<b>Linderhof</b>&nbsp;

 By Katie

Linderhof is a very beautiful castle. The Gardens and the grotto were probably my favorite parts. We learned a lot about King Ludwig and saw some really nice fountains. One shot up about thirty feet every half an hour without the help of electricity. The castle was stunnig!

The gardens are gorgeous and vibrant with colour. They have been taken care of so well! Out of the windows in the front you can see the beautiful fountain that shoots up every half an hour and from the back you can see the lovely man made waterfall. Behind the castle, and up the into the mountain was a grotto with a lake and stalagmites. King Ludwig loved bathing there and designed a boat and some paintings after an opera by Wagner. The King loved Wagner and had many of his opera themes painted in murals around his home.

King Ludwig lived in the Linderhof castle as often as possible. He dedicated the castle to French kings so in the castle there are no paintings of him. He was very fond of swans and peacocks, which you can see in paintings and sculptures in and around the castle, and he had a collection of vases, which are featured throughout the castle. There is gold everywhere and tiny carvings on the crown moulding, as well as paintings on the ceiling. 

As I mentioned earlier, King Ludwig was a bit of a different character. He became nocturnal, sleeping during the day and staying awake all night. King ludwig enjoyed reading at night, and sometimes he would stay up and read in his hall of mirrors. The mirrors were placed in such a way that it looked like the room went on forever. He was a recluse, preferring not to have any visitors. However, he would make his servants prepare the dining table for four people, even when he was alone, because he liked to imagine he was dining with kings from the past. 

King Ludwig was a man full of excellent ideas and one of the neatest ideas that I saw was a disappearing table in his dining room. When he would eat his meals he would send the table down to be filled then his servants would send it back up and he would eat his feast. King Ludwig was thought to be a crazy, almost insane man. He did not get much company and was never married. A quote from the king is, "I want to remain an eternal mystery to myself and others".

King Ludwig even had a mysterious death. His body was found floating in lake Starnberg. People guessed that he had commited suicide, but new evedince has suggested that he was murdered. His death occurred shortly after the banks refused to continue funding the construction of the four castles he was building, including Neuschwonstein. King Ludwig died bankrupt.

Linderhof Castle was beautiful, even though it was small compered to most, and I enjoyed learning so much about it. It's too bad the king didn't live to enjoy it.