We are spending two days in Dreieich, Germany...a suburb of Frankfurt. This town boasts two historical distinctions. At one time it was the hunting grounds exclusively for the emperor. It also has the oldest and best preserved medieval castle structure in Germany.
This part of the castle was a residence for a Lord of Hagen ( I think there were several Lord Hagens and they were pretty important in Germany at one time. It's terrible to be so ignorant about European history). It was built around 1180.
Now we are inside looking from the great room toward the kitchen. There are examples of Romanesque and Gothic vaulting in the remains...read that somewhere. It is amazing...I could see the base for the brick oven and bases for pillars that supported the ceiling.
Here is the oldest side of the castle, dating from 1080. It is now used as a staging area for concerts in the summer. Not much happening at the castle right now...I pretty much had the place to myself!
Here's a look from the outside...at one time the castle was surrounded by a moat. The newer, light structure is a church from the 1780's...the inside of it is closed right now.
Within the old walls of the castle is a picturesque town that was built between 1905 and 1915.
You can just imagine how cute this place is at Christmas time...why I even found the perfect Christmas house.
There are even little houses for sale that are just what you need for a Christmas village setting around your Christmas tree. Unfortunately this shop was closed or I might have bought a whole village.
Cute little restaurants.
This was in the middle of the town but I couldn't quite figure out what exactly it went with...just a reminder of the age of some of the structures I guess.
Obertor upper gate was added to the outer wall of the castle in 1350.
The other side of the gate which didn't get the decorative remake in the early 1900s.
One last look at a castle tower wall. There seems to be a inner layer of rock work that was covered with a nicer, outer layer. The area was deserted while I was touring it...poor timing to visit the town. The town is decked out for Christmas and there is a big jazz festival in the summer. Pretty sure we won't make it back for any of those events.
4 comments:
what a beautiful area - thanks for sharing - I love seeing old places like this but for me it is never castles but deserted mining towns or forts! sometimes wandering through areas with few people to bother you is kind of neat isn't it.
I think it is fun to be able to explore without fighting crowds! But where are the pictures of lunch??? :-)
Lovely pictures.
The sign you show indicates that something stood on that spot from 1399 until 1833. As far as I can understand -my German is not that good and neither is GoogleTranslate- the sign says that the middle post/port of the hospital chapel/church stood here.
There is a town I love called Rothenburg (sp?) It has a wall around the "old city". There is a shop there I think it was called the Christmas Shop open all year. We were there in late July or early August and it was open. Also a wonderful carving in the old church there. So much to see. Enjoy your trips I sure am
Mary
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