Aww, scottish castles aren't ugly dude, I think they look great for what they were designed for (I like tower castles in particular for their simplicity). Greetings from Germany. ^^
The word "Schloss" castle means more palace, so it is more for representation, not military like "Burg" castle. German is linguistically more accurate than English.
I came here to point out the difference between Schloss and Burg. However, I would not say that German is necessarily more accurate than English in this sense. For example, as a Scot myself, I could point to places like Holyrood Palace, Falkland Palace, Linlithgow Palace that are all almost purely representational, but I could again point to Glamis Castle or Dunrobin Castle that have military fortifications going back to the 13th or 14th century but have extremely palace-like Renaissance features with very typical round turrets. So when we look at the different architectural periods in different countries we have to take the different traditions into account.
@@alicemilne1444 That's great - but why is Neuschwanstein called a castle in English? It has no military or strategic value whatsoever. By your logic it should be "Palace Neuschwanstein", but then again "Palast" means something different in German. In some areas of Germany, the denomination of "Schloss" was strictly limited to the residences of the territorial ruler, other buildings like this by wealthy people would be called "Herrenhaus", "Gutshaus" and so on. The German feudal system was different from the one found in the area that is now the United Kingdom, so it's no wonder different words exist.
Today a Schloss is a palace, a Festung is a Fortress of firearms age, and a Burg is a fortified Castle of medieval era. But in older days, the words had been used interchangeable. For example in 16. century Württemberg, some medieval castles had been modernized to fortresses, but called Bergschloss.
This video only shows the restored or maintained castles. Germany has the ruins and overgrown castles as well, just like Scotland. Also important to note: German has several words for castle and only some directly translate: Burg > Castle = bulky military building Festung > Fortress = even more bulky military building Palast > Palace = residence of royalty Schloss > ?! = will most likely be translated as "castle", but is actually closer to "palace", as it is usually the residence of a lord or lady Most of the ones shown in the video are of the "Schloss" type, not of the "Burg" type.
Objection. A Palast was not limited to royalty, just to wealth. Also, the restriction of "Schloss" to the residence of a territorial ruler was not prevalent in all of Germany.
A Burg is actually not in first instance a military building, the term in it's most narrow meaning very much refers to a building that was build in the medieval age and was home to at least a family of low nobility (Ritter/knights). Burgen were built to withstand attacks, but a lot of them never had to. Really, their main purpose was to be the home of a noble family and to also act as the administratrative center, the place of court for a territory and as a symbol of control over an area. It was also like a small to middle-sized business operation with horse breeding, cheese making, wine making ect. in a slightly bigger style than the farmers would to it, although a lot of that would be used to feed the inhabitants of the castle itself. Castles were not "military" buildings in the actual sense, they weren't places to station troops or something like that as with Roman fortresses for example. What we now call a Schloss can just be a modified castle, a lot of Schlösser are (Schloss Marburg for example started as a castle). They can still have many of the same defensive structures as a castle, but they are now mainly just rural country houses of nobles or otherwise rich people without that much of an economic or administritive purpose. A Festung is a building that is mainly used for military purposes, often a base for troops. We mostly use it for the kind of heavily fortified military buildings we see with the start of the early modern period in the 16th century. We talk about buildings built for war with guns and big cannons, Americans would call them forts I guess. Often with star-shaped designs to allow the best angles for heavy artillery. But it can also be used for the military-only buildings of Romans and other pre-medieval civilizations with standing armies. A Palast/Palace is kinda similar to a Schloss, but usually urban, belonging more to the absolute high nobility or even a king or archbishop and they usually have a certain representative value and they tend to be much bigger because of all that.
@@Kuhmuhnistische_Partei well, yes, my comment isn't as precise as your explanation, but I didn't want to write an essay like you. There is such a thing as "close enough"... My point was, that there are differences between German and English and that you cannot smoothly translate what buildings are/were with just a single word.
The Wartburg is the place where Martin Luther translated the bible into German. He was not really the first to do it, but his version was the one that caught on and is now the basis of most German translations. Since his bible was the first book that was available in German households all over the German speaking world, his way of writing (and speaking) very much contributed to what we know today as standard German language. There are loads of smaller ruined castles around where I live. So, those exist, as well. Most castles are not in the possession of the old familie, whereas most fairly intact castles in Scotland seem to be. My favourite intact castles that I've visited because they're near where I live are 1. Hohenzollern (the one that you took out right before the actual list began and official no. 2 on the list) - a huge one, beautiful and well preserved. 2. Lichtenstein (no. 4 of the list). 3. Burg Teck (the Teck where the Royals get their name from, not in this video). I can actually walk there (6km) from my place. It, too, has a restaurant and a hikers' hostel in it. Look at the Disney Logo Castle - that is Neuschwanstein.
Very good! I wanted to provide the same hint. I was really very surprised that Martin Luther's name wasn't even mentioned (despite me being a catholic). The Reformation was an important historical event not only for Germany.
Eltz Castle, No. 2 in the video, has been owned by the founding family since the beginning of its existence and is one of the few castles that exist completely originally. This castle has never been destroyed and is therefore unique in substance. It is hidden in the forest near the Moselle and was also depicted as a portrait on the old 500 DM banknote. Neuschwanstein and the Drachenburg on the Drachenfels near Bonn are not real old castles or palaces, but pure fantasy buildings from the era of historicism. The Dragon Castle (Drachenburg) is more of a playful villa of a wealthy merchant, but not really a castle or palace, because the building never was. Above this fantasy object, at the top of the mountain, are the ruins of the real Drachenfels Castle.
There's a simple reason the first two castles in the intro look so awesome: both are barely around 150 years old. Neuschwanstein Castle (the first) was opened in 1884 and the Hohenzollern Castle in 1867. Neither are medieval castles, but castles that were built by their noble lords in the course of german "Romanticism".
