The Castle Its King Barely Lived to See

High on a rocky ridge in the Bavarian Alps stands a white castle that looks as though it had stepped straight out of a story. It was commissioned by King Ludwig the Second, a man who cared far more for music, legend, and beauty than for the tedious business of ruling. Wanting a castle worthy of a fairy tale, he set it on a steep, almost impossible crag, its towers disappearing into the mountain mist.

Ludwig spent a fortune bringing his vision to life. Skilled craftsmen carved elaborate rooms and covered the walls with scenes drawn from old legends, sparing no expense and, it seems, no thought for practicality. Yet the king lived inside his creation for only around eleven nights before his death, which meant the castle was never actually completed. Many of its rooms remained bare and silent, elaborately prepared for a life that would never move in.

The story, oddly enough, ends happily. The castle that one solitary, reluctant king barely occupied has since become one of the most visited castles on earth, drawing crowds of travellers who climb the winding path daily just to look up at its towers. It went on to inspire the fairy tale castles found in theme parks around the world, so that a private, unfinished dream now lives on in millions of holiday photographs.