King Ludwig II Castles
The Schachen
With its striking architecture, the Schachen is one of the most impressive places you can find anywhere in the alps. King Ludwig II. built it in 1868-1872 as a retreat. The Schachen is located 1800m above sea level in the Wetterstein Mountains in front of Schloss Elmau and offers breathing taking views of the Bavarian Alps. The cosmopolitan design reflects how the King created his most intimate retreat by imagination and appropriation of a distant oriental and Indian culture in the midst of a spectactular alpine scenery.
![[Translate to English:] Prunkvoll verzierter Saal im Schachenhaus](/fileadmin/_processed_/d/3/csm__J3A0137_0dcceac367.jpg)
Schloss Elmau is located in a natural preserve and makes every effort to reduce its CO2 foot print to a minimum. For this reason, we heat Schloss Elmau by burning wood waste from the surrounding forests in our 1 MW wood chip power plant. As a backup and to cover peak demand we use our own combined heat and power cogeneration plant (CHP) which is fired by gas and generates 50% of our electricity. Our own hydroelectric power station, which has been in operation for more than 100 years, contributes another 15%.
In addition we have reduced electric power consumption by using LED lamps developed in-house and using software to limit peak demand. We dim halogen ceiling spots – which are still necessary for aesthetic reasons – to just 2% of their possible output. Plastic straws have long been replaced with bamboo straws and plastic bottles with glass bottles. To reduce CO2 emissions by transports, we only use and offer drinking water from our own high quality and mineral rich mountain source.
All our meat and dairy products are produced by farmers in our region. Food waste is disposed of in a biogas plant nearby. Waste glass and waste paper are recycled. Insulation of both hotels, which were build in 2007 and 2015 with local construction companies, exceed the European Energy Conservation (ENEV) Criteria by more than 20%. By 2021 all our cars will be powered by electricity.