The "Loewenburg" (means Lion's Castle) in Kassel was build 1793 -1801 (long after medieval times) by Langraf Wilhelm IX because he wanted a romantic, medieval and scottish / british looking castle just for fun. It was built partly in ruins to make it more romantic and is roughly in scale 2:1 compared to real castles in GB - so it is smaller as it looks. The large tower was destroyed in ww2 and it's rebuilding was finished just last year. I grew up in Kassel and always loved to visit the Löwenburg.
The Tower of the Wartburg probably has a Cross, because Martin Luther found refuge here, when the HRE declared him a wanted man, and here he began his concepts to translate the Bible into German.
Schwerin is my home town and we have been to the castle since we were children. In winter, people go sledding around the castle garden with a view of the castle. A very nice place :)
After living near Frankfurt am Main for many years I always loved to visit the Ronneburg. Its just a small one bit they do beautiful medieval festivals there and you can visit a falconry there, too. 👍
The List is very looooong ;) I already was at Schwerin Castle and Wartburg. But even in my Region there are many more stunning Castles like Rochsburg, Festung Königstein or Schloss Moritzburg and the List goes on. Have a great Day!
I know what region you mean. 😁 And the most stunning castle (Burg) around there is Burg Kriebstein. I think its one of the best originally preserved in Germany and the location on the rock is crazy too.
Been to Festung Königstein a few times and It's definitely worth more than one visit. I'm also a big fan of little Schloss Pillnitz and it's beautiful park. Greetings from the Lüneburger Heide, which has a real shortage of castles, but at least quite many interesting convents. 😊
I was drawn in by the Schweriner Castle on the thumbnail. 😅 It's good to see some recognition of Mecklenburg anywhere. I used to go to school in Schwerin and I also worked in the Schweriner Castle for a short period of time. The Castle is used as state parliament of Mecklenburg - Vorpommern so inside it has many office rooms and what else you expect of a parliament building and sadly I haven't seen the Castle without building fences for as long as I am alive I believe.
Although the word "castle" is used for both, it can mean "Burg" or "Schloss" in German and there is a big difference between this two types of buildings. A "Burg" is fortified in order to protect its inhabitants and armed forces against an attack or siege, so it is primarily a military building. A more precise translation may be "fortress" . A "Schloss" served as a residential building for those who could afford it an was primarily build to represent the richness of its owner, so it is more of a "palace". In many cases both functions became important to some extend over time. A stronghold could become the preferred place for a sovereign to live in, especially in unsettled times, and some palaces were also built to protect their owners and their belongings. Neuschwanstein is definitely on the "palace" end of the spectrum, as many of the beautiful castles shown here, with very limited use when attacked or besieged. With "protection" in mind, you would not choose a place on a lake, surrounded by hills, which might easily be flooded just by building a dam to retain the river flowing through that lake. With "beauty" on top of the requirements, you would choose exactly that place. Many of these castles are located in places that have become interesting for tourists. Sometimes the castle itself became a tourist attraction, sometimes there is an old city nearby (which may have been the reason for building the castle in the first place or the city prospered in the shodow of the overlooking castle), sometimes it is the strategic placement on a hill near a river and sometimes the location was choosen because of its beautiful view, which still attracts visitors. Anyway, it is often lucrative to run a restaurant or hotel there, because there are a lot of visitors. I guess many Scottish castles are in more remote locations where running a hotel or restaurant would not pay off.
Yes, qa Burg is a home with military value (at its time), a Schloss is the poser version - nobles of old lived in a Burg, but it doesn't add any extra defensive value, so they just made it just look like one.
exactly, that's one reason the number of castles are so high in germany, as residential and military ones are counted together in the english word "castle". Another reason obviously is the late unification of all the different german states, so they each had their own military and residential castles.
In old days the words Burg , Schloss and Feste ( Veste) had been often used interchangeable, in contrast to now. And in swabian region also the word Schlössle exists, can be every old , but small representative building .
I'd say those were the most touristy castles in Germany. There are about 25k castles and medieval mansions in Germany, though in varying states of upkeep, all the way from being a few small ruins all the way up to being lived in, and encompassing anything from military fortresses to residential palaces. So this wasn't just a tiny selection, it was miniscule and heavily favored the palaces over the military fortresses, because they look more impressing. The closest castle to me is Schloss Burg or translated in a literal sense: castle Castle. Though the story behind that name is a curious one: It was the castle of the Count of Berg, originally called Schloss Neuenberge or Schloss Neuenburg, as the Berg dynasty abandoned their previous castle, it kind of made sense to them. Stayed that way until a large reconstruction in the 15th century, when it turned from Schloss Neuenburg to simply Schloss Burg. So it was for a while "Schloss Burg of the count Berg".
4:24 it is not a church. it is the "bergfried". a tower where important things and people could be safe in case of an attack. even with enemies running around inside the castle, you could survive there for a couple of days because once up there, you destroy the ladder or whatever. so they just sat there and watched from the highest point of the castle. they had the choice to starve to death or surrender. which in many cases meant death also. and this particular castle is very interesting! i have been there several times. you see the stages of building, you see what they have done to it over hundreds of years. it is a perfect example for any architecture student! you have hundreds of years of building and extensions.
It was probably not that often the case that people would starve to death, actually we don't have much evidence of people actually using the Bergfried as last line of defense in any way. Usually, when the enemies comes into the castle, it's over anyway and there was no point. It would maybe be a wise thing to do when you know your allies would be there in like a day or so. The nobles wouldn't have that much too lose, they were usually not killed, but just captured. Which often just meant sitting in a fancy room with service and all. And by the way, the entrance often had quite solid stairs. Sometimes there was like a little gap with a small drawing bridge or just some planks you could remove, but it wouldn't be that difficult to put someone there as a improvised bridge and getting the door open was then just a matter of hours. It was probably mostly supposed to look impressive.
