1/2 Driving to Berlin

We drove to Berlin with Kathinka and Maxime, the purpose of the trip being to bring back most of their belongings as they are soon living Berlin for good. Because this is a long drive, we decided to do some tourism as well and visited a few nice places.

Since I was a boy, I had wanted to visit the “magical” Neuschwanstein Castle. Now was the time to do it.

It is build next to Hohenschwangau Castle which we saw as well.

Hohenschwangau Castle is a 19th century palace in southern Germany. It was the childhood residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and was built by his father, King Maximilian II of Bavaria. It is located in the German village of Schwangau near the town of Füssen, part of the county ofOstallgäu in southwestern Bavaria, Germany, very close to the border with Austria.

Hohenschwangau Castle was built on the remains of the fortress Schwanstein, which was first mentioned in historical records dating from the 12th century.

In April 1829 Crown Prince Maximilian (the later King Maximilian II of Bavaria) discovered the historic site during a walking tour and reacted enthusiastically to the beauty of the surrounding area. He acquired the ruins - then still known as Schwanstein - in 1832. In February 1833 the reconstruction of the Castle began, continuing until 1837, with additions up to 1855. The architect in charge, Domenico Quaglio, was responsible for the neogothic style of the exterior design.

Hohenschwangau was the official summer and hunting residence of Maximilian, his wife Marie of Prussia and their two sons Ludwig (the later King Ludwig II of Bavaria) and Otto (the later King Otto I of Bavaria). The young princes spent many years of their adolescence here. The King and the Queen lived in the main building, the boys in the annex.

King Maximilian died in 1864 and his son Ludwig succeeded to the throne, moving into his father's room in the castle. As Ludwig never married, his mother Marie was able to continue living on her floor. King Ludwig enjoyed living in Hohenschwangau, especially after 1869 when the building of his own castle, Neuschwanstein, began only a stone's throw from his parental home.

During World War I and World War II the castle suffered no damage. In 1923 the Bavarian Landtag recognised the right of the former royal family to reside in the castle. From 1933 to 1939 Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria and his family used the castle as their summer residence, and it continues to be a favourite residence of his successors. More than 300,000 visitors from all over the world visit the palace each year.

Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany.

The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as homage to Richard Wagner. The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle.

History: In 1832 Ludwig's father King Maximilian II of Bavaria bought the ruins of Schwanstein Castle to replace them by the comfortable neo-Gothic palace known asHohenschwangau Castle. Finished in 1837, the palace became his family's summer residence, and his elder son Ludwig (born 1845) spent a large part of his childhood here.

Concept and ethos: Neuschwanstein embodies both the contemporaneous architectural fashion known as castle romanticism (German: Burgenromantik), and Ludwig II's immoderate enthusiasm for the operas of Richard Wagner.

Architecture: The effect of the Neuschwanstein ensemble is highly theatrical, both externally and internally. The king's influence is apparent throughout, and he took a keen personal interest in the design and decoration. Despite its size, Neuschwanstein did not have space for the royal court, but contained only the king's private lodging and servants' rooms. The court buildings served decorative, rather than residential purposes. The palace was intended to serve Ludwig II as a kind of inhabitable theatrical setting. As a temple of friendship it was also devoted to the life and work of Richard Wagner, who died in 1883 before he had set foot in the building. In the end, Ludwig II only lived in the palace for a total of 172 days.

We then drove to Regensburg.

...and guess where we slept?

Regensburg (historically also Ratisbon, from Celtic Ratisbona) is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. The large medieval center of the city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The first settlements in Regensburg date to the Stone Age. The Celtic name Radasbona was the oldest name given to a settlement near the present city.

Around AD 90 the Romans built a small "cohort-fort" in what would now be the suburbs.

In 179 the Roman fort Castra Regina ("fortress by the river Regen") was built for Legio III Italica during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

From the early 6th century, Regensburg was the seat of the Agilolfing ruling family.

From about 530 to the first half of the 13th century, it was the capital of Bavaria. Regensburg remained an important city during the reign of Charlemagne.

