In
1868 he was making his first plans one of two French inspired castles,
Linderhof, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on
the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by him were
ever built. Linderhof was planned by architect Georg Dollmann and Christian
Jank also worked on the castle. It is a grand setting from the mountains and by
Carl von Effner's gardens. Instead, the new building developed around the
forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in
the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when
crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father. It is an ornate palace in
neo-Rococo style, with beautiful formal gardens. The richly ornamented façade
of this simingly small castle conceals a world of opulence, radiant with gold
and gleaming mirrors, with wall hangings and paintings, velvet and silk,
crystal chandeliers, lapis lazuli, malachite and porcelain.
The grounds contain the magnificent Venus Grotto where opera
singers performed on an underground lake lit with electricity, a novelty at the
time. The Grotto remained in its original site, whereas the Hunding's Hut
(Hundinghütte) and the Gurnemanz Hermitage (Einsiedelei des Gurnemanz) were
intitally a few kilometres away in the heart of the forest. In 1882 painter
Heinrich Breling, was promoted to court artist by Ludwig, painted a watercolour
of the Hunding's Hut which was used in 1990 for its reconstruction. According
to Richard Wagner the branches of a ash pierced the roof of the hut. Also a
Romantic woodsman's hut built inside an artificial tree, that relate back to
one of Wagner's operas. A Moorish kiosk/pavilion, also there, that reveals
Ludwig’s love of Arabic exoticism. It is said that the he liked to sit in
oriental splendour while being fanned by shirtless, in shape young men. The
Moorish Kiosk was built by Berlin architect Karl von Diebitsch for the 1867
Paris Exposition. Ludwig manged to procure the kiosk for the park in Linderhof
in 1876. The view of the grotto from the castle is blocked by the huge
centuries old linden tree of which gave it name to the castle. Despite requests
from builders and garden designers to have the tree removed he insisted that it
stay. In 1875 Ludwig's architect Georg von Dollmann desgin a theatre for
Linderhof and artiest Ferdinard Knab finished a sketch with the linden in the
foreground. Ludwig not carry out the the theatre, not because he did not like
the design but felt that Carl Joseph von Effner's gardens were enough of a
“backdrop” and the theatre would spoil it. The strict axial symmetry of the
steps leading up to the Temple of Venus is only interrupted by the tree. Down
in the parterre fountains the goddess Flora looks up to her colleague Venus –
the goddess of love – in the Linderbichl. Where the theatre was planned now
stands a rouind Greek temple featuring a larger than life statue of Venus. She
is flanked by two smaller amoretti (or goddess of love). In the middle of the
Eastern Parterre in the palace gardens Venus and Adonis are surrounded by
allegories of the four elements. Venus is in deep in converstion with her love,
the god of beauty, while the gilt Cupid fires arrows of love in the background.
The Music Pavilion acts as a northern viewpoint with the grand vistas of
Linderhof, gardens, Temple of Venus and the Kuchelberg beyond. Fama, the
goddess of fame and gossip, trumpets truth and loes into the air, her wings
serving to aid the rapid spread of tittle-tattle. Respite from her malicious
fanfares under the pergolas behind her. On the east facade of the castle has
cupid aiming his bow at it, where the dining room is, here Ludwig could
'receive' Cupid's messages of love several times a day.
The bedroom was lit by an enormous
glass chandelier holding 108 candles and made by the Lobmeyer company. The
ceiling fresco by August Spieß junior depicts the apotheosis of King Louis XIV
of France – an elevation to the tank of a god. The bedroom id furnished with a
state bed, but Ludwig was unable to see the room in its present state as the
extension and redesign he ordered in June 1886 was incomplete at the time of
his death. The staircase is lit by a glass roof, an absolute novelty in its day
and age. From the Vestibule below doors leas off to the servants' quarters
which is way the entrance hall is rater small for a royal castle. The Yellow
Cabinet is a through room adjoining the Audience Room, where a portrait of the
Duke of Belle-Isle (1684-1761) who was a successful general and marshal of
France. His bedroom, complete with a state bed, was never to be seen by him in
the present state due to extensions and redesign ordered in June 1886, being
incomplete due to his death. Even if there was no throne in Linderhof, he was
nevertheless reluctant to do his without a baldachin over his desk in his
Audience Room. He saw this castle as his private abode than as a castle of
royal representation and prestige, no audiences were held here in his lifetime.
In the Dining Room is a white Meißen porcelain chandelier suspended like a
crown over the table. It forms a charming contrast to the vivid colouring of
the ceiling and the gilt stucco. The carvings on the panelling and the stucco
on the ceiling depict the activities which once decked the royal table:
hunting, fishing, agriculture and horticulture. Also in the Dining Room, there
is a mirror with an elaborately carved frame above each of the two fireplaces
made of Tegernsee marble. The candles on the fireplaces and the chandelier are
reflected in these two mirrors and in a third tucked in between the windows,
flooding the room with a warm and atmospheric light. The mirrors also reflect
the gilt stucco and many paintings in this luxurious room. The Lilac Cabinet is
also a homage to the kings of France. The pastels of King Louis XV and his
mistress Madame de Pompadour have been given particularly lavish gold frames.
