Marksburg Castle

On the way home from Cologne we drove down a road next to the Rhine River called Castle Road. This is a very scenic stretch with lots of vineyards and several castles speckled along the tops of the hills. We stopped at one of the first castles we came to called the Marksburg Castle. I didn't know if we would be able to get inside because all my tour books said it closes at 5pm and the last tour is an hour before. We got there around 4:30 and it turns out there was one more tour leaving at 5. It was only in German, but we got a pamphlet in English to help explain what we were seeing. Our guide was a very nice woman and she ended up speaking in English about halfway through the tour. She LOVED Maddox and let him put on a real knight's helmet, hold a sword, and even lock the castle door with a huge key when the tour was over. It was very cool and we got a couple pictures, which you will see later.

Our first view.


Driving past the old town gate.



We had to hike a little ways from the parking lot to get to the castle.


Go over a drawbridge.


And through a tunnel with very uneven cobblestone streets.





Maddox, with his $5 bottle of castle Powerade that we had to get for him before the tour started.


View from the ticket office.


Our friend's son and Maddox playing while we wait.



At 4:57, right before the tour started Carson started getting fussy. I had forgotten a bottle in the car and Ben ran all the way down to get it. I was worried he would get left behind since our guide showed up early and started ushering people inside. Thankfully, she was nice and waited for Ben to make his way back up.

Marksburg Castle is the only hill castle on the Rhine that has never been destroyed. It has been lived in for 700 years. Unlike other Rhine castles that were rebuilt from ruin, Marksburg is quite genuine.

A wall showing the succession of ownership of the castle since 1283 and their coats of arms.


Castle tower with the guard's quarter.



The oldest cannon, from 1450.


The more efficient cannons from 1640.

The view out the opening.


Medieval Garden along the outer wall with 160 plants from the middle ages used for cooking, medicine, and witchcraft. The Schierling (hemlock) is the poisonous one that killed Socrates. We made sure Maddox didn't touch any plants.


After the garden we walked along the outer wall and the tour guide pointed out a brown overhang high up the wall. I heard her say toiletten and later figured out that was an outhouse and they would just let the waste drop to the ground as they went. yuck. Unfotunately we didn't get a picture of the outside of this.

Next we went to the the wine cellar.


Wine has been the traditional Rhineland drink since Roman times. Castle water was unpure, so wine was the way knights got their fluids. The large pitures above the barrels were each knights daily allotment. Quite a bit of wine!


Up the stairs we go to the kitchen with a wine press from 1767.


It has an oven designed to cook an ox whole. The windows were made of thin alabaster or animal hide and the walls are 4.5 meters thick.
Me, Carson, our friend Jade, and Brandon infront of the oven.




On to the bedroom, the only heated room in the castle. Note the tiny bed and bassinet.


The doorways were tiny. Here is Jade's husband, Dale, squeezing through.


This shows some of the materials that the wall was made out of.


Medieval instruments.


Next we went to the Great Banqueting Hall, The Hall of Knights, which had a huge fireplace, and the outhouse!! Personally, the outhouse door was way to close to the dinning table for comfort. This was the portion that was hanging over the outer wall in thin air. When not in use they locked it from the inside to prevent invaders from getting in.




The table top was an unattached plank of wood. After each course the servants would replace it with another premade plank. Even now, when germans are done with a course they have been known to say "Let's lift up the table."


Gothic chess set.


The chapel had painted walls and ceilings and is dedicated to St. Marks (hence: Marksburg).



Even the chapel was designed with defense in mind. There is a short and narrow doorway, which kept out heavily armed attackers (even I had to turn sideways to fit through.)


The staircase spirals clockwise, to favor the defender (assuming he was right handed.) Attackers swords would catch against the wall.


Two thousand years worth of armor are kept in the armory. Because helmets covered the face, soldiers identified themselves by tipping their visors up. This evolved into the military salute.


Our guide let Maddox try on a real helmet that was in the display.


And hold one of the swords.


This is the horse stable, but it shows off crime and punishment things (I didn't really like that part.)


This was the last stop. We headed back out the same gate we came in, and our tour guide let Maddox lock the castle up. I tried to get a picture of this with Ben's phone because our camera battery ran out, but I missed it.

Here are a few more photos from the Marksburg Castle.








I hope you enjoyed your tour. Auf wiedersehen!!

