Herrenchiemsee Palace: History and Visitor’s Guide
HERRENCHIEMSEE Palace HISTORY
Herrenchiemsee Palace is a 19th century palace built on an island in the middle of Chiemsee, a lake near the Alps in Bavaria, Germany. Built by the infamous Fairy Tale King Ludwig II, the palace was an elaborate imitation and interpretation of Versailles built to be one of the king’s many rural palaces. The palace remains unfinished, but visitors can still take a guided tour of the finished parts of the Bavarian king’s home.
KING LUDWIG II & HERRENCHIEMSEE
King Ludwig II is most famous for Neuschwanstein, the fairy tale style castle located just outside Fussen in Bavaria. However, the young king dreamed up and built many more fantasy worlds before his untimely and tragic death at the age of 41. One of these was his own personal recreation of Versailles in Bavaria.
King Ludwig II struggled with his role as king in the changing world of the late 19th century. Versailles’ Sun King reminded him of a simpler time, when kings enjoyed absolute power and were free to build their visions. In an homage to King Louis XIV, King Ludwig II commissioned the building of a replica of Versailles on the island of Herrenchiemsee.
BUILDING HERRENCHIEMSEE Palace
The palace would be a colossal undertaking, requiring all materials and workforce to be ferried from the mainland on to the island in Lake Chiemsee. Ludwig intended to not only recreate the palace, but the gardens and fountains.
Ludwig put new technologies and architectural feats to work for him in his new version of Versailles. His Versailles boasted a massive swimming pool on the first floor of the palace. A “magic” table arrived through the floor of the dining room already set and prepared (after being set by servants below and hoisted up over a 30 minute process).
And Ludwig made the palace his own. While Herrenchiemsee boasts a gorgeous replica of the hall of mirrors that took servants hours to light all of the candles on, it also features an artificial moon in his bedroom.
UNIQUE FEATURES OF HERRENCHIEMSEE
A creature of the night, Ludwig would work and wander the halls during the late night hours, sleeping in the day time. Wanting to recreate the ambiance of the night, he had a giant blue orb installed on the end of his bed. With the help of soft candle lighting, the room would recreate the look and feel of moonlight.
The unique features extend through other parts of the palace as well. A stunning chandelier is the only one of its kind in the world, as Ludwig paid extra to make sure the original mold was destroyed. Furniture and decorative art was imported from all over the world, with groups of workers devoting years of their life to a single tapestry in the palace. Secret pathways from his bedroom to his dressing room and to the swimming bath below allowed Ludwig to avoid visitors and servants.
UNFINISHED PALACE
The palace was never fully completed however. When King Ludwig II died in 1886, entire wings of the palace were left unfinished. The kitchen, for example, remains stripped down to the bare architectural bones. Uninterested in seeing any more of the treasuries depleted (rumors persist that Ludwig’s death as not an accident, but rather a murder after opponents of his saw no other way to put an end to his rule and his spending), the palaces and castles Ludwig planned remained as they were during his life and those that he had yet to begin, a more grandiose fairytale castle than Neuschwanstein as well as a castle inspired by the Byzantine era, remain only as drawings in the archives.
VISITING HERRENCHIEMSEE – A HOW TO GUIDE
King Ludwig II was one of a kind, and his palaces reflect that. I’ve been slowly but surely using my trips to Germany to explore the castles and palaces he lived in and created. Herrenchiemsee had been high on my list for some time, as its not only a beautiful palace with an intriguing past, but it’s also set in an equally beautiful location.
Nestled against the Alps, on a clear day you can see the snowy peaks and take in the crystal clear color of the lake.
HOW TO GET TO HERRENCHIEMSEE Palace From Munich
As mentioned, Herrenchiemsee is in the middle of a lake and only reachable by boat. Prien am Chiemsee is a popular vacation destination for Germans, and ferries operate between Prien, Herreninsel, Fraueninsel, and other destinations around the lake.
To reach the ferries, you’ll want to head to the town of Prien am Chiemsee. You can reach Prien in many different ways. Munich and Salzburg are both about an hour away by car and train.
Germans have excellent trains that run efficiently, and a train runs from Munich to the Hauptbahnhof in Prien. You can also make the scenic drive down the Autobahn. Prien is a popular destination for local and foreign tourists and has ample parking.
I was lucky enough to have family in Munich willing to take us by car. We took the drive from Munich to Prien am Chiemsee, which is about an hour long:
Since it was a beautiful spring day, we were treated to gorgeous views of bright yellow rapeseed fields, tiny Bavarian towns and churches, and stunning glimpses of the Alps.
PARKING FOR HERRENCHIEMSEE
We parked in the large parking lot near the docks, and made the walk from the parking lot to the ferry dock. The parking lot is large but is made of gravel, so expect a little bit of a challenge if you have wheelchairs or strollers with you.
HERRENCHIEMSEE TRAIN TO THE FERRY
There is a steam locomotive (from 1887!) that runs passengers between the central part of Prien where the train station is and the docks that can easily get you there as well. It runs during the high season – May – September.
HERRENCHIEMSEE FERRY TO THE ISLAND
Once at the docks you can buy tickets to take the ferry to Herrenchiemsee. You can either buy a one destination ticket to Herreninsel (the island Herrenchiemsee is located on) or a multi-destination ticket to other islands and towns on the lake.
Then you’ll need to queue up for the boat. The boats came in all shapes and sizes and were adorably named. We took an older boat aptly named Siegfried for one leg of the trip. The boats have bathrooms as well as a snack bar. Guests can sit below deck and watch the views from large picture windows, or choose to let the lake breeze blow through their hair above deck.