There are basically two different groups of castles: the old original "Burg" castles, as in medival fortified homes of nobility, and then the new castles from the 18th and 19th century, which were meant to be more a romanticising kind of palace, showing off wealth and "class" in those days. The most famous example is Neu-Schwanstein, build by bavarian king Ludwig II, a weirdo who lived in a fantasy world of his own. And even non-nobles build their palaces in the later 19th century, if they had enough money, like in the case of the Drachenburg. The old medival castles are a totally different breed. They were build as a fortified home and refuge for the local ruler, some earl or count or knight, just like the majority of the old castles in Scottland. I guess one of the most famous there is the castle that was used in the making of Monty Python's "Holy Grail" movie... :) Btw., placing a castle in a big pond, or making a big trench filled with water around it, is a very old method of defense against attacker. This, or building on top of a hill were the usual way of getting a advantage over attacking forces. A "Wasserburg" is very effective in this - but not so good if you have rheumatism...:)
Both the UK and Ireland have something that no other countries have in Europe and the rest of the world. It’s the combination of beautiful rugged northern landscape combined with romantic centuries old castle ruins that gives these countries it’s fairytale aura which is of course reinforced through countless films and books. There is no other place that combines the romanticism of old castles with that kind of landscape and cultural heritage. Yes Germany and France have their own castles and palaces but a lot of the times even when a castle is old it often got renovated and therefore looks artificial and not as natural and free like the castles standing in the endless expanses of the British countryside. Therefore I actually prefer Scottish castles.
Beautiful video. We've been to the Neuschwanstein Castle in the south of Bavaria and of course the 'Heidelberg Castle' since we've lived there over 27 years.
insider tip: if you want to see a lot of castles on one trip, take a boat from Bingen down the Rhine river all the way to st. goar and you'll see about 20-30 different castles left- and righthand side of the rhine
as someone from schwerin im always happy when our castle gets mentioned you dont recognize its beauty until youre not home for some time but its just 5min from our flat and always a nice option to go to also funny to say is that there is a spot that has a nice view of the castle and its popular for all the teenagers to drink there late at night and it somehow connects the younger generations with this building and its surroundings
No worry about that many Scottish castles are in ruins. We've got them also. Some of the most beautiful and attractive castles in Germany we saw are "new-built" from 19th century. Very rich people created their own "Disneyland".
the burg mylau is a pretty nice one situated on a rock between two river valleys, offering amazing views of the gölzsch river valley, featuring other amazing architecture such as the gargantuan gölzsch viaduct, the largest brick bridge in the world.
Castles in the UK, esp. Scotland and Wales are not ugly. I've still have to travel to Scotland but Welsh castles are breathtaking, esp. castle Coch. The history of Cardiff Castle is also nothing to sniff about. It dates back to the Roman times and it is amazing. German castles vary from the original fortresses of the medival times to the more fantasy based castles of the 18th and 19th century and only very few of the 24000+ castles are actually habitable most of them are ruins. Historians say, that they still discover new castles every year so that the real estimate of German castles could be more than 30-35000.
Saying so he gave his personal opinion. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and there is always something more beautiful than something. Yet by and large, on avergae, it is safe to say that British castle cannot compare to German castles regarding beauty.
I lived fairly close to Mespelbrunn Castle at 6:21 for more than 10 years. It was a favourite place to visit and to take visitors. I'm actually amazed that this place survived to the present day. I can only assume that its location in the midst of an almost impenetrable forest and having a lake protecting it was double extra protection. It is in the middle of the Spessart region, one of the most extensive continuous forest areas in Germany north and south of the Main River. The Spessart forest was also the private hunting grounds of Charlemagne way back in the turn of the 9th to 10th century. In Germany, Charlemagne is known as Karl der Große (Charles the Great) and in this region, not very far from Mespelbrunn Castle are a town called Karlstadt and a ruined keep called Karlburg. In Neustadt (Newtown) on the Main river there is a place that was originally a nunnery founded by Charlemagne's sister.
I just visited Glücksburg castle just about a week ago and it really was stunning. See, those lake / mout castles were built in places were no mountains could be used to fight off attackers. Like in my hometown, Detmold, we have a representative castle with a small park still surrounded by the old mout from two sides. Glücksburg is in the very north of Germany, but there are no mountains. More to the south, like the Rhine/Mosel Region and especially the very south like Bavaria you almost exclusively find those mountain top fortresses. Gotta say something about the Löwenburg at 4:40 here. The narrator correctly says it was purpose-built in the gardens/park of Wilhelmshöhe Castle (representative castle, not military fortress). However, the purpose never was to fend off attackers, but rather to have a classic romantic thing to look at when wandering around in these parks. It's sole purpose is to look nice. Then again, it does this pretty well. Have also visited the Wilhelmshöhe Castle gardens about a year ago
When driving home from visiting a friend in Bavaria - where we also visited many churches as well as Linderhof castle in Ettal, which has amazing gardens with a 25 m high fountain, many smaller pavillon castles with different exotic themes and an artificial cavern which houses a theater - my dad took a detour so we could visit Lichtenstein castle and the nearby Nebelhöhlen ("misty caves", a huge stalactite cavern). The inside of the castle is just as stunning as its outside architecture and surroundings. With lots of painted walls and ceilings and antique furniture you really feel put back to late medieval times.
They try to preserve as many old buildings and castles as possible. The cost for upkeep is quite high, so many castles are used by the government and house different kinds of offices or courts. My favourite castle is Schloss Seehof in Bamberg. It's small, but really pretty. And houses the state office for the preservation of historical monuments... quite fitting. Fancy workplace, a castle 😂
Some things to remark. Some fortresses are very nice, like the Würzburg fortress, or the fortress of Coburg. And a special thing is the restored Roman border fort Saalburg, north of Frankfurt. It was rebuilt in Imperial times in the early 20th century and gives a good impression of the life of a Roman legionnaire who served Rome in inhospitable Germania. There is an extensive museum exhibition and bratwurst "Roman Style"... And what I forgot to mention is, that the Schwerin Castle is the seat of the state parliement of Mecklenburg- Vorpommern.
