King's House on Schachen, Germany

King's House on Schachen

Location: 10 km (6 mi) South of Garmisch-Partenkirchen Map

Constructed: 1869- 1872 by King Ludwig II of Bavaria

Open: June- Oct

Entrance Fee: 4.50 Euro

Tel. (0 88 22) 92 03 0

 

Description of King's House of Schachen

King's House on Schachen (Königshaus am Schachen) is located 10 km (6 mi) South of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in the state of Bavaria in Germany. King's House on Schachen hunting lodge was constructed in 1869- 1872 by the order of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and under supervision of architect Georg von Dollmann. King's House on Schachen is not easily accessed. You would have to hike for three to four hours either from Garmisch- Partenkirchen or from Elmau. The most magnificent room in King's House on Schachen is so called Turkish Room that takes a whole room on the upper floor of the residence. It contains beautiful windows, intricate textiles, colorful vases and other items associated with the exotic Moorish or Orient palace. Some believe that the construction of the mansion was influenced by king's fascination with stories of a Thousand and One Nights.

 

Building description

With its wooden shutters and art-sawn balcony railings, the royal house looks rather modest from the outside compared to other Ludwig buildings.

 

Inner space

While the rooms clad with stone pine (living room, study, bedroom, toilet) on the ground floor are kept relatively simple, the upper floor is home to the Turkish Room, a state hall in the Moorish style that the king had designed based on the model of a palace in Eyup near Istanbul . Precious oriental splendor unfolds here; a fountain splashes, fine carpets cover the floor, gilded carvings, peacock feathers, luxurious divans, enameled vases, splendid chandeliers and colored glass windows create an atmosphere of the Arabian Nights in which the king could feel like sultan, sheikh and emir. Ludwig II spent his name and birthday several times in the royal house on the Schachen on August 25th. Today, on this occasion, every year loyalists, believers and hikers gather for a traditional mountain mass.

 

Farm buildings

The former farm buildings are now a mountain hut, the Schachenhaus.

 

Alpine garden

Below the castle there is a botanical alpine garden that was laid out in 1901. It is a branch of the Botanical Garden in Munich and contains over 1000 mountain plants from all mountains in the world, from the Alps to the Himalayas.

 

Location

The castle can be reached via a road from Schloss Elmau (closed forest path) - today known as the Königsweg - on which King Ludwig II was driven up in a horse-drawn carriage or sleigh Today the royal house can only be reached by tourists on foot (approx. 3-4 hours walk).

About halfway along the Königsweg between Schloss Elmau and the Königshaus is the Wettersteinalm, and further up, 200 meters below the castle, the Schachensee.

 

Felix Dahn visits Ludwig II in the royal family

In his mountain retreats, including the royal family at Schachen, Ludwig very rarely received visitors. However, when Felix Dahn was in Partenkirchen in August or September 1873, the king invited him. They had a political conversation that lasted almost six hours. Ludwig's turning away from the world was even more evident in his statements than in what he had written to Richard Wagner six years earlier from the Altlacher Hochkopf (another refuge in the mountains). He now expressed - at least according to Dahn's report - his dislike, even his hatred, for almost all political figures in an extremely passionate manner; the greatest (according to Dahn) was Ludwig's hatred of Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, who later became Emperor Friedrich III.

Hatred of the Bavarian and Munich politicians was largely based on their opposition to Richard Wagner; among other things, these circles had thwarted the plan for a festival theater on the high banks of the Isar in Munich. "And now the master built the wooden shack in Bayreuth with his own strength!"

About the farewell by Ludwig ("Live happy!"), Dahn writes that the king "received my harsh objection to his favorite thoughts in a really royal way".