Morning journal and courier., 1888-08-15
pAnAnRs oF LupWIG u.

King With Royal SpIender ana
 studded with Art Treasures.
 The following letter, written by Professor M. Steinert to his sons in this city, will be I found of general public interest and will well | repay perusal:
 ScHLANGENBARD, July 15, 1ss8.-Since my ! last letter to you have undertaken my grand journey-my trip to the royal palaces of the | King of Bavaria-an act requiring a consid \ erable degree of enterprise, and one which, on account of it's character and object, is to be dwelt upon as of more than ordinary in- terest When one is travelling in foreign land many things, on account of the various and changed conditions under which he sees them, appear to be different from anything seen before; but es general thing careful comparison will disclose many ressmblances, and they may be classified without any trouble. This cannot be said of what saw while visiting these castles, nor is there any, thing in all history that comes up to it. l will, therefore, not try your patience further but say at once that my visit to these palaces alone has amply repaid me for my trip to Germany. In looking at them I can at length realize what man can do in the way of art
 when he unbridled and has all the power and means at hand that King Ludwig IL, of Ba-
 varia, had when he built them.
 Whatever may be said against the King in
 spending millions and millions in building these castles, and for spending still greater
 sums to furnish and ornament them with the
 choicest treasures of the art world, one can
 but stand in astonishment before them, and
 is constrained to say that such perfections and such grandeur can only be envolved and planned by the brain of man of genius one who is inspired with the holy fire and 8 love for all that is beautiful.
 Let us therefore pay tribute to the unfor- tunate Ludwig, and judge him by what he has left us. Let us begin our journey to his castles in the Bavarian highlands There are five of them, called respectively Hohen- schwangen, Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Berg and Werrenschiemsee. There was to have another castle, but it was only begun, and there is, in addition to the five castles, hunting seat and some other smaller dwell ] ings, all at considerable distance from each other, the "Eremitage" and the Funding hutten being true representation of the hut I in the tWalkuere," where Siegfried finds Brunhilde, the Dragon and the sword.
 \ The castles lay far away in the Bavarian Highlands in dense forests, entirely cut of I from civilization, with the exception of the castles of "Hohenschwangen" and "Neu- schwanstein," {" both of which are situated near small town called 'tFussen;" the jour- ney is therefore very long winded and tedi- ous one, as it has to be made mostly by wag>
 
 schwangen, Neuschwanstein and the Lieder- hof, and from there it takes two days more \ to see the other two. Ferdinand Aisehmann was my travelling companion, and together we started upon our journey from Munich. The first part of the distance was accom- plished by sailing vessel on the Starnberger \ Sea, one of the most beautiful lakes of the Bavarian Highlands, whence a grand pano- ' ramic view of the mountains can be had. In | the midst of pleasant park stands the small but pretty Castle of Berg. It was favorite | abode of the late King Ludwig. The castle | is a two-storied building and contains about ' Q dozen rooms. It is old building, con- structed by Ludwig's forefathers, and is not deficient in artistic merit. The principal \ objects of interest to be found therein are numerous paintings in illustration of the fa- vorite themes of Wagner's operas. Here it | is that the unfortunate King drowned him. self, and it is principally memorable on that ' account.
 The next castle, Hohensenwangen, also in \ the highlands, is an old building and per \ feet pattern of an old baronial castle. A bread stone staircase leads into the interior of the castle, and over the vestibule we read \ the legend in German, Welcome, wander CTS, charming women; let cares depart; give II ID your soul to the cheerful sway of poe E try" The building contains long halls, filled with the furniture of past ages, arms and such articles which serve to mark the resi-
 
 five gardens, and the whole structure on it's great height looks grand and imposing. | It has been the summer residence of the mother of the late King, and as the son wished T to dwell somewhere in the neighborhood he | concluded to build himself castle near by which should excel in beauty and richness even the old Hohenschwangen. With this end in view he began opposite, at a still greater elevation, on top of mountain, to build the grand and renowned 'Neuschwan- stein, ." a structure which astonishes the world
 and of which will try and give you 8 short
 description. The present castle is built on
 the ruins of the old castle of Schwanstein.
 The architecture is strictly Roman with four stories, having marble facings and topped by roof of solid copper; high Roman towers lend an imposing effect to the whole. Through drawbridge we enter, the gateway over which we read the words, Fidelity watches day and night" The castle surrounded on all sides by mountains, but between us and them are precipices of immense depth. The water rushes down from the rocky heights through the gorges with a sound that can be heard at great distance. The first story of the building is occupied by the servants. From there we ascended by winding stair cases, all built in the old Roman style, and at length entered the antechamber of the King. This apartment is adorned by fres- coes painted by Aigner, representing the \ Sigurd legend, and from the ceiling is sus-
 
 To the right is the "Throne Saal;" to the left the King's apartments. There we find \ the dining room, furnished entirely in red \ and gold; on the table golden service rep- \ resenting Siegfried killing the dragon; there \ is also to be noticed drinking horn; on the sideboard a large goblet of Charles v. of pure gold 8 swan rests on the stove, and there are also paintings representing scenes from 'tTannhauser." From this room we entered H the bedroom, finished in Gothic style in blue \ and Gold. On the walls were paintings from Tristan and Isolde This room contains a
 Gothic bed, which must have cost thousands of dollars. At the head of the bed are five paintings from the New Testament, all of great value. There is also a monumental stove and wash table, with silver swan an- < swering as 6 wash basin.
 Opening into the bedroom is a small
 chapel for private devotions, containing paintings of holy subjects. Adjoining is the dressing room, in which are magnificent \ hangings and peacocks embroidered in gold; this room also contains paintings of the life of "Walther von de Yogelweide," Hans Sachs and scenes from the MeistersinRer. We next entered the dwelling room, finished \ in blue and silver, with paintings on the walls representing scenes from Lohenerin; almost the whole opera is thus portrayed, the whole being the work of the greatest art \ ists in the world. By succession of marble steps we next ascend into the throne room, \ the ceiling of which is frescoed in scenes from the history of Christianity; the gran deur of the effect is beyond expression. By | stil another stairway we mounted into the \ ante-ohambsr, decorated with paintings from Nieblungen, and from this room we passed | into the minstrel or singer hall, which is fill Y ed with scenes from the Parsifal. This con ! cert hall has no equal for it's beauty of design ! splendor in all details, its pitch, acoustic properties and ornamentation. The last is in \ gold, marble and hue colors. It has gallaries like church and the ceiling is so painted so
 as to make it appear just ss if you were { looking into the skies above. The whole,
 when illuminated with candles, of which one thousand are used, is sight never to be for- gotten. In order that the King might view the work from the high hills around he built bridge from one mountain to another, and often sat alone at night looking down upon his creation. should also mention that con-
 neeted with these rooms is dropping stone
 Rrotto with winter garden. In the grotto
 is waterfall and, the illumination by play
 of col0rs.
 Wenext visited the forest castle of Linder-
 hot Tf ia ca11ad hv Garrnan vriters A vuood