Washington Journal., 1943-02-26

Mother recognized to be one of Gobelin's
designs.
Upstairs in the royal bed chamber we gazed
on a wide, four-pOster bed with a sllken
~coverlet embroidered with the Wittelsbach
arms under a canopy surmounted at is head
by a golden crown. The stately bed was shut
off from the profane world by a golden rail
ing. The major domo showed us where a
narrow winding staircase led from the
"ruelle'', as he called it, down to a private
bath room, all blue, where a small swimming
pool was sunk in the marble floor.
"Tischlein, deck dichP'
Another show piece was the Kings private
dining room, through the floor of which a
table could be made to rise from the kitchen
and pantry below by an ingenious contrivance,
so as to appear before the seated King, all
set with luscious eatables and precious silver
ware.
SO soon as the King had finished one course
he could press a button, whereupon the table
would sink through the floor to reappear in
a jiffy with another course of steaming
dishes. Thus the King was spared the annoy
ance of having a s~ervitor standing behind
his chair while he took his solitary meals.
King Ludwig was so charmed with this
device, recalling the German fairy tale of
"Tischlein, deck dich ~, the major domo con-
fided to us, that during his last stay at Under
hof he made the table rise, sink and reappear
before him again and again, until wearying
Of its magic at last he really wanted to eat.
But, then alas, the clock work that moved
the mechanism had run down and, magic fail
ing, the table baked down in the kitchen and
could not be got to move. Thereat the King
got so enraged that he sprang up, upsetting
his chair, and strobe from the room, slam
ming the door behind him. Then it was that
he rushed dow the marble flights of stairs
and, calling for a sledge hammer, proceeded
to smash those gilt plastercasts in the park,
whose pretense to be statues Of bronze, he
had found to be a sham but a short while
before.
The Kings Crotto
When we left the palace our host, the
fisher, took us through the grounds back of
Linderhof up the steep Ettal mountain to a
place in the crags where there was a rock
that could be made to slide aside opening a
narrow path into a large grotto with pool
and water fall that could be Illuminated with
blue lights. Near it was a hidden log cabin
with bearskins and rough benches, which the
King called his "Hundingshitte" in recollec-
ton Of the primitive Germanic hut, wherein
Wagner laid one of the famous scenes of his
"Walkiire''.
There, so our guide said, the King had
spent several nights with the gifted actor
Joseph Kainz, with whom he became in
fatuated, after he was bereft Of his inspiring
close intercourse with Richard Wagner.
On our way back to the boat-landing
through the park we again passed the broken
statues and wondered what would be done
with the shams. Perhaps they would be sunk
into the lake, thought our friend, the fisher.
This did not happen, however Several
days later at Prien we saw them being
brought back there, discreetly hooded under
tarpaulins. Then We watched them being
loaded onto the fatcars Of a freight train to
be returned to the royal bronze foundry in
Munich.
Schloss Berg
A few years went by.
For a fairweather Whitsuntide in June 1886
my friend Erwin Riedinger and | planned a
bicycle trip around the Wiirmsee, not far
from Munich. We meant to go by rail to
Starnberg at the foot of the long lake. From
there a good road ran along the west bank
to Seeshaupt at the head of the lake, where
we meant to lunch at an inn, thereafter to
ride back to Starnberg along the eastern bank.
On the Whitsunday morning, set for our
ride, Erwin could not come along, so ! went
alone. Notwithstanding that disappointment
| enjoyed my morning ride to Seeshaupt along
a smooth post road winding past the blue
waters of the lake mirroring green hills and
feecy clouds. Every now and then, at some
turn OF the road, | got a distant glimpse of
the royal castle of Berg on the opposite shore
Of the lake. Passing Possenhofen, the domain
of Duke Max of Wittelsbach, | had an en-
chanting view of the Island of Roses with
its small palace, known to be a favorite haunt
of Duke Max's elder daughter, Empress Eli
zabeth Of Austria.
When | reached the head of the lake at
Seeshaupt | was glad to linger over my noon
day meal i'll the cool shade Of the linden trees
in the garden of the stage coach inn. The