Linderhof Palace
Linderhof Palace is a schloss in Germany, 10 km west of the village of Ettal in southwest Bavaria. It is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which was actually completed and that he lived in most of the time from 1876 onward.
Development
Ludwig already knew the area around Linderhof from his youth when he had accompanied his father King Maximilian II of Bavaria on his hunting trips in the Bavarian Alps. When Ludwig II became King in 1864, he inherited a hunting lodge, the so-called Königshäuschen from his father, and in 1869 began enlarging the building. In 1874, he decided to tear down the Königshäuschen and rebuild it in its present-day location in the park. At the same time three new rooms and the staircase were added to the remaining U-shaped complex, and the previous wooden exterior was clad with stone façades. The building was designed in the style of the second rococo-period. Between 1863 and 1886, a total of 8,460,937 marks was spent constructing Linderhof.In 2025, the palace was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Symbolic background
Although Linderhof is much smaller than Versailles, it is evident that the palace of the French Sun-King Louis XIV was its inspiration. The staircase, for example, is a reduction of the famous Ambassador's staircase in Versailles, which would be copied in full in Herrenchiemsee, another palace project by Ludwig that was designed less as a residential building than as a homage to the Sun-King.Stylistically, however, the building and its decor take their cues from the mid-18th century Rococo of Louis XV, and the small palace in the Graswang valley was more directly based on that king's Petit Trianon on the Versailles grounds. The symbol of the sun that can be found everywhere in the decoration of the rooms represents the French notion of absolutism that, for Ludwig, was the perfect incorporation of his ideal of a God-given monarchy with total royal power. Such a monarchy could no longer be realised in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century. In the Kingdom of Bavaria, the monarch was constitutionally severely restricted, quite apart from Ludwig's incompetence and disinterest in really taking care of state affairs and political power struggles. Especially the bedroom was important to the ceremonial life of an absolute monarch; Louis XIV of France used to give his first and last audience of the day in his bedchamber. In imitation of Versailles, the bedroom is the largest chamber of Linderhof Palace. By facing north, however, the Linderhof bedroom inverts the symbolism of its Versailles counterpart, showing Ludwig's self-image as a "Night-King", because he had gotten into the habit of turning night into day and vice versa. The reclusive monarch naturally never intended to live surrounded by thousands of people in a vast palace, rising and going to bed in the presence of dozens of dignitaries like the Sun King. Yet he revered the latter, which is why allusions to him can be found in numerous other details. For example, the ceiling of the dining room depicts scenes from life at the court of Versailles, and the horseshoe-shaped cabinets are decorated with portraits of French courtiers and noblemen.
The rooms
Linderhof, in comparison to other palaces, has a rather private atmosphere. In fact, there are only four rooms that have a real function.Hall of Mirrors
This room was used by the king as a drawing room; he enjoyed sitting in the niche, sometimes reading there the whole night. Because Ludwig II used to sleep in the daytime and stay awake in the night, the mirrors created an effect for him when they reflected the light of the candles. The parallel placement of some mirrors evoke the illusion of a never ending avenue.Appointments:
The middle table has a top with lapis-lazuli, amethyst and chalcedony inlay work and shows the Bavarian coat of arms in glass mosaic.
A carpet made of ostrich plumes.
An Indian ivory candelabra in the alcove with 16 branches.
Two mantelpieces clad with lapis-lazuli and decorated with gilded bronze ornaments.
Eastern and Western Tapestry Chambers
The two tapestry chambers are almost identical and have no specific function. The western one is sometimes called "Music Room" because of the aeolodion in it. Only the curtains and the coverings on the furniture are real products of the Parisian Gobelin Manufactory. The scenes on the walls are painted on rough canvas in order to imitate real tapestries.Audience Chamber
The audience chamber is located to the west of the palace and is flanked by the yellow and lilac cabinets. The cabinets were only used as antechambers to the larger rooms. Ludwig II never used this room to hold an audience. This would have been against the private character of Linderhof and the chamber would have been much too small for it. He rather used it as a study where he thought about new building projects. That there is an audience chamber in Linderhof, however, reminds us of the demand of the king in an absolute monarchy.Appointments:
Two round tables with malachite tops, gift of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia to King Ludwig II.