After the partition of the Carolingian Empire, the city became the seat of the Eastern Frankish ruler, Louis II the German in 843.

In 1096, on the way to the First Crusade, Peter the Hermit led a mob of Crusaders who attempted to force the mass conversion of the Jews of Regensburg and killed all those who resisted.

In 1135–1146 a bridge across the Danube, the Steinerne Brücke, was built. This stone bridge opened major international trade routes between Northern Europe and Venice, and this started Regensburg's golden age as a city of wealthy trading families.

In 1245 Regensburg became a Free Imperial City and was a trade center before the shifting of trade routes in the late Middle Ages.

At the end of the 15th century Regensburg became part of the Duchy of Bavaria in 1486, but its independence was restored by the Holy Roman Emperor in 1496.

The city adopted the Protestant Reformation in 1542, and its Town Council remained entirely Lutheran until the incorporation of the city into the Principality of Regensburg under Carl von Dalberg in 1803.

From 1663 to 1806, the city was the permanent seat of the Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire. Thus Regensburg was one of the central towns of the Empire, attracting visitors in large numbers.

In 1803 the city lost its status as a free city. It was handed over to the Archbishop of Mainz and Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Empire Carl von Dalberg in compensation for Mainz, which had become French under the terms of the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801.

Between April 19 and April 23, 1809, Regensburg was the scene of the Battle of Ratisbon between forces commanded by Baron de Coutaud (the 65th Ligne) and retreating Austrian forces. It was eventually overrun after supplies and ammunition ran out.

Regensburg was a WWII Area Headquarters of Military District XIII. Regensburg also had a Messerschmitt Bf 109 aircraft factory and an oil refinery, and was bombed on August 17, 1943, by the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission and on February 5, 1945, during the Oil Campaign of World War II. Unlike most other major German cities, Regensburg had little damage from the Strategic bombing during World War.

... tea time, in former East Germany.

Next visit is Potsdam (under the rain...)

Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and is part of the Metropolitan area of Berlin/Brandenburg. It is situated on the River Havel, 24 km (15 miles) southwest of Berlin city center.

Potsdam has several claims to national and international notability. In Germany, it has the status Windsor has in England. It was the residence of the Prussian kings until 1918. Around the city there are a series of interconnected lakes and unique cultural landscapes, in particular the parks and palaces of Sanssouci, the largest World Heritage Site in Germany. The Potsdam Conference, the major post-war conference between the victorious Allies, was held at another palace in the area, the Cecilienhof.

Sanssouci is the former summer palace of Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, in Potsdam, near Berlin. It is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and is far smaller than its French Baroque counterpart, it too is notable for the numerous temples and follies in the park. The palace was designed by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff between 1745 and 1747 to fulfil King Frederick's need for a private residence where he could relax away from the pomp and ceremony of the Berlin court. This is emphasised by the palace's name: a French phrase (sans souci) which translates loosely as "without worries" or "carefree" symbolising that the palace was a place for relaxation rather than a seat of power. The palace is little more than a large single-storey villa—more like the Château de Marly than Versailles. Containing just ten principal rooms, it was built on the brow of a terraced hill at the centre of the park. The influence of King Frederick's personal taste in the design and decoration of the palace was so great that its style is characterised as "Frederician Rococo", and his feelings for the palace were so strong that he conceived it as "a place that would die with him.

The town of Potsdam, with its palaces, was a favourite place of residence for the German imperial family until the fall of the Hohenzollern dynasty in 1918.

After World War II, the palace became a tourist attraction in East Germany. It was fully maintained with due respect to its historical importance, and was open to the public. Following German reunification in 1990, the final wish of Frederick came to pass: his body was finally returned to his beloved palace and buried in a new tomb overlooking the gardens he had created. Sanssouci and its extensive gardens became a World Heritage Site in 1990 under the protection of UNESCO.

The New Palace is situated on the western side of the Sanssouci royal park in Potsdam. The building was begun in 1763, after the end of the Seven Years' War, under Frederick the Great and was completed in 1769. It is considered to be the last great Prussian baroque palace.

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