The King's House on Schachen (german: Königshaus am Schachen) is a small

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

(''Schlösschen'') at Schachen,

Wetterstein Formation The Wetterstein Formation is a regional geologic formation of the Northern Limestone Alps and Western Carpathians extending from southern Bavaria, Germany in the west, through northern Austria to northern Hungary and western Slovakia in the east. ...

, about 10 km south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen,

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, Germany, built by

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He is sometimes called the Swan King or ('the Fairy Tale King'). He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the ...

. The castle was constructed between 1869 and 1872.

Location

The King's House on Schachen is located at Schachen,

, about 10 km south of Garmisch-Partenkirchen,

. It can only be reached via a 10 km forest road, on a three-hour hike, ascending 1000m either from Schloss

Elmau Schloss Elmau is a four-story castle and national monument with hipped roof, tower and porch, situated between Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald in a sanctuary of the Bavarian Alps, Germany. It lies at the foot of the Wetterstein mounta ...

or Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which provides a view of

Zugspitze The Zugspitze (), at above sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. It lies south of the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and the Austria–Germany border runs over its western su ...

amongst others.

History

The King's House on Schachen was built between 1869 and 1872 for

and designed by architect Georg von Dollmann. It is often described as a hunting lodge, though Ludwig never used it for this purpose, instead utilizing it for birthday and anniversary celebrations. The building is the least-known of the palaces built by Ludwig. One room known as the "Turkish Room" occupies the entire upper-floor of the castle, and is elaborately decorated in an Oriental fashion. The extravagant upstairs interior stands in stark contrast to the exterior and ground floor, which are rather modest.

Alpengarten auf dem Schachen

Adjacent to the house itself is the ''Alpengarten auf dem Schachen'' on about one hectare, an alpine botanical garden at about 2000m altitude, which contains over 1,000 plant species from the Alps to the Himalayas. It is maintained by the Botanischer Garten München-Nymphenburg, open during the summer months daily from 8 am to 5 pm, admission cost 2.50 euros as of 2018. Although the Wetterstein Mountains are primarily limestone, the limestone and dolomite weather differently: dolomite decomposes into a shard and splinter debris on which some plants thrive particularly well. Lime weathers chemically, calcifications arise, in which water quickly seeps away. On the other hand, the sandstone provides for loamy and low-limestone soils that hold water well. Altogether 42 plant beds are assigned to different geographical regions, the flora of the Bavarian forest, the Alps, Carpathians, Patagonia, the Rocky Mountains - and the Himalayas.

References

External links

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King Ludwig II and his castles

Story and photos of the King's House {{DEFAULTSORT:Konigshaus am Schachen Houses completed in 1872 Castles in Bavaria Royal residences in Bavaria Landmarks in Germany Botanical gardens in Germany Gardens in Bavaria Garmisch-Partenkirchen Museums in Bavaria Historic house museums in Germany Moorish Revival architecture in Germany Buildings and structures in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (district) Ludwig II of Bavaria