TRIO OF GORGEOUS PALACES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 84, 3 January 1920, Page 9

TRIO OF GORGEOUS PALACES

When the negotiations between tho. new Government in Bavaria and tho ex-monarch Ludwig 111 in Switzerland aro brought to a conclusion, Bavaria will probably own tho three great castles built by King Ludwig II iu the career of extravagance that led to his deposition. Tourists have profited, for the upkeep of tho castles proved beyond the income of the Bavarian royal family, and for >a goad many -years they have been exhibitiorf places earning a yearly income from tho fees of travellers. The three castles': are Neuschwanstein, dominating an elevation in tr.uo medieval fashion in tho Bavarian Highlands; Herronchiemsee, an imitation of the great palace of Versailles; and Linderhof, a rococo palace some seven miles from Oberammergau. Taken together they are undoubtedly the most gorjequs trio of palaces built by any inoSern ruler; the wild career of Ludwig adds to their interest, nnd each palace is a splendid and vastly expensive advertisement of his personal idiosyncrasies. Here, and particularly at Neu!sehwa.nstein, itself modelled to suggest the Wartburg Castle of Wagner's Thuringia, where Tannhajuspr competes for tho Landgrave's prize, aro everywhere costly proofs of Ludwig's friendship for Wagner in paintings showing scenes from tho operas, nnd painted by tho foremost artists of Bavaria. The Wagner influence is found in the other castles, but at Linderhof and the expensive proofs that Ludwig considered himself another Louis XIV predominate in decorations and accessories that reflect the period of the grand Louis. But Ludwig never got much joy out of any of his palaces; he wandered restlessly from ono to another..