The king's lady love was prudent enough to win the favour of the queen and
become her lady in waiting. In the Moorish kiosk Ludwig had it refurbished
according to his specifications. This is where you find what is missing in the
castle: a throne. It could hardly be any more luxurious and thus one of the
most famous attraction of all Ludwig's castles.
In 1869 Ludwig II had the forester's
house rebuilt and appointed as the "King's Cottage" (phase 1). The
palace is a celebration to Louis XIV of France. In the palace, imagery reflects
Ludwig's fascination with the absolutist government of Ancient Regime France.
Ludwig saw himself as the "Moon King", a Romantic shadow of the earlier
"Sun King", Louis XIV. There is a lavish bed/reception room, Hall of
Mirrors and elaborate gilded tapestries. Under the supervision of the court
building director Georg Dollmann, in
1870 a wing with a single axis extension was added (phase 2). While this was
still being completed, the original plans for the building were substantially
revised. From spring 1871 a second wing was built to match the first extension,
with a bedroom forming the connection between the two wings (phase 3). A wooden
staircase on the west side provided access to the u-shaped complex built around
an open courtyard, and the King's Cottage thus became superfluous; the initial
retention of this building indicates the king's emotional attachment to it. The
complex created forms the core of the castle. Its upper floor was a wooden post
and beam construction clad with boards, while the lower floor was plastered;
because of the wooden structures it was known as the "Alpine Hut
Building". Its simple exterior gave no hint of the splendour inside. In
February 1873, Ludwig approved a plan which began the final design of the
castle. First the wooden construction was clad with solid stone and covered
with a cross-shaped complex of new roofs (phase 4). With no interior staircase,
this section of the building formed the core of the new palace. On 20 January
1874 the king gave permission for the "King's Cottage" to be moved to
its present location, about 200 metres away, and the new south tract was built
in its place (phase 5). By 1876 work completed on the interior of the south
tract. In 1874 the final plans for the landscape park were submitted by court
garden director Carl Joseph von Effner. In 1885/86 there was a final rebuilding
phase. The bedroom was widened and extended to the north (phase 6). This
required extensive rebuilding of the palace and a new central section for the
north façade, including a new roof for this area. No further additions were
made to the palace, which now measured 30 x 27 metres. He did not live to see
the completion of the new bedroom. One of the most famous sights may not seen
as such immediately. The famous dining table (Tischeindeck-dich) has a recessed
top where the royal feast could be placed out of sight and served when
required, creating the illusion that the table was laid as if by magic.
Linderhof can be called a royal
villa for compared to the generous proportions it looks a little like a summer
house. The geometric arrangement of steps, fountains and hedging complements
the irregular curves and contours of the Bavarian Alps. The fountains shoot
twenty-two metres (seventy two feet) into the air. They operate on the pressure
caused by the natural drop in the land. In this fountain behind the veil of the
water is Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and the spring season, gazing
benevolently at the castle. Together with the cherubs seated at her feet, their
hands over their ears to drown out the sound of the fountain, this group of
figures is probably the most famous in the park. The French baroque border lined
with hedges of box are paternally 'minded' by the enormous royal linden tree.
It may seem that the castle is second best to this display of horticulture. It
is from here that Ludwig enjoyed moonlit sleigh rides in an elaborate
eighteenth century sleigh, complete with
footmen in eighteenth century uniform. The sleigh can be viewed today with
other royal carriages at the Carriage Museum at Castle Nymphenburg in Munich.
He was known to stop and visit with rural peasants while on rides, adding to
his popularity. It is the most compact/ smallest and the eventual result of a long period of
building and rebuilding, the only castle of Ludwig's that was completed, it
finished in 1878.
Findings that have come out between
2008 and 2011 found that like a lot of other buildings, the climate has taken
its toll. And the results have been published in at least three articles. The
climate in the castle is extreme all year round due to the fact that it is
settled near the Alps. The outdoor climate is affected by long periods of frost
and snow in the winter, as well as by rapid weather changes in the summer. The
span in temperature is consequently very wide. In 2010, outdoor temperatures
ranging from -17.3°C to 30.5°C were measured. The relative humidity (RH) is
constantly very high, in 2010 the average was 90.8%.[i]
There is no air-conditioning system, so the indoor climate follows the outside
climate, buffered to some extent by the building. Thus sub-zero temperatures in
the state rooms occur regularly. The indoor climates of each room in the palace
differ substantially. Two rooms located at opposite ends of the palace were
chosen to illustrate the differences. The Hall of Mirrors is south facing, and
the Lilac Cabinet is at the northwest of the palace. Climate data were captured
from loggers located in the middle of each room. The differences in
temperature, relative and absolute humidity between both rooms are illustrated
by the grey line. In the Lilac Cabinet, the relative humidity was always higher
than in the Hall of Mirrors, while the temperature was always lower. Paintings,
particularly in oil and acrylic, can be strongly affected by temperatures below
zero due to their low glass transition temperatures. They can become brittle
and flake. In this case, the effect of temperature is far more detrimental than
the effect of relative humidity. In the following table, the three major risks
related to the indoor climate in the Linderhof Palace are analysed according to
various guidelines taken from the literature. Data from the Hall of Mirrors and
the Lilac Cabinet reflecting the indoor climate for a period of one year were
used. As the guidelines referring to average indoor climates do not usually
take into account local microclimates, data from the surface measurement in the
Lilac Cabinet were used for comparison.
