Since I first entered the world of King Ludwig II at age ten, I have been fascinated with this legendary king and his fantastic castles and from that moment on I have returned time and time again (for 40 years) to visit Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. These castles and their builder have a magical affect on me. This year's visit was not in October as in previous years. I drove to Schwangau in August, in the middle of high season. My destination was Hohenschwangau. Although Ludwig did not build this castle, it was nevertheless the home of his childhood. In addition I had decided to visit the inside of Hohenschwanstein once again, although with little enjoyment, as you will discover.

In order to attend the first guided tour of the castle I hiked up to the mountain at eight o'clock in the morning and waited for the first tour to begin at 9 o'clock. A young American journalist was there already, to find out why her countrymen were so fascinated by the castle. 30 minutes later the courtyard was filled with visitors. Strictly separated, there stood approximately 400 Japanese, 80 Americans and British, 60 Spaniards and Portuguese, 30 Italians and an additional 50 people from other European countries. With only 20 people the Germans were definitely the minority on this Sunday. It was not difficult to distinguish between the various nationalities because the assorted groups were lined up according to their country of origin, waiting to attend the tours given in their languages.

Although it was a pleasure to see so many people from all the world interested in these magnificent castles I could not help but wonder for how long they will remain to be just that. For many years now the king's castles have been under repair with no end in sight. Observing the entire hubbub and excitement that takes place in and around the castles, my thoughts retreated into the past.

I had a different experience many years ago in the spring and on a workday. The mountains were still covered with late snow when I got up at six o'clock in the morning to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. Surrounded by fog, the fairytale king's castle stands lonely and strong in the mountains. At that time I had the opportunity to visit the castle all by myself without a guide. At 7 o'clock I stepped through the main gate into Ludwig's dream world. Of course I was not alone in the castle because the cleaning crew had already started to get the castle ready for the masses of visitors. Julius Desing, who managed the castle at the time, welcomed me and opened all the interior doors of the castle for me, even the ones that remain closed to the general public.

I found it absolutely wonderful to stroll through these legendary rooms, to silently linger here and there and let my thoughts go back in time to the world of Ludwig II. I felt as though he was right there with me. At that time the whole magnificence of the chamber could still be admired without the protective devices that are in place now. No plastic covers had been pulled over the objects, no plastic covered the valuable drapery and there were no transparent protective screens on doors and windows.

I stood all alone on the balcony of the throne-room, wanting to look down into the valley. The sun shone brightly in the sky, the snow-covered mountains were visible in the distance, but below me was an impenetrable blanket of clouds. Eerie silence surrounded me. A reverential shudder ran down my back and I felt I was in a different world. A short time later after the clouds had dissipated, I stood up above on the balcony under a clear blue sky and enjoyed the breathtaking view of lakes and mountains - it was dreamlike.

The present condition of the castle is a nightmare. Year after years the number of visitors increases, exceeding far over one million in 1998. When the projected music hall, grand hotel and golf course in Fuessen become reality, there will likely be a few hundred thousand more people in the future who shuttle through these sacred halls in their tennis shoes and shorts. They insist on touching everything with their sweaty fingers and some are even successful in tearing off a piece of material or in breaking off a piece of the ornaments to take it with them as souvenir. The masses can hardly be controlled in spite of camera surveillance.

Is that what is wanted? Love is blind, maybe so, but the greed for profit is even more blinding!

Does mass tourism endanger the royal castles? Of course the cash registers keep ringing in the surroundings of such great public magnets and the state, of course, is happy with the considerable revenue from admission tickets, but the exploitation of the castles of King Ludwig II by the ever growing masses of people has in the meanwhile become the number one factor of destruction.

Due to similar consequences in French Lascaux, the famous grotto has long been closed and the visitors have to make do with visiting a copy of such, although true to the original.

Should Disney land serve as an example to build a King Ludwig II Park in Bavaria? To rebuild all the castles in one spot would be practical, time saving, effective and the originals could be preserved. It would also be possible to give a belated life to all of Ludwig's dream castles that were not built, in order to augment the attraction to bigger heights. This suggestion is probably a bit

audacious to become reality, although surely profitable. And so the king's castles are prone to continue to suffer, while he angrily looks down from heaven and would surely want nothing more than to strike the crowd below with thunder and lightening. His last order before his arrest was to destroy all of his castles after his death. Naturally I am happy that did not take place because I would have missed the opportunity to admire this magnificence. Let's hope that the Bavarian castle administration will be able to protect the king's castles in spite of the heavy congestion. What I am really hoping is, that the gentlemen in Munich will consider making the castles available to the genuinely interested friends of King Ludwig II who share more than just have a superficial interest. I am suggesting that they hold special guided tours during the slow season as has been done already with Linderhof Castle. We could enter the rooms that are generally closed to the public and take our time to actually experience history. It would not have to be cheap, just incredibly wonderful.

I am loosing my thought because the first guided tour begins. I give you three guesses in what order the visitors are admitted to the castle. First in line are the Japanese, then the remaining foreigners and the German visitors are last. Rising early that morning did not help. I do not want to criticize the guided tours because it would be an injustice to the guides. To accommodate all daily visitors, the groups have to be large and the explanations short, although these explanations are apparently educational enough for most people. For anyone interested in knowing more there are bookstores and souvenir shops.

The castle visits are no cheap entertainment and there is a tendency for price increases. In Neuschwanstein, for instance, the cost can accumulate fast:

Parking costs DM 7.00, carriage ride to the castle DM 8.00, castle visit DM 12.00, guided tour DM 6.00, carriage ride back DM 4.00, not to mention food and drink. After all, we want nothing but the best!

In conclusion a word about the builder King Ludwig II. The former Bavarian government had Ludwig declared insane. One of the reasons was his supposed enormous waste of money because the constructions of the castles were not necessarily cheap. Regardless that he used his own money and not the money of the Bavarian land, there is no other investment and measure of infrastructure in history more profitable than the construction of these castles. I admit, Ludwig II refused to have visitors in his castle but its construction provided money and bread for his subjects. Had Ludwig been able to make the rest of his plans a reality, many Bavarian communities would be profiting from them today and would be erecting Ludwig monuments.

Tell me what present politician would be able to think of an infrastructure that would last more than 100 years?

For all that Ludwig II was murdered on June 13 1886, it is assumed that he was shot. The proof is mounting more and more. Why? By accident or intentionally? No one knows yet. Was Bismarck involved, or maybe the Bavarian government? There are many theories about that too. But that is a whole other story.

Erich Adami