Berchtesgaden Royal Castle

Many different style eras have set their stamp on Berchtesgaden Royal Castle: from Romanesque to Gothic and Baroque, right on to Rococo. Throughout the ages, it has been expanded and modified again and again. The cloister and its late Romanesque sculptures are evidence of the castle’s origins in the High Middle Ages. After 1818, the erstwhile monastery was used by the Wittelsbachs as hunting lodge. Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria (1869-1955) lived here with his family from 1922 until 1933 and used many rooms for exhibiting items from the art collection of the Wittelsbachs. They include two retables by Tilman Riemenschneider of Rothenburg ob der Tauber and also valuable hunting weapons and trophies as well as, at 18 kilogrammes, the heaviest antlers of Bavaria. Precious furniture, exquisite porcelain and paintings by major artists, especially from the „Munich School“, make it all complete. The view from the Upper Rose Garden over the Watzmann is considered to be the most splendid in the entire valley.