 | This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2014) |
Berg Palace (German : Schloss Berg) is a manor house situated on the east bank of Lake Starnberg in the village of Berg in Upper Bavaria, Germany. The site became widely known as the last residence of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and location of his disputed death. Today, it serves as residence of Franz, Duke of Bavaria, head of the house of Wittelsbach.
The building was built in 1640 in the style of an Italian Renaissance villa by Hans Georg von Hörwarth on the site of an older manor house. Hörwarth came from an Augsburg patrician family that had previously owned several properties in the area. [1] The manor house is located on the shore of Lake Starnberg, opposite Possenhofen Castle.
In 1676 Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria, acquired the estate from the Hörwarth family. He used it as a hunting lodge, for excursions from his summer castle in Starnberg, and for festivities. It reached its zenith under his successors, elector Max Emanuel, who sailed on the lake with a fleet of magnificent ships, and Emperor Charles VII, when it served as the ambiance for spectacular entertainment and hunting events. [2]
Between 1849 and 1851 King Maximilian II instructed the architect Eduard Riedel to redesign the site in Neo-Gothic style, with added crenellations and four towers, for which the king bought additional land. Maximilian's son Ludwig II of Bavaria had a fifth tower constructed, which he called Isolde. In 1853 Maximilian had a small private harbour built.
Ludwig II used the site as his summer residence, moving here regularly every year on 11 May. For this purpose he established a telegraph line from Berg to the capital Munich.
In 1868 the Czarina of Russia Maria Alexandrovna visited Berg upon the King's invitation. Ludwig made it her residence for the duration of her visit and had it magnificently decorated for the occasion, as the site was otherwise rather modestly appointed by Ludwig's standards. He held a legendary festival in her honor with lanterns throughout the park and fireworks.
The surrounding park was fashioned and cultivated by his predecessors according to contemporary ideas of garden design, from a formal Baroque garden to an English landscape garden. Ludwig had the "Moorish Kiosk" set up here which Franz von Seitz had designed and built for the Winter Garden on the roof of the Munich Residenz. [3] In 1876 the King had a small chapel built.
On 12 June 1886, Ludwig, after he had just been declared mentally impaired and incapable of ruling and his uncle Luitpold having been appointed regent, was transferred to Berg Palace. On June 13 he and his physician Bernhard von Gudden were found dead in the shallow waters at the banks of Lake Starnberg. The deaths remain contested, despite the official statement of drowning. A votive chapel and a memorial cross in the lake's shallows mark the site since.
After the king's death the house, still owned by the royal family, became a museum and in 1939 was declared a monument, as it had not been changed since Ludwig's death, and thus acquired not only a historical but also a cultural significance. [2]
After World War II, the site was occupied by American soldiers, who damaged it severely, compounding previous damage caused by the war, especially to the corner towers, and further damage was caused due to burst water pipes. Little of the original furniture was preserved. Initially, the Wittelsbach Compensation Fund, owner since 1923 until today, considered demolishing the house. However, it was completely renovated from 1949 to 1951, as the corner towers were entirely removed and the building was restored to its Renaissance appearance before King Maximilian's gothic revival intervention. The chapel however remained. Subsequently Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, moved in and used it as his main residence until his death in 1996, upon which his eldest son Franz followed him as head of the House of Wittelsbach. However, Franz decided to officially live in Munich instead, where he occupies a wing of the Nymphenburg Palace, and uses Berg Palace as his country retreat. [4]
The House of Wittelsbach is a former Bavarian dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including the Electorate of Bavaria, the Electoral Palatinate, the Electorate of Cologne, Holland, Zeeland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Bohemia, and Greece. Their ancestral lands of Bavaria and the Palatinate were prince-electorates, and the family had three of its members elected emperors and kings of the Holy Roman Empire. They ruled over the Kingdom of Bavaria which was created in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918.
Otto was King of Bavaria from 1886 until 1913. However, he never actively ruled because of alleged severe mental illness. His uncle, Luitpold, and his cousin, Ludwig, served as regents. Ludwig deposed him in 1913, a day after the legislature passed a law allowing him to do so, and became king in his own right as Ludwig III.
Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill of the foothills of the Alps in the very south of Germany, just north of Austria. It is located in the Swabia region of Bavaria, in the municipality of Schwangau, above the incorporated village of Hohenschwangau, which is also the location of Hohenschwangau Castle. The closest larger town is Füssen. The castle stands above the narrow gorge of the Pöllat stream, east of the Alpsee and Schwansee lakes, close to the mouth of the Lech into Forggensee.
