Essential Oil Quest: Nymphenburg Palace, Birthplace of Ludwig II.

Nymphenburg Palace

Built by Prince-electorate Ferdinand Maria and his wife Henriette Adelaide de Savoy in 1664, the original construction was just the square building in the middle. Later, their son Max Emanuel added extensions to each side, court stables, and an orangery. Most of the interior at that time was decorated in the ornate, baroque style. Some has been "updated" in the rococo style. It was originally designed by an Italian architect, Agostino Barelli; our buddy de Cuvelliers added the rococo flourishes.

The above picture was pinched from another site. Their photographers must have been there on a rare sunny day in Germany. We had one of our usual cloudy, gray days, as you can see by my version of the backside of the palace:

Backside of the palace on our cloudy day.

The impressive main hall of the palace, the heart of the center square building, stretches up through all three floors. It is flanked by tall mirrors and has a frescoed ceiling.

Windows in the front entryway.

The wall frescoes were also quite beautiful. I would imagine they have all been touched up as the paint appeared fresh. We passed through a room in the palace where experts are retouching many of the original paintings that hang on the palace walls. Apparently, the restorer wasn't there that day, but visitors can actually watch the restoration process, if you get there on the right day :-)

I wonder if these ceiling paintings are supposed to remind the heathens of heaven above? Here's where you get to go if you're really good.

There were two galleries in the palace, one with paintings of Max Emanuel's Beauties, and one of Ludwig's Beauties (Ludwig I - 1825-1848). The story goes that he sent artist Joseph Stieler out into his kingdom to find and paint women that matched his criteria of beauty. Any station in life was fine (unlike Max who picked only noblewomen), so there were 36 assorted paintings of women who all resembled each other, some noble, some not.

Lola Montez (it was a little difficult
to get a good photo as a
straight-on shot resulted in
a flash-burst on the canvas)

One of the artist's subjects started out as a commoner and became a courtesan when Ludwig took a fancy to her. Born in Ireland, Eliza Rosanna Gilbert was a dancer and actress who adopted the stage name Lola Montez (she took this name when she tried to pass herself off as a Spanish dancer). When she moved to Bavaria and became Ludwig's mistress, he gave her the title Countess of Landsfeld and showered her with money in the form of an annuity. "Whatever Lola wants, Lola gets..."

Lola's mother was the daughter of the Sheriff of Cork in Ireland, and her father was a military officer. According to Wikipedia, Lola was quite the wild child. As an adult, she had an affair with Franz Liszt, the composer and pianist, before she took up with Ludwig. Because of her flamboyant ways and quick temper, she was extremely unpopular with the citizens of Bavaria. This contributed to Ludwig's fall from grace and sparked the 1848 revolution that led to the end of his reign as king of Bavaria. As a result of the uprising, Lola fled the country and eventually wound up in the United States.

Lola Montez House in Grass Valley, CA

An interesting bit of trivia about Lola: in 1853 she moved to Grass Valley, California, after a brief stint as an actress on the East Coast. Her Grass Valley home is now a California historical landmark. A lake and a mountain in Nevada County are named after her (Mount Lola is the highest point in the county). There is also a cat named after her: ours!

Lola Montez died in New York in 1861 at the young age of 42.

Birthplace of Ludwig II

On 25 August 1845, Princess Maria of Prussia and her husband, the crown prince Max Emanuel II, had a baby boy. They named him Ludwig, after his grandfather who was born on the same day. Wow! What are the chances of that? The room to the left, in the South Pavilion, was originally the bedroom of Grandma Caroline (Max's wife); later, it became Maria's bedroom and the birth chamber of her sons, Ludwig and Otto. The little writing desk in the foreground is child-sized.

"Chinese Kabinet"

Asia must have been quite alluring to the Bavarian royalty as one whole room featured Chinese panels and oriental furniture (in addition to the kitchen in the Amalienburg that is covered in blue and white tiles, some influenced by life in China). The "Chinese Kabinet" was apparently commissioned by the father of Ludwig II, Max Emanuel II.

We spent a little time perusing the porcelain in the antechamber before heading out to wait for our bus. I found out later that the famous porcelain is still being manufactured at this location. You can see examples of their work here: (porcelain manufacturing). Some of the photos are actually mini-videos so you can watch them working. Had I known they were famous for their porcelain, I probably would have bought something (though it may have been pretty pricey).

Here's what their site says about their products:

"The porcelain paste – which other companies buy in as a semi-finished product – is made on site. Nymphenburg also creates and mixes its own paints and its porcelain painters work without templates. Each item is shaped and painted by hand, each ornament individually applied and all fretwork, be it ever so small, cut with tiny blades into the unfired porcelain. Nymphenburg consciously decided to continue to employ purely manual production methods and, since the 18th century, has refined them almost to perfection." Yeah, it's probably pretty expensive! But so beautiful and such fine work. Maybe next time when and if I go back...

A photo of Georg Efner and his beauties chatting with Julien Juierat while awaiting the bus on the front-side steps of the Nympenburg Palace: