Author: Ann Laemmlen Lewis

I love being in Germany in the fall.  33% of this land is forested with the most beautiful woods filled with conifers and colorful deciduous trees.  The trunks get darker as the leaves turn to golds and rusts, carpeting the earth below.  It smells heavenly as the rains and wind help the leaves to fly.

Today a group of us decided to drive to Marksburg Castle, about 1.5 hours away near the town of Braubach.  The castle is up on top of a solitary hill surrounded by woods that were beautiful to drive through.

It was damp today, the ground was wet from a mystical fog.  We parked, then walked a short way up a hill to the castle, arriving about 20 min before the 12:00 German tour.

Marksburg Castle is the only hilltop castle along the Middle Rhine that has never been destroyed. It has been inhabited for over 800 years and thus represents an ever-changing and developing building complex that has been growing into its present shape over centuries. Unlike most Rhine castles which were rebuilt from ruins, Marksburg Castle’s structure and architecture remain authentic.

We went in through the drawbridge Foxgate and a vaulted tunnel that took us to the ticket place and a fun giftshop. There was also a little restaurant there at the entry. The castle and walls and fortifications were build from what looked like shale rock stacked and cemented. OLD. There are 4 medieval gates to the castle.

The view of the Rhine River from the castle.  (I took the first photo last summer while we were on an Rhine cruise.)

Here’s some information about the castle that was covered in our German tour:

Above the 3rd gate is a little balcony with a opening in the floor where defenders could throw stones at the attackers underneath. The archway was made smaller after the medieval ages.

We climbed through what is called the Rider’s stairway (rocky passageway cut or hewn from the bedrock stone. It was uneven and a little perilous. One older lady actually fell as she tried to navigate the path. I think it was never evened out to make it hard for people or horses to enter the castle.

There was a blacksmith’s room at the top of that passageway where riders could get their horse’s shoes fixed after that dangerous uneven climb. Things here were original, 800 years old, like the fireplace, bellows and tools in the shop.

After that climb, we entered the castle and went into different rooms after circling outside the castle. There was a row of cannons (from 1880) pointing out towards the Rhine river below.

There was an herb garden that wrapped around the outside of the castle with more than 150 different medieval herbs and plants growing. Some were for potions and spells, some for cooking, some for produce.

There was a toilet room off the great hall with a sit-down toilet that hung out over the outside of the castle and the waste dropped into the garden below.

This room in the castle is where prisoners were tortured or held captive.

This was the wine cellar with huge barrels and a wine press.

I love castle kitchens.  They intrigue me.  I like to imagine the women who worked here.

This is an ice cabinet:

This kitchen and cooking area were right next to the main dining hall.

Treasures that have never left the castle:

In some parts of the castle there are newer additions (the half-timber rooms).  These were added on in the 1700s.

I loved this little corner outside one of the bedrooms.  It made me want to sing, “In my own little corner, in my own little chair,” from Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, my childhood favorite.

The next photos are from one of the bedrooms.

This piece of wall interior was revealed to show how it was constructed.

There was a small castle chapel that dated back to 1371. There were old paintings on the walls (added in 1903 to look like they would’ve looked long ago). One was of St. Mark, the patron saint of the castle.

Here is the interior view of the bedroom toilet.

Imagine climbing interior stairs like these in the dark of night!

The tour was interesting, the castle was amazing and authentic, and we loved every minute of it.

There’s a great gift shop up on top, also a restaurant.

In the next post you can take a look at the weapons and a fantastic display of armour from the Marksburg Castle.

Some of you may wonder what we do over here as missionaries in Frankfurt. John and I work 5 long days a week in the Area Offices as communication specialists. On top of that job, we are the Zone Leaders, taking care of more than 30 other senior couples. We help with immigration, town registration and airport pickups and drop offs for arriving and departing missionaries. We help with 30 vehicles, health issues, lists and rosters, overseeing weekly zone activities, money issues, apartment issues, and we have been helping to relocate 30 couples into 34 new apartments that were unfurnished. Below is a pic to give you an idea of what it’s like to furnish so many apartments and make them ready for arriving missionaries. Have you ever helped a child move? Try 30 couples! Yes, sometimes we get tired. That’s when we take a Saturday off to go see the beautiful world around us!

We had our first ever “Lunch and Learn” today in the multi-purpose room during the lunch hour.  Special guests from Salt Lake were here to celebrate the publication of Saints, vol. 4.

John and I were happy to contribute to this volume with the stories about Pres. Binene from the Congo.  We interviewed him and his wife for many hours while we were in Abidjan.  I’m excited to read his story and the stories of other Saints who left amazing legacies.

This is how we park in our at our new apartments.  We call them bunk beds.

At the Wartburg Castle gift shop, I enjoyed looking at some of the books for sale.  One was a collection of fairy tales.  One of the stories caught my eye–the story of the wolf and the little lamb.

This caught my eye because my family name is Laemmlen, which comes from Lämmlein, meaning little lamb.

The other book that caught my eye was this book about historical occupations.  I saw this book, or one very much like it many years ago when I presented a paper at a German Research seminar in California.  I wanted that book and never forgot about it.  It was not for sale.  This time it was, and I bought it!

In this book there are some pages about shepherds.   Schäfer is my Grandma Elsa’s maiden name.  in 1929, she married Rudolf Laemmlen.  I’ve always thought it was rather perfect that a shepherd married a little lamb.

Here are some other images of a Good Shepherd with a lamb.

 

This chamber room was portable, like a mobile room:

And here we are at Martin Luther’s room.  He was in hiding during the time he stayed here.

Some of Martin Luther’s library is housed here in the castle.

What a great day filled with good friends, good food, interesting history and lots to think about.