King's House on Schachen

The Bavarian King Ludwig II (1845 – 1886) is notorious for his magnificent castles such as Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and Neuschwanstein. A less well-known building of the "fairytale king", is the King's House at Schachen in the Wetterstein mountains near Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

The house at an altitude of 1866 meters was intended for the king to enjoy the high mountains in complete comfort. Accordingly, no expense was spared when building the royal house. The exterior architecture is modeled on the "Swiss house" type made of wood, a style for vacation homes that was very popular among aristocrats in the 19th century. The room layout, with its central salon, corresponds to an upper-class French villa of the time.

Oriental splendour at an altitude of 1866 meters

While the five living rooms on the first floor with their Swiss stone pine panels are reminiscent of an Alpine vacation home of the time, the upper floor is all about the Orient. This is where the Turkish Hall is located. This is modeled on a hall in the palace of Eyüp, which Sultan Selim III had furnished at the end of the 18th century. The magnificent hall impresses with its richly gilded and ornamented walls and furniture, a fountain and large stained glass windows illuminated with colorful ornaments.

You can reach the King's House on foot via a road from Schloss Elmau (walking time for the ascent and descent approx. six to seven hours) or by bike. Once at the top, the mountain restaurant caters for hungry and thirsty guests.

King Ludwig II had the King's House on Schachen built between 1869 and 1872. He celebrated his birthday and name day here every year on August 25. To complete the spatial impression of the Turkish Hall, servants in oriental dress were placed in the hall, who had to smoke water pipes and drink tree.

The King's House on Schachen can only be reached on foot from Ellmau. You should allow six to seven hours for the ascent and descent.  

By car to Ellmau

From Munich, you can reach Ellmau via the A95 and continue on the B2 to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. You can park your car for free in the designated parking lots.

From Munich to Ellmau, take the A8 and A93 to the Eibergstraße B173 in Langkampfen. From there, head towards Austria and take exit 6 Kufstein-Süd on the A12. Then follow the B173 and the E641/B178 to Dorf in Ellmau.

By public transport to Ellmau

You can easily reach Garmisch-Partenkirchen from Munich by train, which runs at regular intervals.

From Munich main station, take the train to St. Johann in Tirol. From there, continue to Ellmau.