If you check out pictures of the no.1 Neuschwanstein, you will see that Hohenschwangau castle (my personal fave) is right next to it. There are amazing shots where you can see both castles together. Oh and btw I have been to these two at least 15 times till now. The 3 castles my hometown got are no match but are also nice buildings.
I visited a ton of castles here in Germany. A very lovely castle / palace in top condition is Schloss Hämelschenburg, run by the family von Klencke since ever. You can visit their quarters (they still live there) and look at the interior, not changed since centuries and slightly changed over the centuries (makes it special). The old kitchen quarter is very interesting. It looks as if it is part of a fairy tale. Thankfully there are not as much tourists as in Southern Germany. It is near Hameln - a nice destination too. The town of the pied piper of Hamelin (Hameln).
The Marksburg should have had an honourable mentioning, as it has been the template for most toy castles. Also worth an honourable mentioning are Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, Burg Rheinfels, Schloss Braunfels, Schloss Limburg, Starkenburg Heppenheim,…
from those featured in the video I've been only to Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein and Heidelberg, but that List is very short and there are so many more castles. Where I live in central Bavaria within a 50km range I have serveral castled and palaces and of course ruins. I just have to cross the road to get tothe local Schloss, but don't imagine it like those shown in the video. It's just a fancy nobilities home, right in the middle of the village and many villages here have their own Schloss. However, the next village to the west has a fully grown castle towering over the village, so does the next village too and there is the Rosenburg looking down on the city of Riedenburg 20km to the east from where I live. The reason for so many castles and ruins here is the landscape. North of Ingolstadt and the Danube river there are a lot river valleys and it's only logical to build a castle high engough to be able to overlook the valley for approaching enemies. That explains why there's literarely a castle within visual range of the next castle. They simply did't trust their neighbors.
My favorite would be Cochem, ... since it is the only one i've visited 😂, great view on the river and town below, nice museum, and right in the middle of the German wine producing area. ✌️❤️
I live in Thuringia, Germany and we have a lot of castle or castle ruins in this area. Here are 3 castles/ruins within 1 hour of my home. I also used to live just 40 min. away from the Schwerin castle. Definitely one of the most beautiful buildings I know.
Im living only 20 minutes away from Heidelberg... so Heidelberg Castle (actually, the "Heidelberger Schloss" ^^) is one of the attractions we show the visitors and colleagues from other countries as a real "must have seen" sight in our region ❤
The Schloss Hohenzollern that was shown in this video was actually the Burg Hohenzollern in Bisingen. The actual Schloss Hohenzollern is in Sigmaringen about 50km southeast to the Burg
I lived in the town below Schloss Lichtenstein. Compared to the other castles in the video, it's a small one and not really medieval. It was build for the Lord of Baden Wuerrtemberg in the midd 19th century as a hunting residence. It's worth for a a day trip, maybe in combination with Burg Hohenzollern which is an hour away from Lichtenstein Castle. Also in that wider area: Sigmaringen Castle which belongs to the same family: the Hohenzollern de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Sigmaringen#/media/Datei:Schloss_Sigmaringen_2022.jpg If you plan a trip to southern Germany: also consider Salzburg and it's surroundings as Austria has also a lot of Castles (as well as Switzerland - there I recommend Chillon Castle at the lake of Geneva).
Mert, if you want to see A LOT of german castles, book a ship tour from Koblenz to Rüdesheim. Plus in Rüdesheim is Siegfrieds mechanisches Musikkabinett, the new home of the Wintergatan Marble Machine😂
Hello from Menden, Germany. I'm living near Burg Altena. 30 min. drive by car away. Funfact: I was there on a Concert in 1996 called Burgrock. Headliner that time was Rammstein. Greetings
So for me as a German I have to say what I haven't seen in SO many castles so that I can even list them: Veste Coburg (I live in the district), Rosenau Castle, Rosenberg Kronach Fortress, Mitwitz moated castle (there is every one there year a very nice Christmas market), Ehrenburg Castle (I think important for England), Callenberg Castle, Lauterburg ruins, Hohenfels Castle, and yes, that should have been all of them so far. Greetings 😁
9:10 acually i am from germany and i have been to most of the castles in this video! thanks to my father, who made me this castle and history nerd^^ and all i can tell you: visit them! even as a german i find them stunning. i can't imagine how surreal many castles must be to travellers!
Next to the Burg Eltz, I also like the Marxburg and Castle Braunfels a lot. Neuenschwanstein ist very touristic, but fully worth it as it's full of surprises on the inside. I used the end of the Covid times to visit it and, though, some rooms were closed due to the regulations, I felt, it was the best time to go as it permitted me to go in without queuing and in small groups of 20 people only, one group per 20 mins. In normal times, it's absolutely overcrowded with people from all over the world. On that weekend, I also visited Hohenschwangau, but it's more expensive and far less interesting. Heidelberg Castle is also worth it to visit it. And there are more... As for the usage: In Koblenz, there is a fortress (Festung Ehrenbreitstein), into which they have put a Youth Hostel. We went there with my school class for a week. I loved it! Those thick walls and hidden paths even. As, originally, I'm from the very flat north, it was also awesome to sit on top of a hill and to be able to look down onto the town from there. But, well, having lived in Scotland, I also adore those rougher castles a lot, and, having been member of two trusts, I visited a lot of them! 😍
I've been to the Wartburg, Hohenschwangau, Hohenzollern castle, Neuschwanstein on this list, but my favourite one is Burg Eltz. Also, I visited some other castles not on this list. But here in Germany there's always one more castle to visit.
Neuschwanstein has quite the interesting history. A lot of the interior was never completed. Ludwig II was the one who built it. He had quite the obsession with castles and spent all the money he had on them. He's mental state is debated and he drowned in a lake under unclear circumstances. Another one of his castles is "Schloss Linderhof", it is a mini Versailles and definitely worth a visit. Especially the artificial grotto is awesome.
Some random facts about Neuschwanstein: It's so new that steam engines were used in its construction, and one of its main building materials is ferroconcrete. Also, it's mostly empty, as its interior was never finished.
