Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria

The Swan King’s Castles: Neuschwanstein It is surely the most famous castle in the world — and, like its builder, one of the most misunderstood. Neuschwanstein (noy-shvahn-shtine) castle is a structure of contrast, irony, and mystery — and beauty. When it was built...
Photos: Marktl am Inn, Bavaria

Photos: Marktl am Inn, Bavaria

Views of Pope Benedict’s Birthplace Introduction The former Catholic cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, became Pope Benedict XVI (Papst Benedikt XVI) in April 2005. In February 2013 he became the first pope in almost 600 years to resign rather than die in office. He thus...

King Ludwig’s Herrenchiemsee Palace

King Ludwig’s Bavarian Versailles Of King Ludwig II’s three famous palaces, this one is his “unfinished symphony”. Herrenchiemsee Palace (Schloss Herrenchiemsee) was incomplete when its builder died in 1886, and it remains incomplete today. But...

Mae West: The German Girl

When Mary Jane West, later the stage and film star Mae West (1893-1980), was growing up in Brooklyn and Queens she was known as “the German girl.” Her mother, Mathilde/Matilda West (née Delker), had been born on 8 December 1870, probably in the Kingdom of...