Hohenschangau Castles in Autumn
Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein Castles
I had seen pictures of Bavarian castles in Autumn and was determined to take advantage of living just hours away to experience this for myself.
The two Bavarian castles of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau drew me back once more to see them dressed in their autumn colours to herald in the winter.
I was not disappointed, for above the autumn colours towered first Neuschwanstein Castle…
…its white sandstone walls a contrast above a palette of red hues that would have done any master painter proud…
…and then Hohenschwangau Castle.
It was like a temptress luring you onward, for these photos were made within a few steps of each other on the approach from the nearby town of Füssen, making a pretense that the Bavarian Castles are closer to each other than they are in real life.
The whole concept of Bavarian Castles in Autumn first came into my life in the form of the painting of a similar name painted by Wassily Kandinsky. It hangs now in the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, but painted in 1908, it reflected Kandinsky’s impressions of the sort of intensity of overlapping colour that welcomed my return to Hohenschwangau.
Kandinsky and colours and Hohenschwangau
First inspired to paint by the works of Monet - Kandinsky was a lawyer who was also an accomplished musician. He played both piano and the cello, which he described as having the bluest colour of all instruments.
He 'heard' colour – or conversely 'saw' colour from sounds.
By contrast, I see pain in colour - much to the interest of my chiropractor.
Kandinsky's work was to revolutionize art through both his abstract paintings and his writing. In his books Concerning the Spiritual in Art (Dover Books on Art History) and Point and Line to Plane (Dover Books on Art History)
Kandinsky drew on the spiritual relationship of art – both in the responses of the viewer and the ability of the artists to transfer the harmony, pace and depth of the emotion – as does a composer with music – onto canvas.
The music of the Wagner opera “Lohengrin” – the same that inspired King Ludwig II of Bavaria – caused Kandinsky to write, after experiencing the opera at a Moscow concert :
I saw all my colours in spirit,
before my eyes.
Wild, almost crazy lines
were sketched in front of me.
On the trip down I had been listening to selections from my eclectic music collection, but turning off the autobahn had just switched to 'The Swan' by Saint-Saëns
It seemed to be the right music to visit the High Country of the Swans, Hohenschwangau and the Bavarian Castles in Autumn.
You might like to read this page to the same music.You can listen here to Yo Yo Ma playing The Swan with Kathryn Stott.
A visionary, if eccentric, king
When you speak about Neuschwanstein – please don’t refer to it as the castle of a 'mad' king.
Ludwig was eccentric, inspired, willful – but his state diagnosed 'madness' by a psychiatrist who had never even met, let alone examined Ludwig – is commonly believed to have been an excuse to have him deposed.
King Ludwig was inspired by the romance of the Swan Knights who had previously lived in this enchanted area, and of the mythical Parsifal and Lohengrin – and their struggles to be honourable enough to be worthy guardians of the Grail.
Just as for Ludwig, and for many before me, travelling through the vibrant countryside to approach tBavarian Castles in Autumn I was moved by the incredible beauty around me.
The play of colours made me smile – and I had to comment out loud on its loveliness.
The Romantic Road to Hohenschwangau
Once off the Autobahn, the route was punctuated with picturesque villages through which on previous trips I had only passed in the dark.
Hoheschwangau autumn colour
Once at the Hotel Müller in Hohenschwangau, they said that this year there was a particular intensity to the autumn colour.
You could see it on their restaurant terrace.
The same intensity decorated the entrance to the Jagerhaus, further up the street.
This time, the room at the Hotel Müller ( who were just as welcoming as BEFORE I wrote how welcoming they were!) looked straight out at Neuschwanstein Castle.
Hohenschhwangau Castle above the town seemed as if carved out of the sky, for the air was so still and clear that every edge was precise.
The Alpsee at Hohenschwangau
I was just in time to wander around the Alpsee – the lake below the castles, and wait to see how the sun would depart and over what it would drape yet another mantle of colour.
The result was not what I expected, having some sort of blazing display of in my mind.
Instead of the sunset colours painting the lake crimson and gold, it was as if there was some sort of orchestrated complicity where they instead seemed to cast a spotlight on both castles – Neuschwanstein in the distance, and Hohenschwangau close to the lake.
Before sinking below the mountains, the sun seemed to particularly enjoy a rest on the yellow walls of Hohenschwangau directly above the lake shore.
The light is captured here from the boathouse where you can rent canoes or paddleboats.
It was a lovely time of day to be there, though as you will see from the morning video – so is early morning.
Couples were sharing the view of returning canoes…
…and the pathway beckoned you onwards as if briefly illuminated from underneath.
