From my earliest memories, a watercolor painting of a beautiful castle has hung on the wall of my parents bedroom. Always, I wondered where this castle was, and who lived there. Many stories were told to me about the castle, but now I have found the truth of it all, quite by accident. While visiting a webpage that a friend of mine wanted me to see, I saw a beautiful castle on the page. It looked very familiar to me and I went back to it several times before the dawning of where I may have seen it before hit. I couldnt believe my eyes, or even my thoughts, This was the same castle that I grew up looking at "our Mystery Castle." It is impossible to read the date
on the painting now, but it is very old.

After doing further search for the the castle on that webpage, looking at even more pictures and paintings of it, I now am sure. I now know what the mystery castle is! The first picture is the one I grew up looking at. The second one is the one that I saw on that page.. The one below it is a painting I found online at a tourisim site for those planning to go to this beautiful country and taking the castle tours, etc.

It has taken all these years, and I am now 60, to find the answer to a question that has lingered in my heart and mind most all of my life. Yet the answer came completely by accident by going to a friends webpage. *smiles. Cousin Marian feels that this painting, which my Father got from his father, Benjamin, was probably given to him by Starr, Benjamins brother. Starr had made trips to that region and the castle would have been a foremost tourist attraction even then.

The watercoloring painting.


Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany


Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany.

This is King Ludwig's magnificent and most famous castle, built in the neo-late romanesque style. With its turrets and mock-medievalism, its interior styles ranging from Byzantine through Romanesque to Gothic its a real fairy-tale fantasy come true. It was built between 1869 and 1886 for the Bavarian King Ludwig II. A splendid and imaginative "fairy-tale castle" high above the Alpsee lake with the Alps towering above it. Only about a third of the building was actually completed. The 15 rooms you see on the tour show astonishing craftsmanship and richness of detail. Woodcarving in Ludwig's bedroom took 14 carpenters 4 1/2 years to complete. Wagner's operas feature everywhere in the form of murals. The best view of the castle and a 45m waterfall is from the nearby Mary's Bridge (Marienbruecke), which spans a deep gorge. On the path between this bridge and the castle is a wonderful view of Hohenschwangau and the Alpsee. Guided tours take about 35 minutes. You have to walk 170 steps up and down, a lift is not available. The castle (like Hohenschwangau) is open daily April to October, 8.30-5.30, November to March 10-4.