Germany’s
BEST KEPT SECRET ATTRACTIONS BY MIA GIFFORD
GIFFORD, GERMANY
W
ith its delicious food, beautiful sites and complex history, Germany should be on every travel enthusiast’s bucket list. Many travel to the popular architectural beauties of Neuschwanstein, the castle in southern Germany that inspired the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, or Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, once a blocked gate between East and West Germany. However, there are a plethora of other attractions that deserve just as much attention. I was fortunate enough to visit these other sites on a trip to Germany with my family, guided by my cousin and his partner who live there. Here are three of the most beautiful, fascinating and entertaining places that we traveled to in Bavaria in southern Germany and Berlin.
26
SOUVENIRS
Hohenschwangau Castle
Before the popular Neuschwanstein Castle was built in 1869, high in the hills above the small town of Hohenschwangau, Hohenschwangau Castle was built a little ways down on a smaller hill just above Lake Alpsee and the town. This castle was built by Prince Maximillian of Bavaria in 1832 and originally called Schwanstein until its name changed to Hohenschwangau after 1886. After becoming king, Maximilian, his wife and his two sons used the castle as a summer hunting residence. With the picturesque hills behind it, the lake lapping at the shore below it, and fields stretching out in front of it, this castle became a favorite for Maximillian’s son Ludwig. As Ludwig grew and became king, however,
