Castle Hopping

On Saturday we decided to knock out one of the items on our "Summer Fun" list and visit Berg Hohenzollern and Schloss Lichtenstein. These two castle are only about 30-40 minutes apart, about 2.5 hours from our house. That makes for a pretty long day trip, but do-able. We sat in an additional hour of traffic on our way there which made us wonder if these castles would be worth the hassle... but they totally were.

 

I knew from researching ahead of time that Hohenzollern was the larger of the two and that it was a hike (or shuttle ride) high up from the parking area, but I was still awed by the commanding presence of the castle on the hilltop. This is the ancestral seat of the House of Hohenzollern and the first castle on this hill was built in the 11th century, but the current structure was built in the 1800s. The building was also used in the 2017 adaptation of The Worst Witch.

 

The hike up the hill was no joke.

 

Still climbing.

 

Nearly there.

 

Finally!  We reached the gate and learned that this was only the beginning of a spiral drive like none I have ever seen before.  We continued to climb up and up over drawbridges and around courtyards.

 

It was really cool.  We could just imagine horse-drawn carriages driving up to the upper most courtyard.

 

When we reached the top, we strolled around the ramparts and took in the view of the countryside. 

 

Then we found a shady table at the restaurant in the courtyard and enjoyed a nice lunch.  I literally took this photo from where I sat eating lunch.  I could have happily sat there for hours.

 

We poked in the little Catholic chapel on the grounds (There is also a Protestant chapel, and I am sure many a wedding takes place at this castle.)

 

When I think of fairy tales, this is pretty much what I envision.

I knew it was not a great plan to try and tour two interiors in one day with all of our kids, so I researched and decided this was clearly the more impressive interior and the one we should tour.  We didn't want to wait for one of the English tour groups, so we went on one of the German ones. And they didn't allow any photos inside, but here are a few I pulled from the internet:

 

The first room is absolutely covered in the Hohenzollern genealogy... to the present day.

They had us put on little slippers over our shoes in this room so that we wouldn't scratch the floors in the castle.

 

This room was modeled after St. Chapelle in Paris and it was apparent.  Absolutely gorgeous.

 

Princess Victoria (first daughter of Queen Victoria of England) was married to Prince Friedrich (Hohenzollern) in 1858.  She was an accomplished painter and painted the a portrait of her son that hangs in this sitting room. I liked the blue velvet couches.

After a very, very long downhill climb, it was time to drive to our next castle: Schloss Lichtenstein. 

 

Similar to Burg Hohoenzollern, a castle has been in this location since the 1100s, but the current structure dates from the 1800s. We opted to only pay the few Euros to walk the grounds rather than take a guided tour here.  The grounds were beautiful. This building is the "Outer Bailey."

 

The catle itself sits on a stony escarpment.  There is a footbridge to the door.  It looks very precariously situated, and is actually quite a bit smaller than I thought it would be.

 

Castle selfie.  Ussie?

 

And a family photo in front of another outbuilding.

 

After walking the small castle grounds, we headed out on a trail nearby for some forest walking.  It was a beautiful day, and the shady woods were cool and lovely.  We would have walked much further if we didn't have four tired, hungry kids.  They are cute though: