Linderhof Palace

Ludwig II built three palaces and completed only this one, a small building for a king, finished in 1878 and used as a retreat where he lived largely alone and reversed his hours, sleeping by day. The dining room has a table on a lift that was set in the kitchen below and raised through the floor, so he could eat without servants present. In the park stands the Venus Grotto, an artificial cave of iron and cement with a lake, a shell-shaped boat and coloured electric lighting powered by some of the first generators in Bavaria, built to stage scenes from Wagner's Tannhäuser.

History

Ludwig II knew this valley from boyhood hunting trips with his father, King Maximilian II, and when he became king in 1864 he inherited a hunting lodge here, the King's Little House, which he began enlarging in 1869. In 1874 he decided to move the old lodge and rebuild it at its present place in the park, adding new rooms and a staircase and cladding the timber in stone in a second Rococo style; it was the only one of his three palaces to be finished and the one he lived in most, and in 2025 UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Linderhof Palace).

What you'll find

• The rising table - a dining table laid below and lifted through the floor.
• The Venus Grotto - an artificial cave with a lake and early electric lighting.
• The Moorish kiosk - a pavilion bought from a Paris exhibition.
• The terraced park - fountains and garden buildings around the palace.

When to go

May to September; the park buildings including the grotto close for winter, roughly mid-October to mid-April, while the palace stays open. The grotto has had long restoration closures.

Practical notes

The Venus Grotto has been closed for extended restoration and should be checked before travelling. Entry is timed and the palace itself is small, about half an hour.

Nearby

Oberammergau lies north; Neuschwanstein is west.

Key facts