King Ludwig II bought the island in 1873 and began the New Palace on May 21, 1878, as a private residence and homage to Louis XIV. Georg von Dollmann, Christian Jank and Franz von Seitz are credited as architects. The article calls it Neo-Baroque, with a W-shaped plan, and says it was never intended as an exact replica of Versailles.
It includes a copy of the Hall of Mirrors, with 17 arches and a ceiling of 25 frescoes. The window niches are slightly wider than those at Versailles, which makes the central facade a few meters wider.
Work stopped after Ludwig's death in 1886. Only the central portion was built; of 70 rooms, 50 were incomplete. The unfinished North Wing was demolished in 1907, and the South Wing was never built. Ludwig stayed only a few days in September 1885. It opened to the public weeks after his death and is reached by steamboat. UNESCO listed it in 2025.
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