Starnberg is a German town in Bavaria, Germany, some 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the district of Starnberg. Recording a disposable per-capita income of €26,120 in 2007, Starnberg regained its status as the wealthiest town in Germany.
Ferdinand Maria was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an elector (Kurfürst) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1651 to 1679. The elector modernized the army and introduced Bavaria's first government code. Besides encouraging agriculture and industry, he also improved building and restoration works on churches and monasteries since the damage caused during the Thirty Years' War.
The Nymphenburg Palace is a Baroque palace situated in Munich's western district Neuhausen-Nymphenburg, in Bavaria, southern Germany. The Nymphenburg served as the main summer residence for the former rulers of Bavaria of the House of Wittelsbach. Combined with the adjacent Nymphenburg Palace Park it constitutes one of the premier royal palaces of Europe. Its frontal width of 632 m (2,073 ft) even surpasses Versailles Palace.
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 Hohenschwangau near the town of Füssen, part of the county of Ostallgäu in southwestern Bavaria, Germany, very close to the border with Austria.
Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria was the son of the last crown prince of Bavaria, Rupprecht, and his first wife, Duchess Marie Gabrielle in Bavaria. He was the only child from that marriage that reached adulthood. His paternal grandfather was Ludwig III of Bavaria, the last king of Bavaria, who was deposed in 1918.
Duke in Bavaria was a title used among others since 1506, when primogeniture was established, by all members of the House of Wittelsbach, with the exception of the Duke of Bavaria which began to be a unique position. So reads for instance the full title of the late 16th century's Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld and patriarch of the House of Palatinate-Birkenfeld: "Count Palatine by Rhine, Duke in Bavaria, Count to Veldenz and Sponheim". The title grew in importance as Wilhelm, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen began to use it, in the early 19th century, as his primary title – Duke Wilhelm in Bavaria. This choice has also had effect for his descendants.
The Residenz in central Munich is the former royal palace of the Wittelsbach monarchs of Bavaria. The Residenz is the largest city palace in Germany and is today open to visitors for its architecture, room decorations, and displays from the former royal collections.
Ludwig is a 1973 epic biographical drama film about Ludwig II, who ruled Bavaria from 1864 to 1886. Directed and co-written by Luchino Visconti, the film stars Helmut Berger as Ludwig and Romy Schneider as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, along with Trevor Howard, Silvana Mangano, Helmut Griem, and Gert Fröbe. It is the third and final part of Visconti's "German Trilogy" – preceded by The Damned and Death in Venice.
Possenhofen Castle is a condominium complex and former palace located in Possenhofen on the western shore of Lake Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany. It is best known as being the childhood summer residence of Empress Elisabeth of Austria.
The Dachau Palace is a former residence of the rulers of Bavaria at Dachau, southern Germany.
DukeMaximilian Joseph of Bavaria, known informally as Max in Bayern, was a member of a junior branch of the royal House of Wittelsbach who were Kings of Bavaria, and a promoter of Bavarian folk-music. He is most famous today as the father of Empress Elisabeth of Austria ("Sisi") and great-grandfather of King Leopold III of Belgium.
Prince Ludwig of Bavaria was a member of the Bavarian Royal House of Wittelsbach.
Leopold Rupprecht Ludwig Ferdinand Adalbert Friedrich Maria et omnes sancti Prinz von Bayern is a member of the Bavarian royal house of Wittelsbach and a former champion race car driver. He descends from King Ludwig I of Bavaria in direct line and is a distant relative to the current head of the House of Wittelsbach, Franz, Duke of Bavaria and his brother, Maximilian, Duke in Bavaria. He also descends from Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth and from King George II of Great Britain, and is therefore a distant cousin of Elizabeth II. As a Roman Catholic he is excluded from the line for the British throne by the Act of Settlement 1701. He also descends from Isabella II of Spain, through her daughter, and Leopold's great-grandmother, María de la Paz.
Eduard Riedel was a German architect and Bavarian government building officer. Among other things he is known for his contribution to the construction of Neuschwanstein Castle.
Mirabell Palace is a historic building in the city of Salzburg, Austria. The palace with its gardens is a listed cultural heritage monument and part of the Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Ludwig II, also called the Swan King or der Märchenkönig, was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, Duke of Franconia, and Duke in Swabia. Outside Germany, he is at times called "the Mad King" or "Mad King Ludwig".
Zweibrücken Castle is a building in the town of Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. It was built as a ducal palace in 1720-1725. It is the largest and most magnificent secular building in the Palatinate. It is now the seat of the Palatine Higher Regional Court, and of the Zweibrücken law courts.
