Hohenschwangau was decorated with scenes from medieval legends and poetry, including the legend of the swan knight Lohengrin.
Ludwig identified himself when still a boy with Lohengrin, to whom Richard Wagner dedicated a romantic opera in 1850.

The swan was also the heraldic animal of the Counts of Schwangau, whose successor the king considered himself to be.
Maximilian II had already made the swan a symbol of Hohenschwangau. Idealization of the Middle Ages was thus combined with concrete local tradition.