- Schloss Ringberg
Schloss Ringberg (Ringberg Castle) is located in the
Bavarian Alps , 50 km south ofMunich , on a foothill overlooking theTegernsee . Not open to the general public, it is a property of theMax-Planck-Gesellschaft and is used for conferences.History
Schloss Ringberg was the creation of
Luitpold Emanuel Ludwig Maria ,Duke of Bavaria (1890 -1973 ) and his friendFriedrich Attenhuber (1877 -1947 ), aMunich painter. The Duke was a member of theWittelsbach family, former rulers ofBavaria .Like his famous relative,
King Ludwig II , the Duke was obsessed with building fantastical structures. Indeed, Ludwig'sSchloss Neuschwanstein inspired Schloss Ringberg. The Duke dedicated his life to building the castle.The two men met at
Munich University , where from 1910-14 the Duke studied philosophy and the history of art. Attenhuber first gave painting lessons to the Duke, then traveled through Europe with him. What may have been a love affair developed into something more, with Attenhuber agreeing to supervise the building of the Duke's dream castle. The result was Schloss Ringberg.Everything at Ringberg was designed and crafted by Attenhuber himself, from the architecture to the interior decoration, including the paintings.
In 1930, Attenhuber closed his Munich studio, took permanent residence at the castle and changed his painting from impressionistic to realistic. He found his models in the farmhouses around the Tegernsee.
In the 1930s, the relationship between the two men deteriorated drastically. Attenhuber was also tied to the castle since he had lost all his social contacts and the Duke did not allow him to leave it. In 1947, Attenhuber jumped to his death from the Schloss Ringberg tower.
After his death, Duke Luitpold continued to devote all his energies to the construction of the castle, selling family estates to pay for the building and travelling the more than 50 kilometres from his home in the Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten in Munich to supervise the progress of the work.
He never actually lived at the castle but preferred to lodge at the Hotel Bachmair when he had to stay overnight. When he died in 1973 at the age of 82, he left Schloss Ringberg unfinished.
In the mid-sixties, the Duke began to consider what should become of Schloss Ringberg after his death, since he had no direct heir. He requested the Bavarian authorities to grant his castle the status of a historical monument as a way of avoiding heavy tax duties, but his application was rejected.
He was therefore confronted with the choice of either selling Schloss Ringberg to the German Federal Organisation of Trade Unions, or making a present of it to the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. He chose the latter. The contract was signed in 1967 and the castle passed into the hands of the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft after the Duke's death in 1973.
Literature
* Helga Himen (with Heiderose Engelhardt): "Ringberg Castle on Tegernsee : Swan Song of Wittelsbach Building - Place of Scientific Meetings" München / Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2008 ISBN 978-3-422-06828-5
External links
* [http://www.schloss-ringberg.de/english/main.htm Homepage of Schloss Ringberg]
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