Throne baldachin with ostrich feather bunches.
Dining Room
This room is located to the east and is flanked by the pink and blue cabinets. The pink cabinet, unlike the other cabinets, had a real function. The king used it as a robing room. The dining room is famous for its disappearing dumb-waiter called "Tischlein deck dich". The table disappeared on a lifting platform into the kitchen on the lower floor, where it was set with the next course and brought up again. This mechanism was installed so that Ludwig could dine alone here without being disturbed by servants. Yet the staff had to lay the table for at least four persons because it is said that the king used to talk to imaginary people like Louis XV, Mme de Pompadour or Marie Antoinette while he was eating. For Ludwig II enjoyed the imagined company of those people and admired them. You can find portraits of them in the cabinets, and scenes of their lives everywhere in the palace's rooms. Here, too, a strong contrast emerges between idol and imitator: While Ludwig even shunned the presence of servants, the Sun King used to dine with his wife and brother at a table, while dozens of select court dignitaries had the honor of watching, lined up along the walls.Appointments:
Meissen porcelain centrepiece with china flowers.
Bedchamber
The model for this room was not Louis XIV's bedchamber in Versailles but the bedroom of the Rich Rooms in Munich Residence. As in Versailles or the Munich Residence, one finds a separation of the bed part from the rest of the room, which would allow the first or last audience of the day to be held at the bed, as the Sun King did. Only, during his daily ceremony of rising, Louis XIV was surrounded by at least 50 high-ranking spectators, while this number would hardly have fit into the small bedroom in Linderhof.The position of the bed itself on steps in the alcove that is closed off by a gilded balustrade, like the baroque Munich model, gives it the appearance of an altar and thereby glorifies Ludwig II as he slept during the day. He often also spent the night waking and reading in this room, which was illuminated by numerous candles, among other a glass candelabra with 108 candles. The king was very well read about the legends and mythologies of the Middle Ages as well as about court life and the arts in the era of Louis XIV.
The two console tables are of Meissen porcelain. This room was completely rebuilt in 1884 and could not be totally finished until the king's death two years later.
The park
The gardens surrounding Linderhof Palace are considered one of the most beautiful creations of historicist garden design, designed by Court Garden Director Carl von Effner. The park combines elements of Renaissance and Baroque formal gardens with landscaped sections that are similar to the English landscape garden.Linderhof's Linden or The Old "Königslinde"
Deriving from the romantic image of animated nature Ludwig was fascinated by trees. For this reason a tall, 300-year-old linden tree was allowed to remain in the formal gardens although disturbing its symmetry. Historic pictures show a seat in it, where Ludwig used to take his "breakfast" at sunset hidden from view amongst the branches. Contrary to common understanding the tree did not give the palace its name. It came from a family called "Linder" that used to cultivate the farm that over centuries had been in the place where now Linderhof palace is.Formal gardens
The palace is surrounded by formal gardens that are subdivided into five sections that are decorated with allegoric sculptures of the continents, the seasons and the elements:The northern part is characterized by a cascade of thirty marble steps. The bottom end of the cascade is formed by the Neptune fountain and at the top there is a Music Pavilion.
The centre of the western parterre is formed by basin with the gilt figure of "Fama". In the west there is a pavilion with the bust of Louis XIV. In front of it you see a fountain with the gilt sculpture "Amor with dolphins". The garden is decorated with four majolica vases.
The crowning of the eastern parterre is a wooden pavilion containing the bust of Louis XVI. Twenty-four steps below it there is a fountain basin with a gilt sculpture "Amor shooting an arrow". A sculpture of "Venus and Adonis" is placed between the basin and the palace.
The water parterre in front of the palace is dominated by a large basin with the gilt fountain group "Flora and puttos". The fountain's water jet itself is nearly 25 meters high.
The terrace gardens form the southern part of the park and correspond to the cascade in the north. On the landing of the first flight there is the "Naiad fountain" consisting of three basins and the sculptures of water nymphs. In the middle arch of the niche you see the bust of Marie Antoinette of France. These gardens are crowned by a round temple with a statue of Venus formed after a painting by Antoine Watteau.