Taggenbrunn Castle site was already used as a Celtic-Roman hillfort settlement in the 6th century BC. The first mention of current castle dates from 1142. The castle was destroyed in 1258 in a rebellion agains Duke Albrecht I and rebuilt ten years later. Later the castle was owned by the Holy Roman Empire and archbishopric of Salzburg. The castle was expanded in 1497-1503. In the 17th and 18th centuries Taggenbrunn was left to decay. Today there is a wineyard and restaurant.
Linderhof is the smallest of the three palaces built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria and the only one which he lived to see completed.
Ludwig II, who was crowned king in 1864, began his building activities in 1867-1868 by redesigning his rooms in the Munich Residenz and laying the foundation stone of Neuschwanstein Castle. In 1868 he was already making his first plans for Linderhof. However, neither the palace modelled on Versailles that was to be sited on the floor of the valley nor the large Byzantine palace envisaged by Ludwig II were ever built.
Instead, the new building developed around the forester's house belonging to his father Maximilian II, which was located in the open space in front of the present palace and was used by the king when crown prince on hunting expeditions with his father.