Neuschwanstein Castle, royal palace in the Bavarian Alps of Germany, the most famous of three royal palaces built for Louis II of Bavaria, sometimes referred to as Mad King Ludwig, who grew up nearby at Hohenschwangau Castle. Begun in 1869 and left unfinished at Louis’s death in 1886, the castle is the embodiment of 19th century romanticism.

In a fantastical imitation of a medieval castle, Neuschwanstein is set with towers and spires and is spectacularly sited on a high point over the Pöllat River gorge. The king worked with three different architects in succession: Eduard Riedel, Georg Dollmann, and Julius Hofmann, all Germans who based their designs largely on a scheme produced by German stage designer Christoph Jank.

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King Louis was a patron of the German composer Richard Wagner, and the third-floor rooms reflect Louis’s love of the legends used by Wagner in his operas: for Tannhäuser, a winter garden and stalactite grotto; for Lohengrin, the great chamber; and the unfinished Byzantine throne room, its vaulted ceiling supported by inlaid stone columns and decorated with stars. The Singers Hall on the fourth floor, with a coffered ceiling, is dedicated to the life of Parsifal, hero of another famous Wagner opera. The palace is now a popular tourist attraction.

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In 2007, it was a finalist in the selection of the New Seven Wonders of the World. As it was not voted on the top positions it now is advertised as the 8th world wonder.