Condition photographs were compared
in order to evaluate deterioration and damage during recent years. A
photographic condition survey of all immovable furnishings was undertaken in
1992. Certain types of damage were identified in this survey. For example,
flaking and cracks in gilded surfaces, which indicate climate-related
deterioration, as well as water marks caused by historic water leaks or
surfaces which had been abraded due to touching by visitors. This type of damage
was described and photographs of particular examples were taken in every room.
These images allowed the condition of the collection in the 1990s to be
compared with the present condition. Oil paintings and gilded surfaces were
selected for particular investigation as these were best documented. Due to the
risk of mould growth at high relative humidities, particular care was taken to
examine corners with little air exchange or air flow. The gilded ornaments were
composed of wooden supports, glue layers, priming, bolus, covered with gold
leaf and a coating. Only the gilded wooden decoration on the walls in the
bedroom was created with a different technique, here the wooden support had
very thin priming and the gold leaf was fixed with an oily binding media. The
oil paintings had a thin priming, with a thin occasionally opaque paint layer,
covered with a varnish.
This comparison of predictions drawn
from an analysis of environmental data with a conservation condition survey has
demonstrated that the predictions derived from the climate data alone are
limited. The results of the environmental data analysis differ according to the
particular guidelines used, which undermines the efficacy of such an approach.
A room never has one single climate, and there is most potential for damage in
extreme local microclimates. When predicting future damage, it is also
necessary to take into account the specific characteristics of different
composite materials. Last but not least, there is a considerable lack of
knowledge about the risk of new damage posed by long-term deviation from the
environmental guidelines. Further investigations are necessary to determine the
limits of nonhazardous short-term fluctuations as evidence. The new method to
analyse climate data should be further developed as a standard tool. This work
will need to include a critical review of the definition of short-term
fluctuation, the response of different materials and the applicability of
experimental data obtained by step functions in climate chambers in comparison
with real climates.[ii]
The outer and inner walls of the
building are made of bricks. On the inner side in every room a special
construction made of wooden panels is assembled on the wall with a certain
distance of a few centimetres to the wall. Gilded carvings, paintings and
decorations are fixed on these wooden panels. The windows in the palace are
still the original wooden single glazed windows of the construction period. All
of them are in a good condition. The joinery work is well performed, all joints
are closed and gaps are narrow. All windows in the ground floor are always
closed. The windows in the upper floor are also all single framed. Only in the
bedchamber there are boxed windows with two single glazed frames. Every day
when the palace is shut down additional inner shutters on the windows are
closed. This may improve the air tightness of the windows considerably. During
opening hours the windows are opened by the tour guides. If the weather is not
too bad the guides open the windows as required. This means during summer
almost all windows are open during opening hours in the upper floor, where the
showrooms are. Only in the bedchamber the windows are always closed. The palace
is opened in summer period from 7.00 a.m. starting ventilation with opening of
all windows in the upper floor due to odour and cleaning until 8.00 a.m. The
guided tours lead only to the upper floor and the royal rooms with rich
furnishing on interior surface.[iii]
[i] Comparison of indoor
climate analysis according to current climate guidelines with the
conservational investigation using the example of Linderhof Palace
Kristina
HollJournal: climate for Collections: Standards and uncertainties
Edited
by Jonathan Ashley-Smith, Andreas Burmester and Melanie EiblPostprints of the
Munich Climate Conference
7
to 9 November 2012
[ii] The moving
fluctuation range – a new analytical method for evaluation of climate
fluctuations in historic buildings
Stefan
Bichlmair, Kristina Holl and Ralf KilianJournal: climate for Collections:
Standards and uncertainties
Edited
by Jonathan Ashley-Smith, Andreas Burmester and Melanie Eibl
Postprints
of the Munich Climate Conference
7
to 9 November 2012
[iii] ROOM CLIMATE IN
LINDERHOF PALACE
Impact
of ambient climate and visitors on room climate with a special
focus
on the bedchamber of King Ludwig II.
Stefan
Bichlmair, Ralf Kilian“CLIMATIZATION OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS, STATE OF THE ART”
Linderhof
Palace, December 2nd, 2010Ralf Kilian, Tomáš Vyhlídal, Tor Broström (Ed.)
DEVELOPMENTS
IN CLIMATE CONTROL OF HISTORIC BUILDINGS
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