Last year, in an article reproduced from DONJON LANDS, I recount a local legend that tells how to find the dungeons under Neuschwanstein Castle. The legend suggests that the wintertime sun, coming in at a low angle, shines into “a cavernous portal of unknown depth.”

I imagined the scene from the bridge at noon on the hibernal solstice: Sunlight streaming between mountain peaks to penetrate an otherwise hidden passage neath the castle. A glimpse of writhing tentacles or some scaled horror of the underworld.

Come winter, I thought to be able to confirm the legend. Winter in Bavaria, though, is cold and snowy. So, the bridge is closed for much of the season. Furthermore, clouds often shroud the sun, diffusing its light to a blue-gray glow.

On December 21, 2024, the sun rose into a bright cerulean Bavarian sky. Freezing temperatures brought snow and ice in the previous week, closing the bridge for the coming days.

The photo above, taken at 12:20 p.m.—two hours after the solstice—shows the castle in the mountain’s shadow. The photo below was taken from the bridge two months prior, October 25 at 10:16 a.m. Already the castle’s nether regions are obscured.

If the earth tilts back toward the sun at the same rate it titled away, we won’t see any legendary entrance below the castle until well after February. So much for the legend.