Herrenchiemsee

Herrenchiemsee

A Versailles on a Bavarian island

On a wooded island in the middle of the Chiemsee, Bavaria's largest lake, stands the grandest and most expensive of King Ludwig II's palaces: Herrenchiemsee. Ludwig built it as a deliberate copy of — and homage to — the Palace of Versailles in France, home of the "Sun King" Louis XIV, whom Ludwig idolised above all other rulers. To reach it, visitors take a boat across the lake and then walk or ride through the island's gardens to the palace.

A monument to the Sun King

King Ludwig II was fascinated by Louis XIV of France, the absolute monarch who had built Versailles and ruled with dazzling splendour. Ludwig dreamed of a kingship like that — grand, unquestioned and magnificent — even though, as a constitutional king of his own age, he could never truly have it.

So in 1878 he began building Herrenchiemsee as his own Versailles, choosing the remote island for privacy. He copied many of Versailles' famous features, above all its great Hall of Mirrors — and Ludwig's version is actually longer and even more lavishly decorated than the French original, glittering with hundreds of candles and mirrors.

Never completed

Like Neuschwanstein, Herrenchiemsee was never finished. Building it cost staggering sums — even more than Ludwig's other palaces — and helped push the king into the crippling debt that led to his removal from power and his mysterious death in 1886.

When work stopped, only the central part of the palace had been completed; many planned rooms were never built, and some wings were later taken down. Yet what was finished is breathtaking, especially the State Apartments and the Hall of Mirrors.

The loneliest palace

There is something especially poignant about Herrenchiemsee. Ludwig had built a palace fit for an all-powerful king like Louis XIV, yet he himself was a lonely, troubled man who stayed there only a handful of nights. The vast, glittering halls were created for a kind of royal grandeur that belonged to the past, not to Ludwig's modern age.

A museum in the palace today tells the story of the king and his dream, helping visitors understand the man behind these extraordinary buildings.

An island of beauty

The island setting adds to Herrenchiemsee's magic. The Herreninsel is peaceful and green, with gardens, woodland and views across the lake to the Alps. The journey by boat and the walk through the grounds make a visit feel like a small adventure.

Visiting today

Visitors take a boat across the Chiemsee to the island, then tour the completed State Apartments and the magnificent Hall of Mirrors, and visit the museum about King Ludwig II. The gardens and lakeside views complete a memorable day. Grand, glittering and touched with sadness, Herrenchiemsee is Ludwig II's most ambitious dream — a Versailles of his own on a Bavarian island.