The palace, commonly called Neuschwanstein castle, is an icon of romantic Germany around the world. Also known as “Cinderella’s Castle” and for the aura of mystery that surrounds King Ludwig II, there are many stories and curiosities surrounding the Neuschwanstein, one of Germany’s most visited tourist attractions.

Our interview is with Mr. Prost, director of the touristic part of the palace.

The Neuschwanstein is today more than a tourist attraction. It is a myth, a place that is on almost every list of “places to visit“. Where does this fascination with Neuschwanstein come from? Is it a phenomenon of the last few decades? It is even said that he inspired Disney’s Cinderella castle.

The Neuschwanstein palace has always been relatively well visited, since its opening in 1886. In the first year, there were 1000 visitors, as people came to see how King Ludwig II had lived. They were people who lived during the regency of Ludwig II or perhaps they even saw or met him and who wanted to see how he lived. That was what, in the beginning, motivated people to come to Neuschwanstein already in their first year. The Neuschwanstein has increasingly become a magnet for visitors, since 1886, the number of visitors has risen. There were already travel guides, pamphlets in the 19th century that mentioned “whoever goes to Bavaria, or the Alps, must see the famous Neuschwanstein palace”, which then was already part of these lists of “places to visit”. There is always the phenomenon that in each country, there is a consolidated attraction. If you go to Berlin, you have to see the Brandenburg Gate, if you go to India, you have to see the Taj Mahal, if visitors don’t have time to see everything. There are also other palaces in Bavaria that are beautiful, but if you don’t have time to see everything, you will see what is most famous and Neuschwanstein is number one, the most famous.

In 1935, after Walt Disney was here, he built this Cinderella castle that would have been inspired by the Neuschwanstein. He was here, designed a very similar palace, which is still the symbol of the Walt Disney Company, which has many similarities with the Neuschwanstein. This was never denied, but Disney also did not admit it.

How many visitors does the Neuschwanstein palace receive each year?

There are 1.5 million visitors a year. We are not the most visited tourist attraction in Germany, there are attractions that receive more visitors, but which usually have free admission. The Cologne Cathedral has more visitors, also the German Parliament building in Berlin, but you have to differentiate whether the attraction is free or you must pay admission. And of the attractions with paid entrance, we are the most important tourist attraction in Germany.

How many people work in the palace?

It is difficult to say, as it depends on the month. In the summer months, we have sixty employees in the palace administration, in addition to temporary employees, security, cleaning, souvenir shops, in the bistro. They are different companies and vary from month to month, whether you consider the months of July and August or the winter.

For you, what is the best time of the year to visit Neuschwanstein?

This will depend on what the visitor wants to see. The Neuschwanstein palace in the summer, of course, is beautiful, if you want to go hiking on the mountain, it is charming; Otherwise, everything will be snowy, the Marienbrucke as if covered with powdered sugar. Some like to enjoy and then take a ski vacation in Austria which is nearby, depending on their interest. Children love to come here in the summer, skiers prefer in the winter, some combine with cultural events, with a visit to the Christmas markets in Bavaria, it is difficult to say. In winter, we are also open and there are only 4 days when we close: December 24th and 25th, December 31st, and January 1st.

There is no Christmas market around the palace, right? The closest is in Füssen.

Here in the surroundings, there isn’t. But many visitors prefer to come by car and travel further to see the Christmas markets in other cities.

Are there any curiosities about the Neuschwanstein palace or the region that you would like to tell us about?

Curious … ah, sometimes I find visitors curious (laughs). We have a souvenir shop, on the Zimmermannplatz, and on the sidewall, we have posters of the palace. Many visitors take pictures of the poster – they do not take pictures of the palace, but of the poster. They take a picture of Neuschwanstein from the poster and not the actual palace. This is something that I find curious when people take a picture of a poster while the real palace is there in front.

There are many things that can be said about Neuschwanstein. For example, I always find it interesting that Lake Forggensee, this huge lake that you see from the Sala dos Cantores. Many tell and I have seen people telling that there are old images of King Ludwig II, that he would have swans in that lake and that is totally wrong because the lake only came into existence in the middle of the 20th century. It is an artificial dam lake. I find it very curious that many do not want to know this.

What is your favorite room in the palace?

There are, of course, many interesting rooms and rooms in the palaces. You can tell a lot about the bedroom, you can talk about the religious aspects of King Ludwig II, also observe the many Gothic elements, the medieval sagas. It is possible to spend half an hour in this room and still not see everything. It is for sure the room most rich in details.