This lighting effect also framed the fishermen as they cast into the lake
…and made a Kandinsky-worthy effect of almost unreal colour along the lakeside as the same scene was for the briefest moment transformed from this…
…to this momentary transition to surreal colour.
Finally, the dusk approached and brought back with it the deeper sky blue and richer dark contrast.
The pathway beside the Alpsee is popular for dog walking…
…and more fishermen were arriving.
Being autumn, the sun didn’t linger and when it finally did set, I was expecting some sort of spectacle of colour on the water.
Instead there was just a blush of pink as the daylight dimmed…
Sunset in Hohenschwangau
…and then man-made illumination took over, highlighting Hoheschwangau Castle above the town.
What the German’s call the 'Blaue Stunde' (the Blue Hou)r – that period of intense blue that sometimes occurs between sundown and darkness – fell on the Bavarian Alps ans set the King’s Chapel into contrast against the tall maypole of Hohenschwangau.
The Jagerhaus (Hunting Lodge) was ready for Halloween the following night.
A very friendly looking Jack-o-lantern sat by the door, where before had sat merely a pumpkin.
Every building was transformed by internal illumination, suggesting what was taking place within and making each suggestion in one’s mind as a piece of fantasy itself.
The Bavarian castles in Autumn are just as captivating as in summer.
The magic of light and dark
The kings of Bavaria loved the mountain beauty of their kingdom – and in their accompanying passion for the arts they have left us a great heritage in the castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein.
Both are a sort of culmination of romantic idealism, fantasy and inspiration.
As I walked in the twilight, I thought of the power of light and dark to play upon each other and transform the spirit.
Many times, alone in a strange city, I have walked at night, looking at the imagined lives softly sketched by lit rooms that formed a sort of magic stage on which I could create the players.
Light has powers of magic and as Samuel Butler said:
We all know what light is;
but it is not easy to tell what it is.
Perhaps that is because we do not so much 'see' as 'experience' light – and each of us has a unique experience of the moment.
So, in a thoughtful mood I returned to my room at the Hotel Müller.
I was a bit cold, but feeling the privilege of having only to share the twilight theatre around the two castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein with the handful of people still left after a day crammed with thousands of tourists from all over the world.
Hotel Müller Hohenschwangau
Hotel Müller closed last autumn for lengthy refurbishment. You can read about it here.
Entering the Hotel Müller, I was welcomed by the autumn decorations at the entrance…
…and a beautifully cooked dinner to finalise the day.
Oscar Wilde once said:
A dreamer is one
who can only find his way by moonlight,
and his punishment is
that he sees the dawn
before the rest of the world
King Ludwig lived most of his life in isolation and was a 'night person', as have been many artists and composers.
Dreamer he was, for how else could he have created the brilliant castles that he did.
Autumn Dawn in Hohenschwangau
Like the rest of us, I have my dreams – and although I most enjoy arriving at dawn from night-time festivities – there have also been times when rousting myself from bed to welcome the dawn has been no punishment – and so it was again at Hohenschwangau.
The sunshine was gently wakening the mountains… with the colour I had missed at sunset now appearing on the lake.
…together with some startling colour effects as the autumn dawn light seemed to be dancing from leaf to water and back again.
The light seemed to linger on every leaf – and I understood why artists like Kandinsky have been – and are still – inspired by Bavarian castles in autumn.
I was at first the only 'dreamer' for whom this dawn scene was painted.
Somewhere between three and five thousand visitors would be here as the day progressed – but for now it was just me with the birds and the sound of the leaves falling.
Listen and watch for yourself.
Fishing on the Alpsee in Hohenschwangau
Shortly the fishermen arrived, and as if detected by radar, along came the fishing licence inspector to collect his fee – and to tell them that it was over on the other side of the lake that the big catch was made yesterday.
As Hohenschwangua awakes
Looking from the boathouse, Hohenschwangau Castle blushed pink with the dawn light – as if it was slightly embarrased to have been discovered returning late from night revelry.
I returned to a wakening town.
The workers were getting the place orderly for the daily invasion.
I saw the reason why the town was so tidy, for outside each residence someone was picking up any stray rubbish – even cigarette butts.
There was someone outside the Lisl Hotel – leaving the street in front and entrance immaculate.
Further down the hill the process was being repeated outside the Hotel Müller.
I just had time to have my breakfast and check out before taking the bus to the Marienbrücke for a different view of Neuschwanstein Castle.
Thinking about my expectations of both sunset and dawn at Hohenschwangau, I was delighted that I came with no predisposed ideas about what Bavarian castles in autumn wold be like - apart from lovely.
I was reminded of the admonition of André Gide :
Seize from every moment
its unique novelty,
and do not prepare your joys.
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