Bavaria’s Neuschwanstein Castle isn’t a typical medieval fortress, though its turrets and towers evoke a bygone era. This 19th-century marvel was the dream of King Ludwig II, a man captivated by Romanticism and the operas of Richard Wagner. In 1868, he envisioned a fairytale escape and ordered its construction on the ruins of older castles. Originally called “New Hohenschwangau Castle”, it aimed to be a grander, more idealized version of a medieval knight’s castle.