King Ludwig II of Bavaria was a very interesting and also enigmatic personality, which still fascinates us with his works. How did he come up with the idea of making a castle on a cliff?

The king had known the region since his childhood. He spent a lot of time with his parents at the Hohenschwangau palace, went hiking here and knew that up there on the cliff were ruins of a medieval castle. He certainly knew that from a young age. And then he had the idea of one day building a castle with medieval impressions. When he became king, he had the opportunity and the financial means to accomplish this.

When King Ludwig II built the palace, he did not want to be visited, but to withdraw there in solitude.

Exact. The palaces were monuments to himself. He built other palaces that kind of follow that theme. In the Herrenchiemsee palace, we go back to the times of King Louis XIV of France, of French Absolutism. It is a palace to think you are in France. It is almost a reproduction of Versailles. Here, at the Neuschwanstein, he wanted to enact the theme of the Middle Ages for himself: the knights, the X and XI centuries, the daring heroes. That was his vision of a medieval castle. He had more ideas for palaces, like a Chinese-style palace, as the Chinese emperor was an impressive personality. He had the themes and wanted to represent them for himself. It was never thought that millions of people would come here. He wanted the place for himself, perhaps to guide Richard Wagner since he was Wagner’s great patron and was proud to show him the palace, but he did not want to receive visitors here, not that.

Restoration work is a very important effort to preserve the palace, both inside and out. What is, or was, the most difficult restoration work done in the palace? Which artwork or room takes the most work to restore or modernize?

Yes of course. We are currently completely restoring the internal rooms. It is the largest restoration measure that has been taken since the palace was built. And the most difficult thing is to do this at the same time that the palace is open to visitors. Other palaces simply close when restoration work is to be done. In Berlin, for example, in Charlottenburg, they closed for one, two years, and no one could enter. This is not possible with us, as visitors are traveling, they want to see the Neuschwanstein palace and this is a great challenge for our restorers, who work during the activity hours. The big problem is things like the floors, which must be restored while visitors walk, for example. Individually, the pieces and objects are no problem, like gilding a chandelier in the evening or restoring a painting. The problem is to do this during opening hours.

Some parts of the palace were finished after the death of King Ludwig II, that is, the palace was not ready when he died.

Exactly. Only part of the palace was ready when he passed away and the rest was heavily simplified and completed or was not built. Some things have not been done until today.

Do you believe that, after the Covid-19 pandemic, new measures will be adopted for the visit to Neuschwanstein?

It will still happen. We estimate that after the palace is reopened to the public, it will be with great security measures, such as what all museums in Germany must do, with mandatory distance, etc. Certainly, in the coming months, we will have a very restricted operation. This will still be adjusted with Munich and in two or three weeks we will be able to say what exactly will be implemented. This is still at the decision stage.

This is a question that we ask all of our guests in our interviews. Which museum, city, or attraction in Germany would you recommend to travelers?

If you want to continue with the theme of King Ludwig II and are in Bavaria, there is a palace and also a museum that is often not much talked about, which is the Herrenchiemsee palace. It is a giant palace, whose construction was inspired by Versailles, and the Hall of Mirrors in the Herrenchiemsee palace is even bigger than the original in Versailles. Many do not know this. It is a very impressive room and what is very beautiful is that you must reach the palace by boat, as it is on an island. It is an experience. You arrive by boat to this island and there is this giant palace, you take a guided tour, then visit other museums that are on the island. It is a beautiful place to stroll, also here in Bavaria, and if you want to keep busy with the life of King Ludwig II, you can conclude this trip by knowing other aspects of your life.

Instagram Questions

How long did the palace take?

Until the death of King Ludwig II, 17 years old, from 1869 to 1886 and even more after that, because when Ludwig II died, the palace was not finished. In total, it took about 20 years of construction.

Why is it not allowed to photograph inside the palace?

Ah yes, there are several reasons. In many museums, it is not allowed to photograph, as it hinders the course of a guided tour and in Germany, we have very strict data protection rules and not everyone wants to be photographed. If there is a visitor in the room who is taking pictures and I appear in his photo, I do not want this as a visitor. We also want to protect our other visitors from appearing in pictures of another tourist somewhere in the world, or that in the end they may be published somewhere and they appear in the Neuschwanstein. This is not quite correct.

Our telephone conversation took place in the middle of 2020 and was translated and transcribed by me (Rafaella). The captions of the photos are our own. We are very grateful to Mr. Prost for the interview and to the Bavarian palaces’ administration body (Bayerische Schlösserverwaltung) for the images provided.