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October 20, 2005
Witnesses from Medieval Times
The most beautiful part of the river Rhine is found between Wiesbaden and Koblenz. This is the area where most of the castles along the Rhine are situated. One of the gems among them is the Marksburg at the town of Braubach. The Marksburg is the only castle on the Rhine that has never been destroyed. Today it houses the headquarters of the Deutsche Burgenverein (German Castle Association) who ensures that it is beautifully preserved and maintained.
Perched on top of a steep rock high above the town it offers a splendid view onto the river as most of the Rhine castles do. If you want to extort money from ships passing by you'd better see them coming!
View of the river Rhine from the Marksburg.
The castle was first mentioned in 1231. The keep is, of course, the oldest part of the castle and was probably built by some local noble Freemen. Then the Lords of Eppstein added the Romanesque part of the castle. They came from one of the most powerful families of that time who had no less than five archbishops and electors among the family members. In 1283 the castle was bought by the wealthy Count of Katzenelnbogen. The Counts of Katzenelnbogen built the Gothic part of the castle.
Knight's stairway into the inner courtyards of the castle. The horses of those times must have been good climbers.
With the death of the last Count of Katzenelnbogen the castle passed on to the Landgraves of Hessen who turned it into a hill fortress with artillery batteries and ramparts. The fortifications are impressive and some of the cannons are still on display in the castle yards.
Lots of artefacts inside the castle give a good impression of what life must have been like in the Middle Ages. Nowadays the rooms seem very small but it could not have been easy in those days to carry up all the firewood to the top of hill which was needed to keep the castle at least moderately warm and dry. People living in the castle must have led very lonely lives especially during winter times.
In the 19th century the castle was mainly used as a state prison and almost started falling apart towards the end of the century. In 1900 it was bought by the Deutsche Burgenverein for a symbolic price of 1,000 Goldmarks. It has been lovingly restored ever since and is well worth a visit.
Posted by Mausi at October 20, 2005 05:13 PM
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