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June 18, 2005

Rhineland Germany explored

The Rhineland is full of picture postcard opportunites, and the small town of Idstein is a classic example. The massive gatehouse depicted here is a part of the fortifications once necessary to defend the towns and citizenry of this area from the regular invasions that swept through here in medieval times. The Kaisers of the period even licensed the Bishops to maintain fortresses and garrisons, and in one case, Würzburg, created the Fürstbischof (Prince Bishopric) where the Bishop had a Duchy and orders to defend it!

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The "Rathaus" and medieval gatehouse which once guarded the approach to the castle and citadel where the townspeople could take refuge and defend themselves.

Behind this imposing gate (the Rathaus is the orange-coloured building to the left of the picture) stands the original guard tower of the citadel, now known as the "Witches Tower". There is good reason for this, as it is here in the 1670's that women accused of witchcraft were imprisoned before being burned at the stake in the town square below it.

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The memorial tablet to the women burned at the stake for witchcraft in 1676 at Idstein.

The ancient Schloss is now a public school, and the courtyard before it a public space in which the memorial tablet commemorating the "witches" is to be found. Erected in 1976, it is a mark that the town recognises the terrible wrong that was done to these women and has made its peace with them and its past. Below the castle mount is a picturesque medieval town, with many decorated half timbered structures still vibrantly in use today.

I will post some more pictures of it in due course.

Posted by The Gray Monk at June 18, 2005 09:08 AM