The castle then changed hands a few times, mainly as it was given to noblemen who had been loyal and useful to whoever happened to be emperor at the time. In 1599, it was largely abandoned when the then lord of the castle moved to a modern palace, leaving only a small crew behind.
Finally, Louis XIV (the French king's) troups destroyed the castle in 1689 and it became a quarry for everyone else around.
This small building contains a well - the only fresh water supply for the entire castle, which is why it was specially protected:
Since 1819, the castle has been property of the same family. Restoration work (not really rebuilding, mainly making sure the remaining walls would not be ruined any further) began in 1892 and was taken up in earnest in the 1950s, and again in 2011.
Nowadays, it is safe to access even the highest part of the huge building - except for the incredible number of wasps we found swarming the walls! Much as we would have loved to enjoy the great views from the top, we really only dared to stick our heads out of the stairwell for about three seconds, take one or two pictures and then quickly head back down again.
We went back down the hill on a slightly different path and then had a nice meal in a garden café at the bottom. There were ice creams later for us in the picturesque town of Gengenbach (which I showed you here in June) before we headed home.
Once again, I chose the late train for travelling back to Ludwigsburg, arriving there at a quarter past 11, having reached my connecting train without any problem. Another wonderful weekend was over.
That looks like my kind of place - though maybe, with a little imagination, I could picture a princess waiting to be rescued from a high tower... :-)
ReplyDeleteThey do re-enactments of (more or less historically accurate) scenes from the castle's history; a group of people is devoted to keeping history alive, wearing medieval costume etc. But there was no such event taking place that Sunday.
DeleteGood that you were not stung!It all looks lovely and romantic and the sort of place that kick starts ones imagination. When I was little two of my favorite books were Page Boy for King Arthur and Squire for King Arthur, though I realize the King Arthur era was actually much earlier than medieval. The oldest building around here is the Hale Homestead from the early 1800s.
ReplyDeleteI was just very nervous when I realized there were more and more wasps the higher we climbed.
DeleteMy sister and I had a children's tape of the "Ivanhoe" novel written by Sir Walter Scott. We loved that cassette and listened to it so often we could recite it by heart. I can still hear the "medieval" music in my mind!
Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteYou really do have a wonderful life, and I love that you share it with all your readers.
ReplyDeleteI do, don't I! It is something I am immensely grateful for. And sharing it makes it even better.
DeleteThe cost of just maintaining, regardless of any restoration, such a structure must be enormous. Thank you for the tour. I have to say that much as I would love to go there in real life I would far rather go with you in pictures whilst there are wasps around. I can cope with most things but not with wasps.
ReplyDeleteWasps make me very nervous, and especially lots of them. The ones there at the castle were not behaving aggressively, but it was clear that the old walls were their home and we humans were the intruders.
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