Around Fussen (off the bike)

We are so lucky with weather.  The rain started shortly after we arrived in Fussen with plans to spend a couple of days here.  It continued to dump steadily that day and all of the next.  Not good weather for cycling, but perfectly adequate for visiting museums and also arranging the logistics for the next leg of our journey (more on that to come).

Fussen is another old city dating back to Roman times and with an economy now based largely on tourism. 





The city museum is built in a former monastery.

Library in the former monastery

In St Anne's chapel (in the former monastery) there is an amazing painting on the ceiling of the "dance of death."  It dates from about 1600, and the panels show the plague coming for everyone, from the highest (popes and kings) to common people and children.



We had reserved tickets to visit the castles at Neuschwantstein and Howenschwangau Thursday, and the rain conveniently ended overnight. 



We've been told that about 2 million people visit the castles each year, but it seemed like only ten percent of them were there today.  We took a city bus from Fussen to the area of the castles (they are very near each other), and then a shuttle bus up the hill to near Marienbrucke, a bridge over the gorge overlooking Neuschwanstein. 



We weren't the only ones on the bridge.



We had plenty of time to explore around before our scheduled tour start.  We were not the only ones waiting there.



Neuschwanstein was constructed in the late 1800s by King Ludwig II of Bavaria (before he was determined to be insane and deposed).  He was a big fan of the knights of old, and his vision was to reconstruct a medieval castle.  The construction of this one, and a couple of others, bankrupted him.  (But, as a local we met at a rest break on the bike while riding into Fussen pointed out, maybe he was a smart businessman with a very long time horizon: the investment in those castles has paid off handsomely for the local economy.)

The castle tour was interesting, but a little disappointing.  We were herded, as part of a large group, fairly quickly through a number of castle rooms, with an audio guide pressed to our ears for the descriptions.  The rooms were mostly devoid of furniture and items, so it was hard to imagine what it was like in its day.  Because of the crowd and the pace, there wasn't time to fully appreciate everything we saw, much less see it all.  Pictures aren't allowed inside, so you won't see any here.

After that tour, we walked down the hill to Howenschwangau. 



This is the castle where Ludwig II grew up, and it is easy to see how it provided inspiration to him. The walls inside are covered with paintings (commissioned by Ludwig's father) showing a variety of heraldic and other romantic scenes from medieval times. The tour here was in a much smaller group, and led by a live guide.  Rooms were well furnished with the original pieces and lots of interesting art objects from the time of Ludwig's parents (who used this castle primarily as a summer home).

garden fountain

Both castles are situated in a beautiful spot at the base of the Alps.  Neuschwanstein is on a high rocky bluff; Howenschangau between two lovely lakes.  It is now somewhat surrounded by hotels and other tourist infrastructure.



Back in Fussen, we had some time to walk around an enjoy the evening light before dinner.



We also walked around the old castle above town.  The walls make extensive use of trompe l'oeil (added in the late 1400s) to create the illusion of windows and relief.



And now on to the next phase of our journey.  This morning we take a train to Lindau (on Lake Konstanz, on the German-Swiss border), then a ferry to Konstanz at the western end of the lake.  From there, we'll continue cycling along the Rhein, into Switzerland and France before returning to Germany, and as far north as time allows before our flight home.