You can't visit Germany without a stop at a palace or castle. We left Jillian and Brian's place and headed to Munich because we had an early flight to Basel, Switzerland the next morning. We've seen many of the castles in the Munich area so we chose Nymphenburg Palace to visit.
Construction on this royal summer residence began in 1864 after the heir to the throne, Max Emanuel, was born in 1862. It was designed by an Italian architect.
Max Emanual and his successors continued the expansion of the palace. It remained a favorite residence of the Bavarian kings and was opened to the public in 1792. The current Duke of Bavaria, Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern, still lives in the Palace.
King Ludwing II, the crazy king, was born here in 1845. Not only is the palace impressive, but the parks and gardens that surround it are amazingly beautiful. This is the second largest green space in Munich and the public is welcome to enjoy it.
The first room we entered was the magnificent ballroom with it's ornate walls, huge chandeliers, and painted ceiling.
Wow! is all I can say.
We meandered through several rooms including King Ludwig I's Gallery of Beauties. He had an artist named Joseph Stieler paint portraits of 36 beautiful women from all walks of life--from the commoner's daughter to the daughters of nobility.
Not a whole lot of rooms were open to the public, but we enjoyed the rooms that were.
I'll never understand why the people didn't rebel sooner. I'm not a big fan of monarchies. Why should some people who are "ordained by God" get to live in such opulence while the common people struggle?
What we were really there to see was the Stable Museum. In the 1700s the stable was home to the royal riding horses.
This is the coronation carriage of Emperor Charles VII who in 1742 rode in this coach to Frankfurt where he was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
The museum contains over forty carriages, sleighs, and riding accessories that document 300 years of royal carriage building.
They sure liked their gold gilding.
Even the sleighs were magnificent.
Even the horses had to be fully decked out. Poor things having to carry all that weight and bells.
More sleighs.
King Ludwig II had some very ornate carriages.
Holy moly!
Many of them were very similar. Who needs multiple gold carriages?
Here's a portrait of Ludwig II.
There was an entire room just full of horse harnesses and accessories.
Good grief!
There are swans everywhere in Europe. Do you think this is a noble swan that belongs to the royal family? He followed us to the car and then gave me a warning hiss to get away. Believe me, I complied.
From there we made our way to the Munich airport. We stayed at the Hilton which is steps away from Terminal 2. It was very convenient and the price was reasonable. We occupied ourselves by finding a restaurant for dinner and then searching for geocaches. This one was on the top floor of the parking garage. A great way to lure people people there and murder them I thought.
I love the Munich airport. It has two terminals and in-between them is a huge outdoor area with shops and restaurants. They were in the process of setting up the Christmas market.
The airport is so modern. You check yourself in at the kiosk, print your luggage tags, and then take your bags over to a place where you put them a device that weighs them and prints your baggage receipt. Then you take your boarding pass and scan it to get through the turnstiles that lead to the security checkpoint area. No human contact until security. It was great!
Next stop Basel!
Comments
I think we still have monarchies. Our tax and other laws are designed to enable people who have immense wealth to preserve and it and pass it on.