Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany
I love castles—from the high turrets to the many windows, to the courtyards and gardens. The royal energy surrounding them pulls me in every time. I could spend hours researching all things castles. So not surprisingly, I love all things princesses too. The first princess movie I ever saw was Cinderella at the movie theater when I was around 5 or 6 years old. This is most likely when I started loving everything fairy-tale and princess related.
Growing up, my mom had a curio cabinet where she put figurines that she collected. They were mostly fairy-tale type figurines. My favorites were a castle and a dragon. I loved looking at them and dreaming about what it would be like to live in a castle or be in a fairy-tale world.
The road was winding, just as you would imagine in fairy tales.
A few years ago, my husband had a business trip in Munich, Germany and I was invited to go with him. I started researching places to stay and found a quaint little town in the countryside outside of Munich. The town was Füssen and it looked like the perfect, quiet place to stay out of the big city.
Little did I know there was a beautiful, well-known castle tucked in the mountains just beside the town. It was Neuschwanstein Castle. Our hotel room window looked right at the castle and at night it just glowed and called out to me. I couldn’t wait to take a tour of it.
Our tour began at the bottom of the mountain. You could ride up or walk the road leading up to the castle. We decided to walk. It was a cool November morning, and it was a little foggy. The road was winding, just as you would imagine in fairy tales. The trees were tall and towering, and we crossed an old bridge. It reminded me of scenes from the Robin Hood movies. It was very enchanting and I could picture carriages speeding by.
As we approached the castle, the grandeur of it was breathtaking. It reached so high above us and the flags were waving. You could almost hear trumpets sounding.
They added to the mystery of the castle and probably have been keepers of it for many years.
As we passed through the arched walkway into the first courtyard, it felt as though you were entering into a different time. We walked up into a higher courtyard and there was a lone tree with a squirrel by it and blackbirds coming and going. They added to the mystery of the castle and probably have been keepers of it for many years.
The inside of the castle was just as beautiful and awe-inspiring. So many ornate decorations and detailed furniture. King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built the castle, had a vision and he carried it out. His story is just as mysterious and grand as his castle. Sadly, he died before it was completed.
Building Neuschwanstein Castle through paper art was quite a process.
Although the castle has a sad tale, its beauty has given many visitors a place to go and imagine and dream of a time past and live in a fairy tale for just a moment. The feeling around it, inside and out, left an impression on me forever. Sad at first, hearing King Ludwig’s story, but then happy that he left such a beautiful structure for the world to look at and be inspired by. I know my fairy tale dreams were fulfilled that day!
Building Neuschwanstein Castle through paper art was quite a process. It has been the most intricate of all my paper art pictures, so far. Sketching it out to understand all the different shapes, gave me the opportunity to really understand and see all the details of it. Choosing the colors to use and then cutting out each piece was a little glance into how many resources and time it took to actually build such a grandiose building.
The glueing and piecing together took just over an hour and it was worth every second! Each piece bringing the memories back of all the lovely things I remembered about this amazing fairy-tale castle!
