King Ludwig II of Bavaria began construction of Neuschwanstein Castle in the Bavarian Alps in 1869, creating a fantastical romanticised vision of a medieval German knight's castle inspired by the operas of Richard Wagner. Ludwig was a passionate admirer of Wagner's music dramas, particularly the Arthurian and Germanic legend cycles, and designed rooms in Neuschwanstein to evoke scenes from Parsifal, Lohengrin, and Tannhäuser. Ludwig died mysteriously in 1886 before the castle was completed; it opened to visitors almost immediately and became one of the most visited buildings in Europe.

Neuschwanstein represents the apotheosis of the Romantic cult of the medieval castle, driven by a monarch whose aesthetic vision was shaped entirely by Wagnerian verse-drama. The castle demonstrated how deeply the Romantic poets' and composers' investment in the medieval fortress had penetrated European culture. It influenced the visual vocabulary of fantasy literature and poetry, and provided Walt Disney with his template for the fairytale castle — an image that has itself shaped poetry written for children ever since.