Of course, with over 25,000 castles to choose from, this list is wayyyy too short and centers around more touristy places. The most beautiful experiences to me where the castle ruins I stumbled upon by sheer chance. Though I freely admit, visiting Eltz castle in autumn (the "side season" when it was closed for visitors) took my breath away. The place was deserted and the castle and forest around it were partly hidden in fog. Neuschwanstein castle is the least authentic, it's a "fairy tale castle" built by king Ludwig, but still makes no. 1 on every list I've seen :'). There's a very good video about german castles and palaces by Dr. Ludwig that I totally recommend to you!
Funfact, I had a biology teacher who bought a castle ruin for 1 DM (yeah, that is how far back that was) - with the obligation to restore it. And he did. It was a very small castle, hidden in the woods near a monastery. (Oldenburg - also Olde Schwalenberg)
I am somewhat dumbfounded that the list left out Schwerin castle - there's a reason why it's called the "Neuschwanstein of the North". Guess it's driving home the point: There's a lot of castles to choose over here. :P
There are also castles and manors in Germany which are ruined and have felt apart, but they have been preserved in 20th century to keep them in their latest state to be savely visited by the public. Some of those ruined and preseved castles are used as stage for small concerts and events like medival markets. My favourite castle by now is Burg Eltz. I also visited a lot of other castles like In Burg Colditz, Gnandstein, Burg Hartenfels, Burg Kriebstein, Burg Mildenstein, Barockschloss Delitzsch, Schloss Moritzburg. There are more, but I do not remember every one.
I love Burg Eltz... 800 year old, 800 years unconquered, held by the Counts of Eltz for 800 years *running* , the current Count Eltz still has an apartment there. And it's unchanged in it's military function, in the case of a Zombie apocalypse it could still be held, unlike many others 😂. Best regards Raoul G. Kunz
4:30 I've never tought I'd here the words "late 18th century" and "medieval" right next to each other, but here we are... I suppose someone has to retake their basic history class...
We got also bagpipes: ruclips.net/video/yP8m9lkD3PY/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/jpMpOU0lsTo/видео.html German language discerns Burg (a castle in the narrower sense - a fortified house or military post ), Schloss (more like a palace) and (sometimes) Festung (a fortress). A Schloss was originally a "key castle", blocking the access to a valley or a river, but soon became the seat of a higher noble who spent money to make it more representative. The word palace by the way derives from the Palatine hill in Rome, where the Roman Emperors built their palaces; in German it became "Pfalz" denominating a major seat of the Holy Roman Emperor, managed by a count palatine. The most important Pfalz was the Palatinate of the Rhine; the count of this Pfalz got even the honor of being one of the 7 (later 11) Prince-Electors electing the German and Roman king. In the 17th and 18th century many former castles were rebuilt as "Schloss", in the time of Romanticism in the mid 19th century many ruined castles were rebuilt in a romanticized "medieval" style like Schloss Neuschwanstein (0:30) or Burg Hohenzollern (1:20 - 1:45), the ancestral seat of the older line of the Prussian dynasty (which is the younger line of Hohenzollern). 4:15 The Wartburg originally belonged to the Landgraves of Thuringia and became in 1211 the home of young Princess Elisabeth of Hungary (1207-1231); in 1221 she became Elisabeth of Thuringia after marrying Landgrave Ludwig (born 1200, died 1227 in Otranto while on the route to a crusade). Elisabeth was committed to help the poor and to the ideals of her contemporary St. Francis of Assisi; she became known as St. Elisabeth. The younger brother of Ludwig, Heinrich Raspe, inherited the castle, but died without children, which led to a war of succession. Thuringia and the castle came to the House of Wettin, the Margraves of Meißen, which got in 1423 the title of Dukes and Prince-Electors of Saxony. In 1521 Duke Frederick III the Wise of Saxony did hide Martin Luther on the Wartburg, where he could finish his translation of the Bible into mundane German. Luther used a mix of Meißen Officialese and local German dialects; this mixture became later the base for today's Standard German. In the 19th century the Wartburg became the place of students' gatherings who propagated a reunification of Germany either as united republic or constitutional monarchy; it was one of the places where for the first time the modern German flag of black, red and gold was shown. The main "palas" building shows Romanic architecture elements; it was built in the late romanesque epoch. The half-timbered part was built in the 15th century; most of the other buildings are the result of reconstructions in the 19th century. 9:50 Burg Cochem was destroyed in the Nine Years' War (also called war of succession of the Palatinate); French troops (sent by Louis XIV) occupied and demolished it with explosives in 1689. In 1868 it was bought by Berlin merchant Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené (a descendant of French refugees, the huguenots). He rebuilt the castle; the family used it then for summer holidays. His descendant Louis Auguste Ravené was in 1942 forced to sell the castle to the Prussian department of Justice, which used it as training facility for Nazi jurists. 1947 it came to the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which used it as administrative school; in 1978 it was bought by the town of Cochem. 11:00 Schloss Schwerin was inspired by French renaissance palaces, but the ground plan still follows the walls of a Slavic castle from 941. Since 1990 it houses the parliament of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; other parts are used as museum, the gardens are open to the public. 12:30 The first castle was 1423 conquered and destroyed by the Swabian League (a defence association of Free Imperial Cities and other Imperial estates, formed after the dissolution of the Duchy of Swabia). The second castle was built in 1454 and occupied in 1634 (during the 30 Years' War) by the troops of House Württemberg, which acted as an ally of Sweden. In 1635 it was regained by Imperial troops with the help of forged orders for the castle commander, but not given back to Hohenzollern. Until 1744 it was hold by Habsburg, but during the Austrian war of succession 1744/45 occupied by French troops. In 1798 it was abandoned. In 1819 the ruins were visited by the Prussian crown prince. As he became Prussian king in 1840 he began to plan the reconstruction, which started in 1850, co-financed by the Prussian and the Swabian lines of Hohenzollern; the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (who owned the castle hill) as well as the Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen had abdicated in 1849 after the 1848 revolution and ceded their reigns to Prussia (but the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen were 1866-1947 Kings of Romania).
