Eisenach

I love castles, and there are so many in Germany. One that has been on my list for a long time is the Wartburg Castle in Eisenach.

downtown Eisenach

Eisenach is a picturesque town in its own right, but most people go to Eisenach to see the Wartburg Castle. The thing about castles is that they are usually way above the town...

The hike up there is worth it for the view, though.

Even for a castle, the Wartburg is REALLY old: the main hall was built in 1155.  The castle is pretty well-known thanks to a famous visitor it had nearly 500 years ago. In 1521, Martin Luther was excommunicated from the Catholic Church, and he hid out in the Wartburg Castle.  He used his time at the Wartburg to translate the New Testament of the Bible into German.

Martin Luther's room at the castle, presumably where he wrote his translation of the Bible

chapel inside the castle

It's a BIG castle!

THE Castle

It seems I can't get enough of castles since I have been in Germany, and if you're crazy about castles, you can't miss the granddaddy of them all, Neuschwanstein. I went south recently to see it for myself.  First, though, there was Hohenschwangau, the place where King Ludwig II spent his childhood.


Hohenschwangau Castle






view from the path to the Hohenschwangau Castle



the path to Hohenschwangau

Ludwig's father built Hohenschwangau Castle out of the ruins of a 12th century fortress. Once Ludwig became king, he decided to build his own larger, more extravagant castle.  He had it built high above his father's castle, but within walking distance.  

view of Neuschwanstein Castle from Hohenschwangau

picture of the Neuschwanstein Castle, taken on the Marienbrücke 

The tour of the two castles took about two and a half hours, and half of that time was spent walking.  (It doesn't seem like such a long walk, though, when you stop to have Quarkbällchen along the way.)  Despite the chilly weather (okay, I thought it was cold), there were LOTS of people...I can't imagine how crowded it must be in the summer. I could probably be persuaded to go back in the winter, though; imagine this covered with snow!

The Rhine River Cruise (a.k.a. the Castle Tour)

Although I have only been in Germany for about six weeks now, I am worried that soon I'll become blasé about seeing beautiful things, because they are everywhere! A case in point: Saturday I went on a Rhine River tour from Rüdesheim to St. Goar.  I was amazed at all of the castles that date back several centuries (this is probably due to the fact that I come from a place where nearly any building over 100 years is considered worthy of special recognition.)



Castle Ehrenfels



Mäuseturm








Rheinstein Castle



Reichenstein Castle



Sooneck Castle






Strahleck castle



  

Furstenberg Castle



 

tower in Oberwesel

 

















Schönburg Castle--I am sure it looks more schön when the sun is cooperating

 



Burg Katz





Way up there is Burg Rheinfels

 
All of that, in a tour that only lasted a few hours! We ended our cruise at St. Goar and checked out Burg Rheinfels up close. You can pay for a fun trolley ride up to it, or you can hike it for free. A sign in St. Goar said walking up would take 15 minutes...it is not true, and it is not especially easy after some wine on the cruise, but it was definitely worth the hike.




at Burg Rheinfels



view from the Burg

That wasn't all, however.  We then took the train to Bacharach and trekked up past the Wernerkapelle...

almost there...you can even see it above the arch...

...the Strahleck castle.




the incredible view from Strahleck



After all of that, it was time for a different kind of beautiful--italienisches Eis. Riesling ice cream is pretty good.