Steeped in history, Germany hosts some of the most beautiful castles in the world. Some castles are fortified and defensive in their appearance, while other castles have a more fairytale nature. The awe-inspiring and magical Neuschwanstein Castle is one of the latter. So magical, in fact, that nearly a century after it was built, Walt Disney visited the castle with his wife, and this castle became the inspiration for the Sleeping Beauty castle in Disneyland!
Neuschwanstein Castle, a 19th-century Roman Revival palace, is built on a rugged hill in southwest Bavaria (a free state in the Southeastern portion of Germany). Although the castle is 65,000 square feet in size (compare to a generous-sized family home of 2000 square feet), it was built for just one person – King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Ludwig commissioned this cliffside castle in 1868, just two years after Bavaria was conquered by Prussia. Effectively stripped of his powers, Ludwig retreated into a private fantasy world where he surrounded himself with magnificent castles so he could live out his dreams of being a true, sovereign king. These actions caused Ludwig to be dubbed “the fairy tale king”.
Although Neuschwanstein Castle took 10 years to build, Kind Ludwig died only a couple of weeks after moving in. As a result, some of the rooms in the castle were literally never used. Since then, the castle has been open for public viewing. With sweeping views of the German Alps, the castle is breathtaking during any season of the year!
Let’s “build” our own version of the Neuschwanstein Castle.
LEVEL ONE
Materials:
- Castle Template 1
- Crayons or Colored pencils
Instructions:
- Print out Template 1; one per student
- Show pictures of the Neuschwanstein Castle, drawing students’ attention to details about the structure itself, as well as the surrounding landscape.
- https://www.pinterest.com/passportnation/live-it-a-slice-of-life-in-europe/castle/
- Instruct students to color the castle, taking note to add in details that were observed from pictures of the castle (Note: the castle is shown in various seasons of the year; students might also choose to pick a season and color in elements to indicate the season of year).
LEVEL TWO
Materials:
- Castle Template 2 (only 1 is needed for every few students)
- Watercolors
- Watercolor Paper
- Black Construction Paper
- Brushes
- Scissors
- White Crayons
- Glue
- Paper towels, Styrofoam plates, and water cups.
Instruct students to paint the entire page of a piece of watercolor paper.
Using pre-cut Castle Template 2, place template over black construction paper and, with a white crayon, trace castle shape.
Cut along the traced outline to create a castle silhouette (Don’t forget to cut out the door!).
At this point, your watercolor background should be dry, but if not, you can gently dab the it with a paper towel until dry.
Finally, glue the castle silhouette to the watercolor background page.
This breathtaking structure is proof that God equips his creation (his people) with the intelligence, inspiration, and creativity to imagine and build this fairy-tale castle in the mountains.