built on the other bank of the Tardoire. Châlus-Maulmont originally consisted of a large rectangular building flanked by two round towers diagonally opposite each other. The large building in the centre must have been originally the living accommodation for the Lords of Maulmont. In fact, it was probably more of a garrison than a home, the lords of Châlus preferring Châlus-Chabrol. There was also a chapel and the whole was encircled by a curtain wall, of which one can see traces in the modern houses nearby.

In 1307, the Maulmont family inheritance was challenged. The King of France, Philip the Fair, altered the inheritance of the Maulmont heirs and gave the two castles to his advisor Henry de Sully. At the end of the 14^th century, the two places fell under the control of the La Trémoille family, and then the Albret family, also viscounts of Limoges, who lived there part of the time in the 15^th century. In the 16^th century they became the property of the Bourbon-Bussets. It was they, followed by the Bourbon-Châlus, a cadet branch of the family, who were the lords of Châlus until the Revolution. They improved the castle of Châlus-Chabrol by constructing a new building for living accommodation more in keeping with its time, after the old medieval castle had been partly destroyed during the Wars of Religion.

During the Revolution, the two castles again suffered much damage. In the 19^th century, Châlus-Maulmont served as a prison. During the 20^th century the castle of Châlus-Maulmont fell into disrepair. The roof of the main building collapsed in the 1920s, and the top of the last tower in 1994. In the 1980s Châlus-Maulmont again became the property of the Maulmont family who are trying to restore it.

You can visit the castle  in the summer.
N.B
Château de means castle ..

Alnwick Castle

The great northern stronghold of the powerful Percy family, the Dukes of Northumberland. Alnwick is primarily a product of the 14th century, and on the outside looks like nothing so much as a grimly brooding Gothic fortress, suitable for a horror movie.

  Its history as a border fortress is evidenced by the fact that there is only one narrow entrance in the thick curtain wall that surrounds the castle.

The inside tells a different story, as the rooms have been remodelled several times over the centuries, most notably by the Georgian master architect Robert Adam in the 18th century for Elizabeth, Duchess of Northumberland.

   One hundred years later Adam's work was altered (read desecrated) by Anthony Salvin for the 4th Duke of Northumberland, who took a fancy to the Italian High Renaissance style. The Duke had Italian decorators imported to supervise the British craftsmen who actually did the work. Good thing for the Duke there were no union restrictions in those days!

The effect inspired by the lavish interior is one of awe. The state rooms are approached by a huge staircase of polished Carrara marble, each tread a solid piece of stone 12 feet in length!

The result of the remodelling is a rich backdrop of damask wall hangings and fanciful coffered ceilings that provides a suitable setting for a remarkable art collection, one of the finest in England. Included are paintings by Canaletto, Gainsborough, Turner, Reynolds, Tintoretto, and Titian. The collection of dinnerware is a match for the paintings, with two Meissen dinner services, and there are also two cabinets which once belonged to Louis XIV. Without a doubt, Alnwick is one of the true treasure houses of England.

Alnwick Castle has been the location for all kinds of films productions and television programmes - most famously taking the starring role of Hogwarts in the first two Harry Potter films. 

The History of Castles

From the earliest times, walls surrounded cities and palaces, often of enormous thickness and of great height, some were surrounded by a moat, others flanked by towers. Some ancient fortifications date from periods so remote as the walls of Babylon and the curtain wall of Ashur from about 1600 B.C.

 The main function of all castles was defense, everything else was secondary. They were always surrounded by a curtain wall, which was often supplemented by a reinforced shield wall at strategic points. Crenellated battlements and arrow slits protected the defenders, and attackers often also had to overcome a series of several gates. The main entrance was protected by a drawbridge and machicolations projecting over the gate, from which boiling liquids and missiles could be dropped on the hapless foes below. The final refuge of the castle residents was the stronghold, or keep. It was the tallest and strongest building within the walls, with a high entrance accessible only via a removable ladder or wooden bridge. In addition to being a watchtower and the centre point of the entire castle, the keep was also a status symbol. The main residential building (great hall) was called the Palas. The castle chapel was often installed in the gatehouse or one of the main towers (nearer my God to Thee!), and a small garden inside the walls provided herbs, flowers and vegetables in emergencies. Offices and service rooms were generally located in the outer ward.

From the 16C on castle walls had to be made increasingly thicker and stronger in response to the development of artillery. Only a few castles were made into mighty fortresses.. Instead, the nobility increasingly moved to more comfortable residential castles, Many, were sumptuously ostentatious and magnificent buildings

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Popular interest in castle ruins began with the age of romanticism. In 1774

Rhodes. Wall of the Ancient City