The views from the boat are particularly gorgeous on a clear day, and sail boats are popular on the lake.
HERRENCHIEMSEE Palace TICKETS
Once you arrive at Herreninsel, you’ll need to purchase tickets to enter Herrenchiemsee. After disembarking you’ll follow the footpath up to the visitors center where you can purchase tickets. You can also reserve tickets in advance from their website, but given the various forms of transportation you’ll need to take to get there it may be better to buy when you arrive as the tickets are timed.
The tours come in several languages, including English. Our English language tour also provided written guides in a variety of other languages that were offered before the tour began.
GETTING TO THE PALACE FROM THE VISITOR’S CENTER
After purchasing your tickets, you’ll need to make the journey up to the castle. It’s a 15-30 minute walk depending on your pace. (Yep. This is definitely a multi-step journey – but it’s worth it, I promise!)
Since we had two wheelchair users, and quite a bit of the walk is uphill we opted to take the horse-drawn carriage. If it had been me alone, I doubt I would have taken the carriage. I feel conflicted about the horses-as-tourist-schleppers market, and it’s expensive. A horse-drawn carriage is how Ludwig would have arrived to the palace, so it was a unique experience to have that perspective – even if my ride involved a carriage packed with tourists wearing fanny packs rather than opulent royal décor and the silence of my own thoughts coursing through the forest.
HERRENCHIEMSEE Palace TOUR
Once you arrive, you’ll need to wait for your tour group. The tours are timed and are roughly about a half an hour. They’ll lead you through all the finished rooms, starting with the grand entry way. We were able to see entertaining rooms, ball rooms, the hall of mirrors, King Ludwig’s bedroom, his dressing room, the swimming pool room, the dining room and a number of other corridors as well as the underbelly of the building where servants would work to raise the dining table to the main room.
Unfortunately, you cannot take pictures during the tour. While yes, there are good reasons to not allow photographs in certain museums and historic sites, none of them seemed to be at play here. This rule combined with the fact that the tour takes a brisk pace through the rooms (another accessibility note in a minute) in order to stay on schedule meant that there was quite a bit of chaos. Chaos in terms of certain folks trying to evade the guide, straggle behind and take clandestine photos anyway. While I’m a big proponent of letting folks take pictures in museums, when its not allowed, I find it supremely frustrating when folks try to circumvent the rules by inconveniencing everyone around them.
BAT (FLEDERMAUS) MUSEUM
At the end of the tour there is a small bat museum – yes bats! Apparently, the island and the attic of the palace is home to a group of bats! The exhibit is only one room, but interpretive text and exhibits discuss the importance of bats to the island and details of their biology and lifespan. Video cameras in the rafters allow guests to get an infrared glimpse of the bats while they sleep during the day on screens in the exhibit. There was also a small case of local objects, food and gifts that had been inspired by the local bats.
GIFT SHOP
There is a gift shop in the palace where visitors can buy everything from fine china to t-shirts inspired by King Ludwig II. He is wildly popular in Bavaria and beyond, and has a cult-like following and is a pop culture phenomenon as well. So you can get his likeness on almost anything you want. Ironically, though he spent through the coffers building his outrageous fantasy castles, he’s more than made that money back for the tourism market in Germany!
ACCESSIBILITY AT HERRENCHIEMSEE
Unlike some of the other castles and palaces out there, thanks to its unfinished nature, Herrenchiemsee is accessible and has discreetly hidden modern elevators for that purpose. We were even able to rent a wheelchair at the visitor’s center!
ACCESSIBILITY AND HORSE CARRIAGES
While our first driver was very keen to help with the wheelchairs, and was very easy going about helping to load and unload them, the second driver was less than helpful and more worried about getting a scratch on his wagon than anything else. I can’t imagine its an easy job ferrying tourists back and forth all day, so I try to give those folks a pass. We were lucky enough to have fluent Bavarian speakers with us to smooth the way. I’m not sure how it would have gone with my much more broken college German.
Additionally, there are no ramps or steps to get into the horse carriage. A small somewhat precarious ladder is the only way up
ACCESSIBILITY ON THE TOUR
While people did their best to make space for us and be mindful of the wheelchair, the only way a wheelchair user was able to see anything was as we were leaving the room. Thanks to the brisk pace, she wasn’t able to see as much as we would have liked.
However, because we needed to access the elevator and weren’t able to take the steps we did get to see some areas of the palace that are otherwise inaccessible to visitors – unfinished hallways and rooms. At one point we were guided by an employee through several doors and down a hall as we were finishing up the tour.
ROYAL AUGUSTINIAN MONASTERY
Although we did not visit it, I should mention that the Royal Augustinian Monastery also has a museum inside. Built between the 16th and 17th centuries in Baroque style, the monastery was home to the Augustinian order for a number of years but also holds other German History. Famous artist Johann Baptist Zimmerman contributed his talent to the library hall. King Ludwig II occupied apartments there during the building of Herrenchiemsee, and his apartment is preserved as it was. And last, but certainly not least, the conference to create the constitution for the Federal Republic of Germany was held there in 1948.
FRAUENINSEL
Across the lake from Herreninsel, is Fraueninsel or sometimes referred to as Frauenchiemsee. While the Monastery is no longer active, the Benedictine convent is still home to nuns who make a famous Kloster Liquor. The island also has a small number of homes and permanent residents, but there are no cars on the island. Visitors can walk around for picturesque views of the convent, lake and the surrounding Alps.
There are several guesthouses and restaurants on the island. We stopped there for lunch at the Klosterwirst Chiemsee, which had hearty food (I recommend the Goulash!) and a beautiful view at the end of the dock.
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