The castle of Neuschwanstein was one of the last castles built by "Mad King Ludwig" of Bavaria. He was very taken with Teutonic legends and Romanticism. It was built as a Neo-Gothic building based on the legends and Wagner's opera "Lohengrin" and "TannhŠuser".

He was one of the major promoters of the music of Richard Wagner and supported him while he composed the "Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelungs)." Neuswanstein contains a "Singer's Hall" where the Teutonic knights would have been entertained by the singers of the Ring. The Throne Room could have come out of the 5th century and is gold mosaiced with Bysantine looking images. The first two operas were first performed in Munich at Ludwig's insistence in 1869 abd 1870

Unfortunately King Ludwig never spent a night in the castle. It was used as a model for Cinderella's castle in Disneyland.