We once rented the entire youth hostel in Burg Altena for 2 nights with nearly 60 people from different WoW Clans for a fun meeting with lots of alcohol and Barbecue. Awesome place
One real old castle which was use by robber barons / knights and still has the vibes of that time ( people lived there without Glas windows with open fireplaces inside and robbed the merchants on the way to Nuremberg) is Burg Prunn. In 1566 the fourth oldest complete version Nibelungenlied was found there. By the way , the towers in old castles aren‘t part of churches but are the so called Burgfried, the best fortified ( and therefore often the oldest) part of the castle. Built with meter thick walls they were used as the last keep for inhabitants in wartimes.
Castles on lakes are more likely to be found in northern Germany. The landscape in northern Germany is very flat. So there are not many hills on which you could build and defend a territory. But since the north is full of lakes, the next best option is to build on an island of a lake or a peninsula, since you often only have one accessible side to defend.
The video shows pretty well preserved or restored castles and palaces only, with Heidelberg being an exception. But there are many ruins of mainly medieval castles. Castles in ruins didn't necessarily reach that state by use of weapons. Some were simply left to decay and subsequently used as a quarry.
Have a look at the "Zitadelle" in berlin spandau. Not a beauty but my hometown and there are awesome concerts.. watched tenacious D last time. Machinehead and korn aswell.
The central big tower in German castles is called the "Bergfried" and was the last line of defense. There is a distinction in German between a "Schloss" - a pleasure representative building and a "Burg" - a defensive castle. There are also tons of ruins in Germany, especially in my region in the west which has one of the highest amounts of castles in the world (the French didn't make for particularly good neighbours), however most were filled with black powder and blown up by the French under Napoleon
I live near "Marienburg" - Castle in the area of the City of Hildesheim. You really should come over to visit. It's not so far away from Your home. Just a short flight to Hanover...😊 See You in Germany!!
Native here! Sanssouci is the most impressive for me with their many buildings in the huge park. Maybe because i saw Carlos Sanana live and for free that weekend in Potsdam. You will definitley need a break and get some cake in the dragonhouse cafe because there is so much buildings to see. google park sanssouci and you will find them all.
As a German, one of my favourites is Edinburgh Castle, actually. And my single most memorable (in a good way!) stay in a youth hostel was at Carbisdale Castle. In fact, I had vague plans of going there with my kids one day, so I was pretty sad to hear that it was closed and sold to an unnamed private owner.
I grew up in the Palatinate Forest in Southwestern Germany nearby the French border. It's pretty similar to Scotland when it comes to castles. We have lots of ruins and they only get restored as little as possible to meet safety standards. A few railings here, a fixed staircase there. If you're lucky it's partially restored and has a museum attached to it. After the 30 Year War many castles were torn down and used as building materials by the locals. From the hundreds we have and the 40 something I've visited only two have been completely rebuilt. Berwartstein (which is privately owned by a family who rents out the tower as guest room) and Trifels (which was rebuilt by the Nazis as a propaganda project because of its historical significance).
By the way, the city of Altena (the 2nd Castle) turned out to be the cheapest germany town to rent an appartment. 60sqm for 200 Euro in a good condition. Because they had a previous military camp from the british that turned into appartments but with the soldiers the whole population went away to other cities, loving 50% of it's people in just a decade.
In my area there are plenty of smaller castles that have been repurposed at one point in the past as schools, orphanages, disabled homes, disabled workshops or simply flats to rent as they are quite difficult “real estate” when you think about it, if your not one of the super pretty places and you’re not a super rich family it is impossible to keep a castle running as a family home or even open to the public as it is so expensive to maintain, let alone heat those places….
The most impressive castle is Burg Eltz as it has been inhabited by the same family since the middle ages. It has the original style and look 19th ct. Neuschwanstein strifes for.
Burg Eltz is my favourite, but I have not seen all Casles and Burgs in Germany. Have to attmit, I haven´t seen the east Germany. Sad, but I will go to see a few.
I seem to remember the Scottish ruins are due to a tax-reform in the late 18th century. One had to pay taxes for the size of a property if there was a roof on it, so people dismantled roofs. And once the roof is gone it takes about 75years to turn a building in a ruin. And these german castles are mostly restored - and often reconstructed - in the 1820's to 1890's - or completly rebuilt from scratch like Neuschwanstein. (There was a ruin beneath, but it was removed for the sake of the King's new Fantasycastle.)
I don‘t know about any region with the most beautiful castles, but when you go to the south, you will probably find the most castles in one place. There is literally a street called „Burgenstraße“ (castle road) where you will see around 70 castles on your way.
The Wartburg Castle is also the castle were Martin Luther hid and there is a recreation of his room. Also with the ink on the wall as he reportedly saw the devil
Das Wasserschloss Mespelbrunn is mentioned very rarely and I am delighted to see it here. It is a real treasure in the woods of Spessart (Lower Franconia and Hessia) and was the location for some German movies of the 1050's and 60's (Das Wirtshaus im Spessart). Not only it's located quite idyllically, but in the surroundings you can also get good roast wild boar. And out of local patriotism I have to mention the Nürnberger Burg with its famous/infamous torture prisons and torture devices and old towers! Liebe Grüße!
@@heha6984 Warum googlest du das nicht einfach, oder schaust bei Wiki nach? Ich bin wirklich kein Spezialist für so etwas. Ich wollte nur auf eine Besonderheit von Mespelbrunn hinweisen.
Neuschwanstein is beautiful, but no one ever really live in there, so it's missing something. I prefer Hohenschwangau, the neighbouring castle where King Ludwig's family actually lived. And, of course, Hohenzollern Castle. I know, it sounds a bit weird, but my fave castles are all in Austria: Hochosterwitz Castle, Heinfels Castle, Hohenwerfen Castle, the fortress of Kustein.
Aww, scottish castles aren't ugly dude, I think they look great for what they were designed for (I like tower castles in particular for their simplicity).
