Ludwig II’s three palaces, and the only one he saw finished
The three, side by side
| Linderhof | Neuschwanstein | Herrenchiemsee | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Begun | 1869, enlarging his father’s hunting lodge | Foundation stone 5 September 1869 | — |
| Finished in his lifetime | Yes, 1878 | No | No |
| Rooms completed | The whole palace | Around 15, of more than 200 planned | — |
| He lived there | Most of the time from 1876 | Moved in 1884; furnished by the end of 1882 | — |
| Opened to the public | After his death | Within about six weeks of his death, June 1886 | — |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 12 July 2025 | 12 July 2025 | 12 July 2025 |
The empty cells are honest ones. This site is about Linderhof and it carries the Neuschwanstein figures because the comparison is the one every visitor is actually making. It carries very little about Herrenchiemsee, and rather than pad the column I have left it as it is: an unfinished palace, in the same inscription, that I have no sourced detail on. The comparison page does the two you will realistically choose between.
Why Linderhof got finished
Because it is small, and because it started as something that already existed. The site held King Maximilian II’s hunting lodge, the Königshäuschen. Ludwig began enlarging it in 1869; in 1874 the old lodge came down and was re-erected elsewhere in the park, three rooms and a staircase were added, and the wooden exterior was replaced with stone. Four years later it was done, and he had already been living in it for two of them.
Compare the other one begun in 1869. Neuschwanstein’s foundation stone went down on 5 September 1869; it was furnished by the end of 1882, he moved in in 1884, and at his death around fifteen rooms were finished out of more than two hundred planned. Two buildings started the same year, and one of them was a completed house within a decade while the other was a construction site for the rest of his life.
What all that building cost
Total construction spending across 1863–1886 is documented, and it stays in marks here. No conversion to modern money appears on this site, on this page or any other: those conversions depend on assumptions the person quoting them almost never states.
| Period | Total construction spend |
|---|---|
| 1863–1886 | 8,460,937 marks |
“What is the smallest castle in Germany?”
That question lands on this page and I cannot answer it. Nobody keeps a checkable register of German castles by size, the word “castle” is doing a lot of work in it, and any confident answer you find is somebody’s pick. So: Linderhof is not the smallest castle in Germany, and I do not know what is.
What is true, and is probably what you meant: Linderhof is the smallest of Ludwig II’s three palaces. It is also the only one he saw finished, which is a more interesting fact about it than its size and a checkable one.
If you are trying to see more than one of them, the two that pair naturally are Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, and the platform knows it: of the eighteen listings in this catalogue that name Linderhof in their title, fourteen also name Neuschwanstein. Herrenchiemsee is on a lake in the other direction and is a separate day.
Where the three ended up
All three went to the state in the 1923 settlement after the monarchy fell, out of King Otto’s estate, and all three are run today by the Bavarian Palace Administration. Hohenschwangau — which is not one of Ludwig’s, it is the castle he grew up in — went to the family foundation instead and is still its property. Who owns it now has the settlement and what it means at the ticket desk.
Read next
- Linderhof or Neuschwanstein — the honest comparison.
- The king who built all three.
- Who owns them now.
- What to see at Linderhof.
Frequently asked questions
How many palaces did Ludwig II build?
Three: Linderhof, Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee. Linderhof is the only one he lived to see finished, completed in 1878. All three, with the King’s House on the Schachen, were inscribed by UNESCO as World Heritage on 12 July 2025.
What is the smallest castle in Germany?
This site cannot answer that: there is no checkable register of German castles by size. What is true is that Linderhof is the smallest of Ludwig II’s three palaces — and the only one completed in his lifetime.
Was Neuschwanstein finished?
No. Its foundation stone was laid on 5 September 1869, it was furnished by the end of 1882 and the king moved in in 1884, but around fifteen rooms were completed of more than two hundred planned. It opened to the public within about six weeks of his death in June 1886.