Fussen Things to Do

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I crossed the small hill and drifted silently towards Fussen. Picking up a trail I kept telling my tired legs it's just one step after the other. Sooner or later you will get there.
Interspersing my journey with photo stops, getting misplaced and sitting down where opportunity arose, I made ground towards my destination. The scenery was very pretty and, on another day, I would have enjoyed it immensely.
Coming across things like Mexican hairless dogs (pic 4) were also diversions. I mean, seriously, a naked dog and it's bordering on minus temperatures and they're out for a walk. What are people thinking of?
At another stage I crawled under a school fence hoping to get a nice reflection shot but it turned out only average (pic 3).
Cutting through the outskirts I hoped to foreshorten my journey and I proved successful in that venture.

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"Ludwig spent much of his childhood in Hohenschwangau Castle. He later selected a nearby site for Neuschwanstein, the Knights' Fortress, probably the most famous of his castles." So goes the blurb in the brochure. My only question is, "Like, there is another candidate for most famous?"
Ask anyone with any knowledge of Germany what the most famous castle is and, if 95% plus don't come up with the answer "Neuschwanstein", I, for one, would be flabbergasted. Let alone Ludwig's most famous castle.
When it comes to location, you have to give Ludwig credit, he had an eye for real estate postions. The tragedy is, of course, that he never got to live in the place himself.
The castle's original name was Neue Burg Hohenschwangau by the way, it was only after Ludwig's death that it got the name Neuschwanstein.
These days up to 1.5 million people visit Neuschwanstein every year. Not surpisingly, it's one of the most popular tourist attractions in Germany.

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Set over the Pollat Gorge half way up the mountain yet separated from it, Neuschwanstein's interior uses motifs from German sagas of chivalry from the musical dramas of Wagner.
Ludwig II was a fervent admirer of his all his life.
The frescoes in the office of the royal private apartments portray the Tannhauser legend and the extendable dining room table bears a sculpture of gold-plated bronze wieghing two and a half tons and depicting Siefried's battle with the dragon.
The Singers' Hall (Sangersaal), based on the Wartburg at Eisenach, is decorated with scenes from the Parsifal and Grail legends. The blue and gold throne room, inspired by Byzantine basilicas, is 15 metres high and extends through two floors. Like so much of the palace, it was never used.
Though no shots are allowed inside, I did endeavour to shoot it from every angle possible. I even queried as to how they get the shot shown in the brochures but was informed that you would have to be in a helicopter or some flying implement to get such shots.
Still, I like to think I covered most of the other angles!

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The hill itself was called the Iron Mountain in the first documentation of the place in 1340.
In the farmers' revolution of 1525 it was occupied for some time by the farmers.
In 1646 its final demise came about when both castles were burned down in order to deny the advancing Swedes a secure base.

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For this journey you get two for the price of one. Amazingly, two castles sit side by side on the same hilltop almost within a stone's throw of each other. Mind you, you'd want a pretty good arm!
The first one I walked into was Hohen-Freyberg, these days the lesser of the two ruins in terms of remains but still interesting and with splendid views over the Allgau region.

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The walk back across the fields was so pleasant and there was a seat halfway so I simply sat down, reached into my backpack for some food and watched the world go by (pic 4). I'm sorry, much as I enjoy some of the delights of cities, this is the part of life I really enjoy. The calm manner and friendly smiles of the people who live in such places bears out my theory that the country has things to offer that the city can never deliver.
Wiezen-Hopferau bahnhof serves as a stop for a few villages. In the village itself I came across the shop whose wares are displayed in the first three pictures. The sculptor's premises are right near the station and very easy to find.
After this I caught the train and headed north.

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On the return journey, when I reached the village of Eisenberg, I decided to go the extra yards and visit the nearby hamlet of Speiden and its attractive church, Wallfarhtskirche. I also wrote in my notes Maria Hilf but am unsure as to what that actually has to do with the church.
Apparently there is a nice bakery in the village (I passed it but didn't purchase) but I found the angle back to the castles (pic 5) to be very scenic and the marked walk from there across paddocks back to the railway station made for a lovely stroll in the country.

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If you are not on a guided tour where you roll into Schwangau, troop up to see Neuschwanstein and then depart well, you're in luck. For me, the sum of the parts around Fussen is more than the whole of Neuschwanstein so, dip your toe in the water so to speak and hit some of the many trails.
One I was determined to do was Eisenberg, an ancient castle ruin just one train stop away from Fussen, or, if you're lazy, you can drive near to the site and walk the last few minutes to the top.
From Wiezern-Hopferau, the station without anything except a concrete slab platform, you head out towards the village of Eisenberg, just a couple of kms down the road. If you keep your eyes peeled you will then see the signs to the two castles, Eisenberg and Hohen-Freyburg.
En route there are further cute signs (pic 3) though I have to say it would be hard to get lost around here because the terrain is fairly open though you do spend some time walking through the woods.
You might also pass some woodcutters that also appear in pic 3.
It's uphill after the village but not overly steep. It took me under an hour for the whole walk so it's not that hard and, the higher you get, the more pleasant the panorama.