I love castles. I love the history behind them, the good and the bad. So I pretty much forced my anti-castle children into a weekend full of castle FUN! Our second stop on our castle tour was Schloss Lichtenstein, which is also south of Stuttgart.
There's a small parking lot at the castle, and for a couple of Euros, you can park right at the entrance. This knight was carved out of an old tree!
Be careful walking up the somewhat steep walkway up to Schloss Lichtenstein if it's the autumn because the wet leaves make it a bit slippery!
The previous structure wasn't even a castle. It was actually an old hunting lodge. There had previously been a castle here since as far back as the 1100s, but in 1802, King Frederick I of Wurttemberg acquired the castle, tore it down and put up a hunting lodge in it's place.
The word "Lichtenstein" translates to "shining stone." The stone used to build this castle was very light in color, hence the name.
In 1826, the author Wilhelm Hauff wrote a novel titled, "Lichtenstein" which inspired King Frederick's cousin Count Wilhelm von Urlach to purchase the property from the king in 1837. He used the same foundation that had been put in back in 1388 and rebuilt in the Gothic Revival style as the Count was very into Medieval history.
This beautiful castle was completed in 1842 and became the home of the Dukes of Urach. It's still owned by the Dukedom (the current Duke of Urach is Wilhelm Albert) but it's not the Duke's primary residence. It stands precariously on the edge of the mountain about 820 feet above the valley below (2,680 feet above sea level.)
Lichtenstein Castle is one of the more physically beautiful castles of Germany. It's often called "Neuschwanstein's Little Brother."
The outer bailey (not even kidding!) building was also built in the 1850s. I know it's trite, but I love half timbers.
Try to time it with good weather, because the views are incredible out over the Echaz valley, overlooking the town of Lichtenstein.
Are they trying to look up under girls skirts here??? Creepy gnomes!
These buildings are a bit newer and were built around 1900. They now house the apartments of the current Duke.
I don't know why, but I got a huge kick out of this! A rusted (?) metal squirrel riding along the walls of Lichtenstein Castle!
This bridge was kind of terrifying. It actually slopes up. It was kind of damp, but it has raised "stairs" to step on as you walk up so you don't slip. And don't look down, especially to the right!
Todd overlooking the Echaz Valley.
The real stars of the Bailey Planet, ready to visit Lichtenstein Castle.
The real photographic gems come from the point that they call Luginsland. You really get a sense of how this castle is literally built right into and onto the mountain.
This was the old lodge that was in place until its demolition by King Frederick I of Wurttemberg in 1839. Notice the bridge to the right and the original foundation of the castle built in the late 1300s.
Photo by user: Andreas Praefcke - Hauptstaatsarchiv Stuttgart, HStAS GU 99 Nr 399 a, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1243015
This panorama spreads from Wilhelmstower over to Luginsland, with Augustentower behind it.
Obligatory picture of us in front of Lichtenstein Castle.
Come on! Isn't this one of the most beautiful and incredibly cool castles you've ever seen???
One more wider view, showing the late fall leaves. It's honestly one of the most visually stunning castles I've seen.
Tiny cars in the valley on Route 313 look even smaller than ants!
Sharp cliffs define the edge of the Echaz Valley. Look at that super sharp turn on Route 313 to the left. We took that road when we left. That was fun!
Augusta's tower is one of four named for the daughters of Count Wilhelm (the original Duke of Urach). This one in particular houses the historical canons.
The canons were really neat - look in the far back at the tiny baby cannons!
After strolling the grounds, we were able to enter the actual castle for our German language tour. Once again, photographs were not allowed in the castle on this tour, so this was the only picture I got from across the bridge.
So thanks to the World Wide Inter-Googles, I can show you a few pictures of the inside of the castle. The first room you visit is the Armory, where you can see an actual part of the "light stone" that makes up the mountain that the castle sits on. (Also: another baby cannon!)
This room was known as the Ancestral Hall. A cool story about this room is that there is a mirror with a bullet hole in it, which sits on the opposite wall from this ceramic fireplace. At the end of World War II, the castle was shot at by us (the Allies) from down in the valley. It went in through the window, off of this ceramic fireplace and planted itself into the mirror on the opposite wall. They never bothered to remove it!
The Knights Hall is the largest room in the castle (and it's not very big at that!) It's called Knights Hall for the ten Swabian knights that are carved into the wood panels on the walls. You can see a picture of the original Duke Wilhelm on the left wall, when he was 26 years old. Above him, there is a "golden grill" which guests would hear music played through during dinners and dances. A band would not fit in the room with so many people, so they played upstairs and the music sent through this grill sounded as clear as if the band were in the room themselves.
The castle has a couple of other really neat rooms such as the Hunters Drinking Parlour (filled with a "sizable collection of historical drinking vessels.") The Castle Chapel is also an impressive room, where the family would celebrate Sunday mass.
Once we left with the tour group, you get a nice view of Luginsland and the Augustentower from the bridge.
Before we left, we took another trip over to Luginsland to take a few more pictures of this insanely beautiful castle.
Until next time, Lichtenstein Castle!
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