Walking through the gate is a sobering experience, I know of no other way to express it. There are many photo opportunities, and I certainly took my fair share, but I hesitate to plaster them all over out of reverence for those who suffered and died in the atrocious conditions that existed in the camps. The camps started out as centers of forced labor populated by dissidents and other "undesirables." In the early days prisoners would be sentenced to a term and released when they had completed their time and indicated that they were "rehabilitated." Ultimately the inmates were held indefinitely and eventually worked to death. In the final stages camps were converted to carry out the wholesale extermination of humans.
From the displays of personal artifacts to the "showers" and crematoriums the experience is an ever-evolving battle against disbelief. The living conditions were so marginal and the tasks carried out within the walls and fences were so horrific that they defy understanding. You should plan to spend at least three to four hours touring the site and it wouldn't be difficult to spend twice that amount of time. There is a good bit of walking involved, which I welcomed, as it allowed me to digest one visceral experience before being exposed to another.
I'm rarely at a loss for words, but attempting to convey the breadth and depth of emotions that I experienced at Dachau leaves me scrambling.
Far from an enjoyable experience, it is one of the most educational and gob-smacking experiences I have ever encountered. As they state in one of the displays, Never Again.
Our final day in Munich wasn't spent in Munich, per se. A friend who was born in the area picked us up and took us on a road trip to Chiemsee, also known as the Bavarian Sea. A little over an hour to the southeast of Munich, not far from the Austrian border, Chiemsee is home to the largest of King Ludwig II's castles. While Neuschwanstein is the most well known of Ludwig's three castles (Schloss Linderhof being the third) I'd have to say this may be the most unusual due to the remote location.
Ludwig purchased the monastery on Herreninsel and converted it to a royal residence while he built Herrenchiemsee, or his New Castle (Neues Schloss,) which was modeled after Versailles. Ludwig spent 16,5 million Marks (in 1880's currency) on construction (over $250M in 2013 dollars) and only completed twenty of the seventy rooms. To add insult to injury he only slept in the castle a few nights before his mysterious death at Lake Starnberg on 13 June, 1886.
Ludwig purchased the monastery on Herreninsel and converted it to a royal residence while he built Herrenchiemsee, or his New Castle (Neues Schloss,) which was modeled after Versailles. Ludwig spent 16,5 million Marks (in 1880's currency) on construction (over $250M in 2013 dollars) and only completed twenty of the seventy rooms. To add insult to injury he only slept in the castle a few nights before his mysterious death at Lake Starnberg on 13 June, 1886.
To access the castle you have to take a ferry from Gstadt to Herrininsel. There's a ticket booth just off the end of the pier and (depending upon the season) the castle is a moderate walk or a short carriage ride up the hill. The original monastery is now a restaurant and beer garden. It has served as a hotel in the past, but I am unable to ascertain the current status of lodging facilities. The castle itself is stunning, even the incomplete areas that are part of the tour. We visited in late winter, so the fountains were sealed up, the gardens were dormant and the skies were overcast with a few snow flurries. I'd love to visit again to see the grounds in their full splendor and enjoy the beer garden.
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