Schloss Nymphenburg

I've been remiss in posting the rest of our Germany trip, and for that I apologize.  Matt and I got thrown into family gatherings and looking for jobs the minute we set foot on American soil.  Although we've only been back for about 2.5 months, it feels like a lot longer!  Partly this is due to just how much we miss traveling around Japan and Germany, and how much we want to go back, coupled with how hard it is to find a job in America these days.  But enough of our whining.  On to a magnificent castle!

We were lucky enough to be able to visit Schloss Nymphenburg, pictured above in cloudy glory.  It was the summer home of Bavaria's rulers back in the day, and very Baroque in style.  Construction began in 1664 and wasn't finished for some time.  The view above is the front of the palace, seen over the second of two massive ponds filled with swans.  Where we are standing is close to the center point of the front entrance, which is entirely symmetrical from the first entrance point on.  It's rather remarkable, especially since the symmetry is not overt; as we were walking in, it took some time to realize that all the structures were replicated exactly on the other side of our path.  Partly this is because although there is symmetry, there's not consistency.  Most notably, every building looks exactly like the one across from it, but different from the ones beside it.  These buildings were reserved for various advisers, clergy, and the like.  The palace itself is of course a structure to behold, and you can see it here in panoramic glory.        

The gardens behind the main entrance were fantastic and incredibly long.  The grounds were free, so we saw plenty of joggers and bikers exercising.  At first we were curious as to how they got a workout in, but then we realized the grounds kept going farther than we could see.  There were more man-made ponds (or lakes as they like to call them), decked out with statues of Gods and Goddesses from the Roman and Greek myths.  The whole cast and crew were there, starting with Cronus and Rhea, the leader of the Titans who ate his children and the wife driven to torment by these betrayals.  They are followed by Zeus and Hera, naturally, and from there things get a little less predictable.  There are all the major players, from Athena with her bow and arrow to Dionysus with his grapes and sly smirk.  Throughout are meticulously cultivates lawns and flowers.  Pictured to the right is one of my favorite statues, that of Demeter.  There is the scythe in her hand and at her feet is a bountiful harvest.  I got lucky with the shot, too, with that perspective on the palace in the background.  We actually decided not to travel the whole length of the gardens because we wanted time to investigate the inner rooms of the castle a bit, and the weather was a bit rainy (as should be apparent from the gloomy hue of the pictures).  The inside was every bit as incredible as the outside, in some cases even more so.  Similarly to the palace Rohan of Strasbourg, the rooms were bedecked with restored furniture, portrait collections, and oh, the ceilings!

To the left is a good example of how ornate the accoutrements of the castle are.  There were several clocks in this palace, and this one shows a scene of three young girls communing with a bull.  I'm sure it depicts a scene from some myth or popular tale, but I don't know it.  In the mirror behind the clock you can see a painting of a young girl.  King Ludwig was quite a fan of youthful beauty, and commissioned nearly 40 paintings of women he found remarkably beautiful from all classes of society, to hang in the palace.

To the right is a shot in the Great Hall, which is located where one would think it should be, in the exact middle of the symmetrical palace structure.  From the windows you could see out both sides quite far down the grounds.  It was quite stunning.

However, my favorite masterpiece in the castle, more so than Ludwig's "Hall of Beauties" or the Greek statues, was the Great Hall's ceiling.  Just when I thought the room couldn't get any more lavish, I looked up, and was greeted by a full mural depicting the Olympian heaven.  The work, by Johann Baptist Zimmermann, is done in the late court Rococo style.  This style is characteristic of Bavaria, which I can attest to having seen it in many palaces and churches from the time period.  An interesting bit of trivia: on the right side, there are several nymphs paying homage to another nymph-turned-goddess, Flora, and it is a reference to the palace's name.

Possibly more fascinating than the art is the fact that the Great Hall  has been left practically untouched since 1758.  They touch it up every now and again, and make sure the dust is cleared, but otherwise it is kept entirely intact and historically accurate.  This can have been no small feat, especially through the turbulent history of Bavaria and then Germany, through which this castle endured.