The castle is nothing like I expected. Since I’m in Bavaria, I had visions of towering spires and fairytale turrets, but as I push through the last few hundred metres of climb on my bike and Schachen Castle comes into view, I find myself gazing upon a Swiss-style lodge. The pretty, if rather bizarre, structure was built in 1869 by King Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat so he could enjoy the stunning landscapes and exquisite loneliness of the mountains. Indeed, the views from Schachen across the border to Austria are breathtaking.
Inside, things get even stranger. The Turkish Hall is filled with opulent Moorish decor blended with Indian, Baroque and Oriental influences, which contrast with the simple Bavarian interiors on the ground floor. It’s all rather eccentric – a bit like King Ludwig II himself.
Just this month, the Schachen Royal House was added to the Unesco list of World Heritage Sites. There is a charm to this mountain home, although it may not have the classic fairytale beauty of King Ludwig II’s other three Bavarian palaces that also made the list: Herrenchiemsee, Linderhof and Neuschwanstein, the latter of which is known as “the original Disney castle” as it is thought to be Walt’s inspiration for the palace in Sleeping Beauty.
If I’m honest, Germany hadn’t been on my list of summer Alpine destinations. For years it had been hard to tear me away from the French Alps (I’ve spent a good few long weekends scrambling up mountains and running along trails in Chamonix). Then I’d fallen in love with the Dolomites and spent the past couple of summers gazing upon those jagged peaks bathed in rose gold and wandering through meadows of wildflowers. Bavaria had barely registered on my radar.
Read more: Is this German city ‘Florence on the Elbe’?
It was Schloss Elmau that got me out here. I’d heard tales of the mountain retreat where great thinkers mulled over ideas in the shadow of the mighty Witterstein, classical musicians played great works in the grand concert hall, and athletes had trained on the steep mountain trails. Not to mention that two G7 Summits had been hosted at the retreat in 2015 and 2022. If Angela Merkel and Barack Obama could thrash out the…
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