Castles & Ruins

Friday, March 12, was the last day of the Nekowitsch vacation to Germany.  Overall I think it was a productive week for sight seeing.  We went to three countries (Germany, France, Netherlands), saw three castles (Heidelberg, Hohenzolern, Marksburg), one castle ruin (Kastellaun), two grand cathedral (Strasbourg Cathedral and the one in Heidelberg), one palace (Ludwigsburg) and one museum (Mercedes).  Our challenges were freezing weather, the loss of a day to snow, and my late arrival when I returned a day after they arrived, and Brad's early departure, leaving a day before them.  It was definitely a week to remember.

Plus, I personally went to four new cities (Strasbourg, Kastellaun, Braubach, & Amsterdam) adding to my New Year's resolution of a new city every month this year.

But this blog is about our last day - specifically Marksburg and Kastellaun.

Shelly below Marksburg Castle.

Marksburg Castle is the only hill castle on the Rhine that has never been destroyed.  The most damage it ever took was when it was shelled during WWII by Americans across the Rhine.  Built in the early 13th century, the castles has huge outworks (3-1/2 meters wide) that were strengthened after firearms began to be used, including the addition of canons to it's defenses.  Because of these defenses it was never seriously attacked, never burned down, never rebuilt.  It is one of the most original castles left and was lived in for over 700 years.  Because of this history, the cool name - it's your castle Mark - and the location near our return route from Amsterdam, we decided to stop here.

We bought tickets for the next tour after we arrived, and ended up with some women's group (or hen party, as Brad would call it).  We were hoping we'd be the only ones in the group and the guide would give us the tour in English, but that wasn't meant to be...  The tour was in German, though the guide would give us a short English recap and we were given English guide books to read along the route - you can see me here with one of them.  The medieval roots of this castle were really interesting, a favorite for us all was the armor room which shows armor as it changed throughout the centuries (Andrew below is in one of the metal helms).  One thing I found interesting is the castle entrances were changed after gunpowder resulted in the abandonment of the large armor knights would wear - the entrance was reduced in size for two riders to pass abreast - a smaller entrance since the riders and horses no longer had the heavy armor.  A fact I found very odd was this castle was used as a prison for about 70 years in the 1800's.  For over 100 years it has been the headquarters of the German Castle Association.

After Marksburg we hit the road again on our drive back home.

Going to Kastellaun Castle was an impromptu decision.  We pulled off the highway looking for a restaurant, but there weren't any at that exit, though there was a sign that pointed the way to Burg Kastellaun.  Reading the description in my Schenck Castles & Gardens Guide I saw it was open March to December with no admission, so we decided to head that way.  Kastellaun Castle is really castle ruins located in the middle of the Kastellaun city center, the former Sponheimer Castle.  There is a museum set up on the castle site, but since the placards were all in German, we opted to not go through the museum but instead wandered the castle grounds.  The ruins were awesome.  We all enjoyed scrambling around, taking pictures and looking in all the nooks and crannies.

In addition to the museum there is also a large church right next to the main site, you can see one of the castle walls in front of the church.  There was a restaurant also, but it wasn't open yet.

Since by then it was almost 5 p.m., we walked around town a little bit and then found a place to eat supper - more traditional German fare.  One of the challenges here is almost all the restaurants close between 2 p.m. and don't reopen (or don't serve hot food again) until 5 p.m.  While we waited we found a bakery where Shelly bought us all some awesome braided cinnamon, raisin, other good stuff bread, which we saved for the next morning, though we all enjoyed a sample then at the bakery.

We noticed throughout the town more stonework like at the castle.  There was a sign by the restaurant we ate at that explained these walls were all part of the original castle - this was a very large ruin and went well into the town.  I think the ruin was one of my favorite things from the whole week.

(You can see Jess in her purple jacket climbing over the ruins in some of these pictures if you look close enough.)

Mercedes Museum

While Shelly, Jess, Andrew and I were at Ludwigsburg, Brad and Mark went to the Mercedes Museum (their main offices are here in Stuttgart).  Here's some pictures of their venture.

Ludwigsburg

Wednesday we went to Ludwigsburg Palace and went on the English tour.  Afterwards we had lunch (donner wraps) and Spaghetti Ice (Spaghetti Ice is a concoction with a whipped cream base, vanilla ice cream pressed out into spaghetti strands, with strawberry sauce and white chocolate flakes.  VERY DELICIOUS!  Especially made with smooth, creamy Italian ice cream).

Some interesting facts: The palace was built starting in 1718 as a home for Duke Ludwig's mistress, but he moved into the palace with her, leaving his wife in the old palace.

After late 1800s it wasn't lived in, that's why so much of it is still intact and in good shape.  Of course the big cammoflague nets they covered the palace with during WWII didn't hurt, either.

The last resident, a queen, lived there after her husband died and her son moved elsewhere.  Paralyzed after a horse accident, she was housebound (or palace bound) for the next 11 years until she died.  All the furniture in one of the rooms are elaborately embroidered - some of her work during the last years of her life.

There aren't hallways, the rooms all go from one to the next.

It has Baroque, Rococo, Classicism and Empire styles throughout.

This horse is outside in the main courtyard of the Palace.

Andrew, Shelly & Jess in the courtyard at Ludwigsburg Palace.

Some of the rooms inside the palace.

Watching the magic happen as they plant the gardens outside (view through the window).

Andrew & Jess eating Spaghetti Ice.

Amsterdam

We drove to Amsterdam, had dinner (Argentinian steaks), walked around downtown a little, and sent Brad and the dogs off on a plane to Dallas.  It was so much easier for him to leave than it was when the dogs came here.  I guess Brad had some problem with the customs in the states - they didn't want to accept the 3 year rabies shot, which the dogs got in the states, because of a new rule.  Brad was able to talk them into accepting it - being nice, Texas and military orders all worked in his favor.

On the drive to Amsterdam we had a full van - the van we'd rented to take us around town.  The back space was filled with dog kennels and our bags, and the dogs were split between the back two seats.  Bow laid on the floor at mine and Jessica's feet, keeping our toes toasty warm, while Cruiser sat up on the seat between Shelly and Andrew, keeping his eye on the drive.  Both dogs behaved great, staying still and quiet for the drive, they sure are good travelers.

The next morning, after seeing Brad off early in the morning, we drove around Amsterdam.  One thing we all noticed is that bikes are just as dominant as the pedestrians and cars as means of transportation.  They have whole bike lanes with their own bike traffic lights, bike parking lots, bike garages, and INSANE bike riders.  You have to drive slow and stay ready to hit the breaks in Amsterdam.

The architecture is very modern, with historic buildings in downtown and canals all over the place.  I'm going to be back there in a week to pick up Brad, and we're going to see some sites, but here's some pictures of our venture.  And yes - there are windmills!