King Ludwig II. ....

...... preferred to dine completely alone..... for this purpose he installed in his castles the so called 'Tischlein deck dich' - a 'magic' table that could be lowered, then the drinks and meals were set on the table, then it was risen again..... and he could enjoy his now stone cold dinner.....
What you see is the mechanism for the magic table at Schloss Herrenchiemsee.
This is a glimpse of the dining room ...... you can see very faint lines where the table vanishes in the floor....