Chiemsee

 A beautiful countryside greets those who venture east from Munich toward Salzburg, Austria.

                                                   Chiemsee Lake, below, in southern Bavaria         

 

King Ludwig purchased an island in the Lake in 1873. It had been the site of the Augustinian monastery, below, which the King converted into a private residence--the Old Palace.

The King, commonly known as Mad King Ludwig, began construction of his New Palace in 1878. Fixated on King Louis XIV of France, the palace was intended as an homage to Versailles.

Photos are forbidden through most of the lavish interior, although only approximately half of the complex was completed. When the King mysteriously died in 1879, all construction was halted. Of his three most famous and fantastical castles--Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, and the New Palace, the latter cost more than the other two combined. King Ludwig stayed at his beloved New Palace on only a few occasions.