Have I mentioned that there is a castle on the island in the lake I live on? Well there is. It's called Schloss Herrenchiemsee and it's a replica of Versailles complete with a hall of mirrors, although it lack the left and right wings because König Ludwig ran out of money. Despite that, it was actually used for filming of Versailles in the Three Musketeers movie from a few years ago!
My friend Ellie flew home to Australia last Tuesday (she was au-pairing in Munich), but not before asking to see an 'echt Bayerisch' village and Herrenchiemsee. It was just her and I together in the pouring rain but it was a lot of fun! In Versailles, the hall of mirrors is open for guests to walk through, so I found it kind of uninspiring since all you can see is a LOT of other tourists reflected back. But here, the hall is only open a few feet to guests and the full scope of the room is gorgeous! It really was creative thinking lighting-wise to build giant mirrors reflecting the floor to ceiling windows. The best part in my opinion, was the dining room. There was an open platform in the floor that led down to the kitchen underneath where the table would be laid with food and then lifted up through the ceiling and back into the dining room for the waiting diners! It was like a massive dumb waiter! Very Harry Potter, sans magic.
The weirdest thing about the castle, is that it wasn't obsessed with itself. It was obsessed with the French Monarchy. Most castles are covered with portraits of the owners, but this had mostly landscapes. The king was pretty greedy and ruled over a very independent state, but the entire castle was decorated with the French Fleur de Lis. The only portrait we saw was the ceiling mural in the Hall of Mirrors and a larger than life painting of Louis XIV of France in the king's office. Very odd but not necessarily a bad thing as the king was actually really scary looking.
There was also a really cool exhibit about the King's friendship (and obsession) with Richard Wagner, the theaters they built together and all the operas Wagner wrote that were performed there. There were beautifully detailed 10x10 inch dioramas of stage scenes from these operas. Very cool. There's also an old monestary on the Island with another museum and so we toured that before stopping in for a snack before our ferry. On the menu: Rindbrühe mit Pfannkuchen (Beef broth soup with pancake slices). SOOOOO GOOOD. I dare you to make it at home. It's made exactly how it sounds.
My friend Ellie flew home to Australia last Tuesday (she was au-pairing in Munich), but not before asking to see an 'echt Bayerisch' village and Herrenchiemsee. It was just her and I together in the pouring rain but it was a lot of fun! In Versailles, the hall of mirrors is open for guests to walk through, so I found it kind of uninspiring since all you can see is a LOT of other tourists reflected back. But here, the hall is only open a few feet to guests and the full scope of the room is gorgeous! It really was creative thinking lighting-wise to build giant mirrors reflecting the floor to ceiling windows. The best part in my opinion, was the dining room. There was an open platform in the floor that led down to the kitchen underneath where the table would be laid with food and then lifted up through the ceiling and back into the dining room for the waiting diners! It was like a massive dumb waiter! Very Harry Potter, sans magic.
The weirdest thing about the castle, is that it wasn't obsessed with itself. It was obsessed with the French Monarchy. Most castles are covered with portraits of the owners, but this had mostly landscapes. The king was pretty greedy and ruled over a very independent state, but the entire castle was decorated with the French Fleur de Lis. The only portrait we saw was the ceiling mural in the Hall of Mirrors and a larger than life painting of Louis XIV of France in the king's office. Very odd but not necessarily a bad thing as the king was actually really scary looking.
There was also a really cool exhibit about the King's friendship (and obsession) with Richard Wagner, the theaters they built together and all the operas Wagner wrote that were performed there. There were beautifully detailed 10x10 inch dioramas of stage scenes from these operas. Very cool. There's also an old monestary on the Island with another museum and so we toured that before stopping in for a snack before our ferry. On the menu: Rindbrühe mit Pfannkuchen (Beef broth soup with pancake slices). SOOOOO GOOOD. I dare you to make it at home. It's made exactly how it sounds.