“Your Dream Home” |
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copyright 2001, Grabo'  Prince Ludwig of Bavaria grew up in castle Hohenschwangau (in the foreground.) When he became king, his architectural appetites became legendary: he evidently wanted to keep up with the royalty of France (a much larger kingdom.) He built so many castles and palaces that he was on the verge of bankrupting both his family and the Bavarian kingdom. One day he was deposed and replaced by his uncle, and then mysteriously drowned in a lake (it was mysterious mainly because he was an olympic quality swimmer.) The castle in the background is Neuschwanstein, which was the pattern for Walt Disney's castle in the magic kingdom. The entire castle was built mainly for one inhabitant, the king, who was a bachelor. Unfortunately, he never lived there; he died before it was completed. Well, I suppose he did inhabit it — in his dreams! Autumn 1988, Fuessen, Germany |