Destinations Planet

Neuschwanstein Castle is a nineteenth-century Romanesque Revival palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as a homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds. The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, but it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886. Since then more than 61 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with as many as 6,000 per day in the summer. The palace has appeared prominently in several movies and was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle and later, similar structures. Sources

Hohenzollern Castle is a castle approximately 50 kilometers (31 mi) south of Stuttgart, Germany. It is considered the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, which emerged in the Middle Ages and eventually became German Emperors. The castle is located on top of Berg (Mount) Hohenzollern, at an elevation of 855 meters (2,805 ft) above sea level; 234 m (768 ft) above the towns of Hechingen and nearby Bisingen, to the south. Both are located at the foothills of the Schwäbische Alb. The castle was first constructed in the early 11th century. Among the historical artifacts of Prussian history contained in the castle are the Crown of Wilhelm II, some of the personal effects of King Frederick the Great and a letter from US President George Washington thanking Baron von Steuben for his service in the American Revolutionary War. The castle is today a popular tourist destination. Sources

Cochem is the seat of and the biggest place in the Cochem-Zell district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With just under 5,000 inhabitants, Cochem falls just behind Kusel, in the like-named district, as Germany's second smallest district seat. Since 7 June 2009, it has belonged to the Verbandsgemeinde of Cochem. Cochem lies at an elevation of some 83 m above sea level and the municipal area measures 21.2 km². The town centre with the outlying centre of Sehl upstream lies on the Moselle's left bank, while the constituent centre of Cond lies on its right. Sources

Schloss Drachenburg is a private villa in palace style constructed in the late 19th century. It was completed in only two years (1882–84) on the Drachenfels hill in Königswinter, a German town on the Rhine near the city of Bonn. Baron Stephan von Sarter (1833–1902), a broker and banker, planned to live there, but never did. Today the Palace is in the possession of the State Foundation of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is served by an intermediate station on the Drachenfels Railway. Sources

Schwerin Palace or Schwerin Castle is a palatial schloss located in the city of Schwerin, the capital of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state, Germany. It is situated on an island in the city's main lake, the Schweriner See. For centuries the palace was the home of the dukes and grand dukes of Mecklenburg and later Mecklenburg-Schwerin. It currently serves as the seat of the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern state parliament. It is regarded as one of the most important works of romantic Historicism in Europe and is designated to become a World Heritage Site. It is nicknamed "Neuschwanstein of the North". The current palace was built between 1845 and 1857, as a cooperation of the renowned historicist architects Gottfried Semper, Friedrich August Stüler, Georg Adolf Demmler and Ernst Friedrich Zwirner. Sources

The Moselle is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg, and Germany. It is a left tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is also drained by the Moselle through the Sauer and the Our. Its name comes from the Latin Mosella, meaning the "Little Meuse". The river gave its name to two French departements, Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle. The Moselle valley is famous for its beautiful scenery and the excellent wine produced. Most well-known is the German Mosel wine region, while the Luxembourgish winegrowing region is called Moselle Luxembourgeoise and the French region is called VDQS Moselle. Sources

Eltz Castle is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier, Germany. It is still owned by a branch of the same family that lived there in the 12th century, 33 generations ago. The Rübenach and Rodendorf families' homes in the castle are open to the public, while the Kempenich branch of the family uses the other third of the castle. The Palace of Bürresheim, the Castle of Eltz and the Castle of Lissingen are the only castles on the left bank of the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate which have never been destroyed. The castle is surrounded on three sides by the Elzbach River, a tributary on the north side of the Moselle. It is situated on a 70 m rock spur, on an important Roman trade route between rich farmlands and their markets. Sources

Lichtenstein Castle is a castle situated on a cliff located near Honau on the Swabian Alb, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Historically, there has been a castle on the site since around 1200. It was twice destroyed, once in the Reichskrieg's War of 1311 and again by the city-state of Reutlingen in 1381. The castle was not reconstructed and subsequently fell to ruin. In 1802, the land came into the hands of King Frederick I of Württemberg, who built a hunting lodge there. By 1837, the land had passed to his nephew Duke Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, who, inspired by Wilhelm Hauff's novel Lichtenstein, added the current castle in 1840–42. The romantic Neo-Gothic design of the castle was created by the architect Carl Alexander Heideloff. Sources

Heidelberg German is a city in south-west Germany. The fifth-largest city in the State of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Mannheim and Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg is part of the densely populated Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region. In 2011, over 149,000 people lived in the city. Heidelberg lies on the River Neckar in a steep valley in the Odenwald. A former residence of the Electorate of the Palatinate, Heidelberg is the location of Heidelberg University, well known far beyond Germany's borders. Heidelberg is a popular tourist destination due to its romantic and picturesque cityscape, including Heidelberg Castle and the baroque style Old Town. Sources

Eibsee is a lake in Bavaria, Germany, 9 km southwest of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and roughly 100 km southwest of Munich. At an elevation of 973.28 m, its surface area is 177.4 ha. Eibsee lies at the base of the Zugspitze (2950 meters above sea level), Germany's highest mountain. As of May 2010, trains from Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen leave roughly once an hour and the trip takes about an hour and a half. Buses travel regularly from the train station in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Eibsee. A valid train ticket can often be used to ride the bus. Sources