Beijing comes to Austria. The fifth castle, a Chinese
Palace. Julius Hofmann's design of 1886.
Had it been built, Ludwig's Chinese Palace would probably be
one of the most popular tourist attractions in Austria. He often
went on midnight sleigh rides into Austria, through the magnificent
Tyrolian Alps. A spot he was particularly fond of was the Plansee,
a quiet alpine lake surrounded by spectacular mountains. It was
here that he planned to build a palace modelled on the Winter
Palace in Beijing (or Peking as it was known as then), albeit
a smaller version. Here he would dress as a Chinese Emperor, and
his servants would have worn Chinese court dress. It appears that,
at the end of his life, Ludwig's obsession with Absolute Monarchy
stretched into the world of the Chinese god-emperors. Only a handful
of plans for this palace survive, as it was conceived shortly
before his death.
