Oct 9, 2015 :
In the morning we had another stroll through Gotha
before we checked out; surprisingly the breakfast was not as fresh and tasty as the other German hotels we had stayed in though this was the priciest.
We took the train toward Kassel .
We got down at Eisenach , stored our
bags in the train station locker. (This picture of the station --Hauptbahnhof -- is the one we took when we returned; the time is 4.45 pm after the trip up to Wartburg castle)
We went up the hill in a taxi (15 euros) to see the
beautiful Wartburg castle; had to walk up from the place the taxi dropped us off.
Wartburg is located on a 410 meters (1,350 ft) precipice overlooking the town of
The name of the castle is probably derived
from German: Warte, watchtower, burg of course is the German word for
castle/fortress. There is another story which holds that the castle's founder,
on first laying eyes on the site, exclaimed, "Warte, Berg -- du sollst mir
eine Burg tragen!" ("Wait, mountain -- you shall bear my
castle!"). It is a German play on words for mountain (Berg) and
fortress (Burg).
The castle's foundation was laid about 1067. We can enter
the castle only as part of a tour group. We joined a German group and followed
along with the help of a pamphlet of Engish translation.
This is the dining room
This castle has historic associations as the home of
St. Elisabeth of Hungary--
At the age of four she was sent by her mother to the Wartburg to be raised to
become consort of Landgrave Ludwig IV of Thuringia .
From 1211 to 1228, she lived in the castle and was renowned for her charitable
work. In 1221, Elisabeth married Ludwig. In 1227, Ludwig died on the Crusade
and Elisabeth died in 1231 at the age of 24 and was canonized as a
saint. This is Elizabeth Bower...
Another notable piece of history: the founder of Lutheran
church Martin Luther received refuge here at the castle in 1521 after
the emperor declared him an outlaw to be killed. This is the place
where Martin Luther translated the New Testament of the
Bible into German.
It was an important inspiration for Ludwig
II when he decided to build Neuschwanstein
Castle
This is the chapel
This is the theater
This is the Roman bath
The museum has separate ticket and entry and was good with antique furniture, excellent wood carvings, ivory pieces and of course the Lutheran Bible.
We saw the bus waiting when we walked down to the entrance, took
the bus back down to the station.
We collected our bags from the station locker, the waiting room has lovely murals on the wall.
We took a train
onward to Kassel. The report continues here:
http://adventuretrav.blogspot.com/2016/10/germany-trip-report-days-13-14-sleeping.html
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