Herrenchiemsee, Royal palace on Herreninsel island, Lake Chiemsee, Germany
Herrenchiemsee is a royal palace on Herreninsel island in Lake Chiemsee, Bavaria, modeled after Versailles. The building includes 20 furnished rooms featuring marquetry floors, stucco marble on the walls, and fresco paintings across ceilings and walls.
Construction began in 1878 under King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who commissioned architect Georg von Dollmann to design the project. The work remained unfinished when Ludwig II died in 1886, with only the central wing completed.
Ludwig II had the Hall of Mirrors illuminated every evening during his stay and the staircase decorated with lavish flower arrangements. The palace was conceived as a monument to the French Bourbon kings and the divine right of kings, a homage to Louis XIV rather than a working royal residence.
Access is via ferry from Prien or Stock, followed by a walking path or horse-drawn carriage through the park grounds. The interior rooms can only be visited on guided tours that start at regular intervals.
Ludwig II stayed at the palace only from 7 to 16 September 1885, and during that time received the actress Marie Dahn-Hausmann as a guest. Each evening the Hall of Mirrors was lit for him and the staircase decorated with flowers, while painted canvases hid the unfinished garden and rooms.
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