Greetings from Germany. ^^
...das finde ich auch.
The word "Schloss" castle means more palace, so it is more for representation, not military like "Burg" castle. German is linguistically more accurate than English.
I came here to point out the difference between Schloss and Burg. However, I would not say that German is necessarily more accurate than English in this sense. For example, as a Scot myself, I could point to places like Holyrood Palace, Falkland Palace, Linlithgow Palace that are all almost purely representational, but I could again point to Glamis Castle or Dunrobin Castle that have military fortifications going back to the 13th or 14th century but have extremely palace-like Renaissance features with very typical round turrets. So when we look at the different architectural periods in different countries we have to take the different traditions into account.
@Alice Milne Yes, I just noticed that many English speakers almost always use Castle instead of Burg or Schloss, including translation apps.
@@alicemilne1444 That's great - but why is Neuschwanstein called a castle in English? It has no military or strategic value whatsoever. By your logic it should be "Palace Neuschwanstein", but then again "Palast" means something different in German. In some areas of Germany, the denomination of "Schloss" was strictly limited to the residences of the territorial ruler, other buildings like this by wealthy people would be called "Herrenhaus", "Gutshaus" and so on. The German feudal system was different from the one found in the area that is now the United Kingdom, so it's no wonder different words exist.
Danke. Mein Englisch ist nicht gut genug. Hab gerade geguckt was der Unterschied in der englischen Sprache ist....
Today a Schloss is a palace, a Festung is a Fortress of firearms age, and a Burg is a fortified Castle of medieval era. But in older days, the words had been used interchangeable. For example in 16. century Württemberg, some medieval castles had been modernized to fortresses, but called Bergschloss.
Schwerin Castle is my No. 1 in Germany. The Town Schwerin is also realy beautiful. Schwerin is Build between 7 Lakes.
This video only shows the restored or maintained castles. Germany has the ruins and overgrown castles as well, just like Scotland.
Also important to note:
German has several words for castle and only some directly translate:
Burg > Castle = bulky military building
Festung > Fortress = even more bulky military building
Palast > Palace = residence of royalty
Schloss > ?! = will most likely be translated as "castle", but is actually closer to "palace", as it is usually the residence of a lord or lady
Most of the ones shown in the video are of the "Schloss" type, not of the "Burg" type.
And then there is Herrenhaus > Manor, which sometimes look to foreigners as castles.
Objection. A Palast was not limited to royalty, just to wealth. Also, the restriction of "Schloss" to the residence of a territorial ruler was not prevalent in all of Germany.
@@Uli_Krosse of course, there are always exceptions. I was speaking in general terms, which can't be denied.
A Burg is actually not in first instance a military building, the term in it's most narrow meaning very much refers to a building that was build in the medieval age and was home to at least a family of low nobility (Ritter/knights). Burgen were built to withstand attacks, but a lot of them never had to. Really, their main purpose was to be the home of a noble family and to also act as the administratrative center, the place of court for a territory and as a symbol of control over an area. It was also like a small to middle-sized business operation with horse breeding, cheese making, wine making ect. in a slightly bigger style than the farmers would to it, although a lot of that would be used to feed the inhabitants of the castle itself. Castles were not "military" buildings in the actual sense, they weren't places to station troops or something like that as with Roman fortresses for example.
What we now call a Schloss can just be a modified castle, a lot of Schlösser are (Schloss Marburg for example started as a castle). They can still have many of the same defensive structures as a castle, but they are now mainly just rural country houses of nobles or otherwise rich people without that much of an economic or administritive purpose.
A Festung is a building that is mainly used for military purposes, often a base for troops. We mostly use it for the kind of heavily fortified military buildings we see with the start of the early modern period in the 16th century. We talk about buildings built for war with guns and big cannons, Americans would call them forts I guess. Often with star-shaped designs to allow the best angles for heavy artillery. But it can also be used for the military-only buildings of Romans and other pre-medieval civilizations with standing armies.
A Palast/Palace is kinda similar to a Schloss, but usually urban, belonging more to the absolute high nobility or even a king or archbishop and they usually have a certain representative value and they tend to be much bigger because of all that.
@@Kuhmuhnistische_Partei well, yes, my comment isn't as precise as your explanation, but I didn't want to write an essay like you. There is such a thing as "close enough"...
My point was, that there are differences between German and English and that you cannot smoothly translate what buildings are/were with just a single word.
The Wartburg is the place where Martin Luther translated the bible into German. He was not really the first to do it, but his version was the one that caught on and is now the basis of most German translations. Since his bible was the first book that was available in German households all over the German speaking world, his way of writing (and speaking) very much contributed to what we know today as standard German language.
There are loads of smaller ruined castles around where I live. So, those exist, as well. Most castles are not in the possession of the old familie, whereas most fairly intact castles in Scotland seem to be. My favourite intact castles that I've visited because they're near where I live are
1. Hohenzollern (the one that you took out right before the actual list began and official no. 2 on the list) - a huge one, beautiful and well preserved.
2. Lichtenstein (no. 4 of the list).
3. Burg Teck (the Teck where the Royals get their name from, not in this video). I can actually walk there (6km) from my place. It, too, has a restaurant and a hikers' hostel in it.
Look at the Disney Logo Castle - that is Neuschwanstein.
Genau! Hier wurde Geschichte geschrieben. Die anderen Burgen/Schlösser sind nur hübsch. ;)
Very good! I wanted to provide the same hint. I was really very surprised that Martin Luther's name wasn't even mentioned (despite me being a catholic).
The Reformation was an important historical event not only for Germany.
Wartburgfest?
Glücksburg is in Holstein, it is completely flat, they have no hills to put castles on. 🙂
I always missed Schloss Sanssouci in these kind of videos!
Greetings from Berlin 😎
Eltz Castle, No. 2 in the video, has been owned by the founding family since the beginning of its existence and is one of the few castles that exist completely originally. This castle has never been destroyed and is therefore unique in substance. It is hidden in the forest near the Moselle and was also depicted as a portrait on the old 500 DM banknote.
