Lindsay Looking Glass: Marksburg Castle

Marksburg Castle Tour

We had no plans in place until Friday night, but we thought that this would be a good castle to visit. This castle is located in Braubach, a little town in the Rhine River Valley, about an hour and a half from our apartment. It dates back to 1231 and has a rich history of owners, royalty, and prisoners. Yes it was used as a state prison at one time.

This is our route for our day trip to Marksburg and Rheinstein castles.

This is a telephoto picture of the castle as we came into town.

This is the little road that takes you close to the castle and then it is just a little walk to the castle. It is still spring and the leaves have not come out yet. It was a pleasant day about 50 degrees and sunny.

We entered the parking area and the lot manager waved us on to the top of the hill where we got a choice parking place at the foot of the walk to the castle. He must have seen our missionary badges.

This is the view of the castle as you get to the top of the walk.

We waited for the English tour and entered the castle gates. There are four gates for security.

At the end of this tunnel and to the right is a shop where you can buy original manuscripts dating back to the 12th and 13th centuries, for only 300-1000 Euro. If you turn to the left you are on your way to Fox Gate.

Looking back at the manuscript shop, on the way to Fox Gate.

There are several places to look over the Rhine River Valley. Many of the river cruises stop here to let their passengers take the tours. We felt pretty good that we live close by and see this many times a month.

The Queen is in the castle.

and her royal photographer.

We had a little time before the tour started so we shopped at the gift store and had a bite to eat. I had a brat and fries, grandma had a German burger... the best we've had here so far.

The Fox Gate. The overhanging window on the gate was also used to pour hot oil and burning coals on intruders.

These are original steps carved from the bedrock. They were build to accommodate horses and they rode draft horse-sized horses, not the little quarter horses we are used to seeing.

These cannons are pointed toward the Rhine River. They took about 4-5 minutes to load after a shot. These were breech-loaders, and were the quickest to reload.

These are wine barrels in the cellar or as it is called here, the keller. They are linked with a tube and a bellows, so they pumped the bellows to force the wine out. The pitchers were filled and carried to where they were needed.

This is their wine press.

A castle is in need of regular repair. Here they are replacing a walk way. Looks like this walk-way should be good for a few centuries.

This is a servants walk-way in the castle.

The lance room

These timbers date back to the earliest days of the castle. this was inside the blacksmith shop in the castle ground level.

This is a double bed in the master bedroom. Average women were about 4' 10" and men were about 5' 6" tall. They slept sitting up, because laying down is the position of death. The drapes were closed around the bed to keep warm and this was the only bedroom with a furnace.

Next to the bedroom was a dining room and game tables in naturally lighted alcoves. This is the chapel that was next down the hall.

This room had examples of battle wear from each century.

A nice view of the Rhine River from the top of the castle. We had a wonderful time at the Marksberg castle, but it is time to move on to the Rheinstein castle.

On Our Way to the Next Castle - Rheinstein Castle

This is the Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, Kaub, Rhein River. I may not look like much of a castle, but it has a rich history for the Prussian army. This is where Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Field Marshall of the Prussian army crossed the Rhine River on a canvas pontoon bridge they made. They got 60,000 troops, horses, cannons, and wagons over the river in three days and caught Napoleon off guard and chased he and his troops all the way back to Waterloo and defeat.