The Castle of Berg is situated at the east bank of Lake Starnberg

Lake Starnberg

Lake Starnberg , 25 kilometers southwest of Munich in southern Bavaria, is Germany's fifth largest freshwater lake and, due to its large average depth, the second richest in water...

 in the village of Berg

Berg, Upper Bavaria

Berg is a municipality in the district of Starnberg in Bavaria, Germany.It is most famous for the royal Castle Berg....

 in Upper Bavaria

Upper Bavaria

Upper Bavaria is one of the seven administrative regions of Bavaria, Germany.- Geography :Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered around the city of Munich. It is subdivided into four regions : Ingolstadt, Munich, Bayerisches Oberland , and Südostoberbayern...

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History

The estate was acquired by Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria

Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria

Ferdinand Maria, Elector of Bavaria was a Wittelsbach ruler of Bavaria and an elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 1651 to 1679.-Biography:He was born in Munich...

 in 1676 who ordered the construction the Castle of Berg. It was the venue of numerous festivities also under his successors.

In 1849 King Maximilian II.

Maximilian II of Bavaria

Maximilian II of Bavaria was king of Bavaria from 1848 until 1864. He was son of Ludwig I of Bavaria and Therese of Saxe-Hildburghausen.-Crown Prince:...

 instructed the architect Eduard Riedel

Eduard Riedel

Eduard Riedel was a German architect and Bavarian government building officer. Among other things he is known for his contribution to the construction of Neuschwanstein Castle.Riedel was born on 1 February 1813 in Bayreuth...

 to redesign the castle in neo-gothic style with several towers and a crenellate. The castle was also a summer residence of Maximilian's son Ludwig II of Bavaria

Ludwig II of Bavaria

Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...

 who ordered to edify the chapel in 1876. On June 12, 1886 Ludwig, who was placed under disability shortly before, was transported to Castle Berg. On June 13 searchers found the king dead, floating in the shallow water near the shore.

After World War II the castle was damaged by American soldiers and rebuilt only very simplified. Today the castle continues to be a home for the head of the house of Wittelsbach

Wittelsbach

The Wittelsbach family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Bavaria.Members of the family served as Dukes, Electors and Kings of Bavaria , Counts Palatine of the Rhine , Margraves of Brandenburg , Counts of Holland, Hainaut and Zeeland , Elector-Archbishops of Cologne , Dukes of...

, currently Franz, Duke of Bavaria

Franz, Duke of Bavaria

Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern , styled as His Royal Highness The Duke of Bavaria, is head of the Wittelsbach family, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria...

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