Cologne Cathedral - Kolner Dom

We had originally planned on stopping in Koln (Cologne), then driving down to the Mosel Valley to spend the night and do some wine tasting, but life always likes to throw curve balls. Our plans changed to only being available for a one day trip so we decided to keep our plans to see the Cathedral in Koln and then drive down castle road (that portion will be in another blog).
A cathedral is traditionally the tallest building in a city because "no one is higher than God." Cologne dates back to 34 BC, the largest Roman outpost outside of Paris and Constantinople. This cathedral was built over another ancient church back in the third century and took over 500 years to complete.
Here is our first view as we entered the city.


We got there shortly after 12 and I was stressing out a little bit. I wanted to make sure I had time to see and photograph all of the major spots of interest and we only had a short window of time between noon prayer and confession (they close the Cathedral to non-members during that time and cathedral cops called Schweitzer, dressed in red robes, push you out and lock gates behind you.) We parked, situated the children, and headed out to the streets. With all the tall buildings and narrow streets, which seem to be common characteristics of German cities, you don't see what your are looking for until you are on top of it. When we walked around the corner the cathedral loomed over us with quite a commanding presence.



There were gates up all around that side and I thought it was closed, but turns out we just had to walk around to the front (we were on the side.)

As impressive as the Cathedral is from the side, it is even more so from the front. I am just blown away with this place. It is so big that I could not get the whole thing in one picture even though I had walked through the square, to the other side of the street, and got down to ground level.



As we walked Maddox found ducks.

And a fountain.



There were people dressed up and standing in the square. Ben said they wanted money.




This guy was a dog.


And chalk drawings.


Here are more views of the front:





I did so much research on this place before leaving and it would take me all night to write about all the history. I'll just point out the major points of interest. There were a large number of tourists there and we aren't even in peak tourism season. My research said over 20,000 people tour it daily.

In front there is a replica of a spire. The originals are 515 feet above us at the top of the towers.


There is also a roman arch from 50 AD which marks the start of 2,000 year old main shopping street.


The nave is built to make you feel small. The ceilings are 140 feet high.


The city was hit hard in WWII, 95% of the city was destroyed and it's population dropped from 800,000 to an estimated 30,000. The cathedral was hit by bombs 15 times, but the skeletal structure flexed and stayed in tact fairly well. Thankfully, they anticipated the bombings and removed the stained glass and art treasures and took them to shelters to save them. Therefore, most of the glass windows are originals with some from medieval times or early renisaissance. I couldn't stop taking pictures of them, they were so beautiful. Some had family crests of donors, but most depicted scenes from the bible.






Next we went to the oldest part of the cathedral, with a mosaic floor from the 19th century.


It shows a saint holding the Carolingian Cathedral which stood in this spot for centuries before this cathedral was built. This marks the entrance of the Chapel of the Cross that has the oldest surviving crucifix from the north Alps, carved in the 970's with techniques 300 years ahead of it's time. I looked all over for this thing and finally realized it was covered up for some reason (I probably walked past it 5 times.) I squeezed a picture from the side. It was much larger than anticipated. It shows Jesus, not suffering nor triumphant, but with eyes closed, simply dead.


Next was the Shrine of the Magi. These are three large elaborate coffins made of gold, silver, and jewels. Inside are the skulls and crowns of the Three Kings (from the Christmas Carol). They were the first to recognize Jesus as the savior and the first pilgrims to visit him. Relics were a big deal in the middle ages and this put Koln on the pilgrimage map and gave them enough money to finish the Cathedral. This also led to the Cathedral's theme: Life is a pilgrimage...a search for God.




Inside the Chapel of the Virgin is the Madonna of Milan from 1290. People used to make a pilgrimage here to stand beneath her for a miracle. We walked right past here, then finally realized it and went back, but the cathedral cops had closed the gates, so we didn't get a chance to stand under her. I was bummed.

This is a mural of the Patron Saints of Cologne, also in the Chapel of the Virgin, but the panels were closed.

Here's a picture of Ben and Maddox under the side with the low ceilings to give you an idea of how big this place is.



The high alter, the Shrine of the Magi is way far in the background.


The organ, one of Germany's biggest, was installed recently, but couldn't be attached to the wall because it would alter the integrity of the architecture. It hangs from the ceiling instead.


After our visit to the Cathedral we stopped at a local brewery for lunch.


They had unusual food that I guess is traditional for the area such as ox tail soup (with a real ox tail in it) and boiled pig belly. I ordered a fish fillet and suprise!! It was served raw with scales and everything! So raw you couldn't even get your fork into it. At least it didn't have a head. I just covered it up and at the green beans and potatos that came on a sepereate plate. I think I'll stick to the schnitzel next time, at least I know that's cooked!

We could not leave Koln without trying the local beer, called Kolsch. It is only made in Koln and can only be sold in a 20 mile radius.


It was a great trip and I am looking forward to returning at night sometime to see the Cathedral lit up.