On my final day of visiting King Ludwig II’s fantastical castles and palaces, today it was the turn of Herrenchiemsee Palace.
Herrenchiemsee Palace is on an island in a lake. King Ludwig II craved isolation to live in his fantasy world and building a palace on an island was an ideal solution for achieving solitude. He even made sure that the palace was built where it was not visible from the lake for an added measure of privacy.
I spent the day on Chiemsee, the largest lake in Bavaria, known as the Sea of Bavaria. To start with I got the boat from Prien am Chiemsee over to Herren Insel and headed straight to Herrenchiemsee.
Herrenchiemsee was King Ludwig II’s most extravagant and ambitious building project. He wanted it to be a copy of Versailles, as he greatly admired King Louis XIV of France, but King Ludwig wanted his palace to be bigger than Versailles. It is bigger than Versailles and the Hall of Mirrors is longer than the one at Versailles. But it was never finished.
When you go into the North Staircase of the palace it’s richly decorated, but the decoration of the South Staircase which was supposed to match its counterpart was never begun and is exposed bare brick. Even so, with very little completed, the money King Ludwig spent on the building you see today amounted to around a staggering £150 million in today’s money. After the death of King Ludwig II, part of the palace was demolished.
I did a tour of the palace and it was an excellent tour. The more I saw of the handiwork of Mad King Ludwig, the more I liked him. Every room just surprises and amazes. The bedrooms were extravagant and ridiculous, but strangely wonderful too. The Hall of Mirrors was a staggering spectacle and the dining room had a magic table that lowered through the floor like in Linderhof, so that the king could dine alone and enjoy his fantasies.
As for the bathroom, the bath took 8 hours to fill and heat, it was so deep, even at 6 feet 4, King Ludwig wouldn’t have kept his head above the water. It was more a swimming pool than a bath really. But a bath that size, that’s my kind of bathroom! This palace was absolutely huge and it was fantastic.
Sadly King Ludwig II only spent 9 nights in his wondrous palace. He actually spent more time in the Old Palace, where he stayed when overseeing the construction of Herrenchiemsee, than in his new palace.
After looking around Herrenchiemsee Palace, I went in the museum which had portraits of King Ludwig II and plans for his castles. The detail was incredible. There were designs for a soap dish and a gondola shaped cutlery holder! At first I thought it was a bit extreme, but after visiting the Munich Residence the following day, I realised you do need that kind of detail. I was very impressed.
Then I had a walk around the grounds of Herrenchiemsee and the thing that strikes you most about the gardens are the fountains which are incredible. The main fountain is a copy of one at Versailles and represents the story of Latona, mother of Apollo, and has frogs and turtles spouting water. The Fortuna fountain features the goddess on the wheel of fortune surrounded by cherubs riding dolphins. The Fama fountain has men falling to their death off the top of the fountain, representing Fama’s victory over evil. These were all sculpted in stone, not real, you understand. Everything that King Ludwig II designed was extravagant and over the top.
I went in the Augustinian Monastery known as the Old Palace where King Ludwig II had a couple of rooms where he stayed when he came over to Herren Insel to check on the progress of the building of Herrenchiemsee. I had a look around to see where King Ludwig had slept, in order to complete what had turned into a bit of a pilgrimage to Mad King Ludwig. The Old Palace is only small and doesn’t take long to look around, but it’s certainly worth a stop if you have the time.
The Hall of Planes in front of the Old Palace with its view of Frauen Insel was planted in 1893 and the trees along this avenue were really beautiful.
After that I went over to Frauen Insel, the second largest of the three islands on Chiemsee. I walked right around the island, which you can do in about half an hour. Frauen Insel has around 300 permanent residents, many of whom are artists who sell their products in craft shops located around the perimeter path. Consequently it took me longer than 30 minutes to walk the island’s circuit because I spent time mooching in the craft shops and ended up with a wonderful metal frog from Frauen Insel who lives in my kitchen.
Frauen Insel is also home to a working 8th century Benedictine convent. I had a look inside the convent church. Frauen Insel is the home to Germany’s only island Christmas Market and the island is all lit up with candles and is beautifully decorated at Christmas, the nuns decorate the island and apparently it’s quite something to see. The Christmas market is another good reason for me to return to Bavaria.
During this trip to Bavaria, the only thing I did miss in my pilgrimage to King Ludwig II was Lake Starnberg where King Ludwig had died. However, after witnessing all his wonderful creations I’d seen on this trip by visiting his visionary castles and palaces, demonstrating the wonderful imagination of this eccentric king, I think seeing the lake where he died would have been rather a sad conclusion to my tour and only succeeded in ending things on a low note. Maybe I would go there on another visit to Bavaria.
For this trip I thought it far better to leave rejoicing in the fantastical palaces and fairytale castles which were the lasting legacy of this sensitive, dreamy king than go the place where he met his tragic demise. He had left some wonderful buildings behind for the world to enjoy and I had thoroughly enjoyed them all and that was what I wanted to remember about the amazing King Ludwig II from this holiday.
I travelled in Bavaria during the second week of May in 2015.
As with the other palaces and castles of King Ludwig II, no photographs can be taken inside Herrenchiemsee, but the official website is excellent, with beautiful photos of the interior of each room in the virtual tour.
General information, including admission prices, can be found on the official palace website.
I bought a 14 day pass which was valid for a large number of castles and palaces throughout Bavaria and cost 24 Euros. This leaflet details all attractions covered by the 14 day pass.
You can only visit Herrenchiemsee as part of a guided tour.
In 2018 tickets for a guided tour of Herrenchiemsee cost 11.00 Euros per person and include admission to the King Ludwig II museum and the Augustinian Monastery as well as to the special art exhibition Königsklasse until 3 October.
From 4 October through until May, the Königsklasse special exhibition is closed. During this time, the ticket price is reduced to 9.00 Euros per person and includes a guided tour of the palace of Herrenchiemsee, admission to the King Ludwig II museum and Augustinian Monastery.
Combination tickets for entry to Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee cost 26 Euros per person.
Herrenchiemsee is located on Herren Insel on Chiemsee Lake. The island can be accessed by boat from Prien am Chiemsee. Prien am Chiemsee is 88km from Munich which is an approximate one and a quarter hour drive from the city.
Boats from Prien am Chiemsee to Herren Insel run regularly from approximately 7am to 7pm. Boats also stop at Frauen Insel. Return tickets from Prien am Chiemsee which include a stop on Herren Insel and Frauen Insel cost 9.40 Euros per person. Details of ticket prices and timetables can be found on the Chiemsee ferry website.
I stayed at Hotel Kriemhild close to the Hirschgarten in Munich.
I flew to Munich direct from Birmingham Airport with Lufthansa
Read further instalments about my tours of King Ludwig II’s fantasy castles and palaces.
Neuschwanstein Castle
Linderhof Palace
I also visited the Bavarian palaces in Munich.
Schloss Nymphenburg and the Munich Residenz
Read about my other adventures on my trip to Bavaria and Austria.
Paragliding in the Bavarian Alps
Surreal Night at the Rattlesnake Saloon
Längenfeld Aqua Dome Spa
I love visiting castles and palaces. Read about other castles I’ve visited around the world.
Kronborg – A Visit to Hamlet’s Castle
