The König Ludwig: Everything In Balance

It is a luxury hotel and has all the features that make up this category: detailed, well-designed rooms, suites and chalets, lounge areas, an excellent restaurant, a first-class spa with state-of-the-art fitness and yoga facilities, as well as a huge indoor and outdoor pool area with a view of Hohenschwangau, one of the castles of the Bavarian fairy-tale king Ludwig II. Not to mention the highly trained, friendly staff that is always on hand at the König Ludwig to accommodate even special requests with a smile.

But that is by no means all that makes the König Ludwig Hotel in Schwangau stand out from the crowd of upscale hotels. It is the personal. “The motto of owner Florian Lingenfelder, who took over the hotel from his father Werner but first made it into the gem it is today, is “perceive people as individuals and pick up on their themes. He has also taken over his attitude to property.

“Creating instead of managing,” hotel manager Florian Lingenfelder.

A holistic approach

Guests can expect a genuine life-changing concept at the König Ludwig, provided they are prepared to commit to it. This starts with the treatments in the 6,600 m2 spa wellness area and workout instructions and extends to the 5-course dinner in the restaurant. But of course, people are also welcome in the König Ludwig who simply want to spend a few nice relaxing days, alone or in pairs, with a dreamlike mountain backdrop and good food in the “adult only” resort.

Let’s start with the three-part Bio-Balance concept developed by König Ludwigs’ spa chef Sven Huckenbeck (among other things, “Global Director of the Year” at the Hall of Well awards). He has incorporated his background in sports science, Myoreflex therapy and acupuncture massage according to Penzel (APM). The idea is to break up muscle tension and imbalances. “The body has to find its own balance again – that’s what I help it with. No more and no less,” says Huckenbeck modestly.

“The body speaks, even when it is silent.” Sven Huckenbeck

Yet it is much more. I have experienced it in my own body. An artificial hip joint, several sports accidents and my predominantly sedentary job as a journalist have caused my muscles to shorten despite – or perhaps because of – frequent up to daily workouts in the gym. Huckenbeck explains it plausibly: “A normal person sits 10 hours a day. Sitting starts as early as kindergarten and continues at school, university and work. This ‘continuous sitting’ leads to a shortening of the anterior muscles.”

I’m learning that poor posture in the gym can make the problem worse. Good to know for my future workouts. Emotions and constant stress also contribute. It leads to further muscular tension and, with advancing age, to bone and joint problems, but also to high blood pressure, because the “slouching posture” when sitting takes up space for the organs and can even impair cardiac output.

My experience with Bio Balance

“It’s not a feel-good treatment,” Sven Huckenbeck tells me in advance. And that’s exactly what it is. He starts with my feet, turns, presses and shakes them, pulls on my toes so hard it cracks. Worse are the pressure points above the iliac crest. His fingers dig deep into the tissue, but it’s a feel-good pain that lasts no more than 30 seconds. I gladly endure it because what awaits me afterwards is such a spectacular change in my body. A complete tension balance between the front and the back of my body.

After two sessions of Bio Balance with Myoreflex therapy elements, which reduced the increased basic tension in the muscle system and thus relieved joints and soft tissue structures, as well as acupuncture massage to let the energy flow optimally and thus strengthen the self-healing powers, I feel like a newborn. Sounds a bit hackneyed, but hits the nail on the head: my leg muscles feel longer, my neck feels like it has grown by 5 cm, my chest is open and my arms are loose. My complete statics have changed. All tension has gone out of my body.

Before, I was standing mainly on the balls of my feet and my feet were slightly tilted inward, but now the weight is evenly distributed on the balls of my feet and my heels. I feel both zones on the floor and stand straight on both feet. Upright with open chest, as if I want to embrace the world. Or better Mr. Huckenbeck, that’s how much he helped me.

The next day schedule: muscle length training

The two Bio Balance treatments in the König Ludwig spa are followed by Neuro Reset Training, thus completing the three-part cycle. This last step in Huckenbeck’s concept ensures that the treatment success is sustainable and that you can take it home with you. These are rather unusual fascia exercises that are nevertheless designed to be simple enough for anyone to practice on their own. “Takes only three minutes – like brushing your teeth,” says the spa director. This stretches areas of tension and activates shortened structures through strength and balance exercises.

Huckenbeck: “The important thing is that the body shakes with effort during the stretch.” Only then does the exercise begin with five deep and stretch-enhancing breaths. In this way, mobility is restored and each muscle cell remembers its task.

Example for the fascia exercise: tense the thighs and abdomen. The sternum points to the ceiling. Raise arms straight with thumbs pointing forward. Now go into backbend as far as you can until the trembling starts. Remain like this for five deep breaths.

The hotel kitchen is his playground

Simon Schaller is an extremely likeable and eloquent chef, 33 years young, has been with the company for 12 years and has been head of 26 employees since 2019. “I always wanted to be a chef,” he says. And creativity is important to him, which he also grants to his team. An allergy sufferer himself, Schaller is particularly concerned about people who suffer from intolerances and allergies. They in particular should feel comfortable in hotel and with his cuisine. “This guest must be able to forget his allergy with us and not find something completely different on his plate than his table neighbour.“

In fact, his dishes do not look like „health menus“. It is a lovingly prepared and visually perfectly arranged top cuisine. Everything is made in-house – from the spread to the ice cream. Schaller knows all the suppliers personally: the family farm that supplies the meat. He knows what soil “his” vegetables grow in. He also knows what ingredients, what effect they have on the human organism, which he incorporates into his dishes. For example, that wild garlic is appetizing, but also lowers cholesterol. Or that horseradish, the “Bavarian penicillin,” contains a lot of vitamin C and has both antivital and antibacterial effects. Schaller also explains all this in his daily “Kitchen Stories” in the four-paged info paper “König Ludwig Tagespost”.

Schaller is a chef who cooks with a lot of imagination himself, often following in the footsteps of the fairy-tale King Ludwig, whose cuisine even back then featured a lot of the exotic, but at the same time challenging the creativity of his cooks: “I work with a three-week plan with the same ingredients, but always varying them.” This also has the advantage that even frequently returning regulars always discover something new on the evening menu.

Anything is possible

The gastronomy concept of the Hotel König Ludwig gives guests absolute freedom. After a varied breakfast that offers everything that is healthy and/or delicious, you can just eat some fruit during the day or have a healthy Thai Tom Kha Gai soup for lunch in the Lilien Lounge in the spa area or a Kaiserschmarren in the afternoon if you feel like it.

In the evening, you can choose from two starters, two soups, two entrees, three main courses and two desserts. If you’re really hungry, you’ll manage all five courses. Those who, like me, follow the spa chef’s suggestions to get a better night’s sleep, opt for two light meals and a cherry juice as a nightcap at the bar. However, you don’t have to forgo alcohol there, or you can have a special cocktail of the day in which you recognize the aroma from the sauna infusion for example.

There is no other way to say it, there is a unique atmosphere in the Hotel König Ludwig, which the guest takes home with him. Together with the three fascia exercises, which are explained in detail with drawings in the Spa Diary.