Neuschwanstein and the Drachenburg on the Drachenfels near Bonn are not real old castles or palaces, but pure fantasy buildings from the era of historicism. The Dragon Castle (Drachenburg) is more of a playful villa of a wealthy merchant, but not really a castle or palace, because the building never was. Above this fantasy object, at the top of the mountain, are the ruins of the real Drachenfels Castle.
:-D thx for writing. I love the 'Marksburg' still mostly in its building shape .
I love the Marksburg too..
There's a simple reason the first two castles in the intro look so awesome: both are barely around 150 years old. Neuschwanstein Castle (the first) was opened in 1884 and the Hohenzollern Castle in 1867. Neither are medieval castles, but castles that were built by their noble lords in the course of german "Romanticism".
The "Loewenburg" (means Lion's Castle) in Kassel was build 1793 -1801 (long after medieval times) by Langraf Wilhelm IX because he wanted a romantic, medieval and scottish / british looking castle just for fun. It was built partly in ruins to make it more romantic and is roughly in scale 2:1 compared to real castles in GB - so it is smaller as it looks. The large tower was destroyed in ww2 and it's rebuilding was finished just last year. I grew up in Kassel and always loved to visit the Löwenburg.
The Tower of the Wartburg probably has a Cross, because Martin Luther found refuge here, when the HRE declared him a wanted man, and here he began his concepts to translate the Bible into German.
Schwerin is my home town and we have been to the castle since we were children. In winter, people go sledding around the castle garden with a view of the castle. A very nice place :)
After living near Frankfurt am Main for many years I always loved to visit the Ronneburg. Its just a small one bit they do beautiful medieval festivals there and you can visit a falconry there, too. 👍
The List is very looooong ;) I already was at Schwerin Castle and Wartburg. But even in my Region there are many more stunning Castles like Rochsburg, Festung Königstein or Schloss Moritzburg and the List goes on. Have a great Day!
I know what region you mean. 😁 And the most stunning castle (Burg) around there is Burg Kriebstein. I think its one of the best originally preserved in Germany and the location on the rock is crazy too.
Been to Festung Königstein a few times and It's definitely worth more than one visit.
I'm also a big fan of little Schloss Pillnitz and it's beautiful park. Greetings from the Lüneburger Heide, which has a real shortage of castles, but at least quite many interesting convents. 😊
I was drawn in by the Schweriner Castle on the thumbnail. 😅
It's good to see some recognition of Mecklenburg anywhere.
I used to go to school in Schwerin and I also worked in the Schweriner Castle for a short period of time.
The Castle is used as state parliament of Mecklenburg - Vorpommern so inside it has many office rooms and what else you expect of a parliament building and sadly I haven't seen the Castle without building fences for as long as I am alive I believe.
Although the word "castle" is used for both, it can mean "Burg" or "Schloss" in German and there is a big difference between this two types of buildings. A "Burg" is fortified in order to protect its inhabitants and armed forces against an attack or siege, so it is primarily a military building. A more precise translation may be "fortress" . A "Schloss" served as a residential building for those who could afford it an was primarily build to represent the richness of its owner, so it is more of a "palace".
In many cases both functions became important to some extend over time. A stronghold could become the preferred place for a sovereign to live in, especially in unsettled times, and some palaces were also built to protect their owners and their belongings.
Neuschwanstein is definitely on the "palace" end of the spectrum, as many of the beautiful castles shown here, with very limited use when attacked or besieged. With "protection" in mind, you would not choose a place on a lake, surrounded by hills, which might easily be flooded just by building a dam to retain the river flowing through that lake. With "beauty" on top of the requirements, you would choose exactly that place.
Many of these castles are located in places that have become interesting for tourists. Sometimes the castle itself became a tourist attraction, sometimes there is an old city nearby (which may have been the reason for building the castle in the first place or the city prospered in the shodow of the overlooking castle), sometimes it is the strategic placement on a hill near a river and sometimes the location was choosen because of its beautiful view, which still attracts visitors. Anyway, it is often lucrative to run a restaurant or hotel there, because there are a lot of visitors. I guess many Scottish castles are in more remote locations where running a hotel or restaurant would not pay off.
Yes, qa Burg is a home with military value (at its time), a Schloss is the poser version - nobles of old lived in a Burg, but it doesn't add any extra defensive value, so they just made it just look like one.
exactly, that's one reason the number of castles are so high in germany, as residential and military ones are counted together in the english word "castle". Another reason obviously is the late unification of all the different german states, so they each had their own military and residential castles.
In old days the words Burg , Schloss and Feste ( Veste) had been often used interchangeable, in contrast to now. And in swabian region also the word Schlössle exists, can be every old , but small representative building .
I'd say those were the most touristy castles in Germany. There are about 25k castles and medieval mansions in Germany, though in varying states of upkeep, all the way from being a few small ruins all the way up to being lived in, and encompassing anything from military fortresses to residential palaces.
So this wasn't just a tiny selection, it was miniscule and heavily favored the palaces over the military fortresses, because they look more impressing.
The closest castle to me is Schloss Burg or translated in a literal sense: castle Castle. Though the story behind that name is a curious one:
It was the castle of the Count of Berg, originally called Schloss Neuenberge or Schloss Neuenburg, as the Berg dynasty abandoned their previous castle, it kind of made sense to them. Stayed that way until a large reconstruction in the 15th century, when it turned from Schloss Neuenburg to simply Schloss Burg. So it was for a while "Schloss Burg of the count Berg".
though I have to say, Scottland has gorgeous castles as well with wonderful settings and gardens.
4:24 it is not a church. it is the "bergfried". a tower where important things and people could be safe in case of an attack. even with enemies running around inside the castle, you could survive there for a couple of days because once up there, you destroy the ladder or whatever. so they just sat there and watched from the highest point of the castle.
they had the choice to starve to death or surrender. which in many cases meant death also.
and this particular castle is very interesting! i have been there several times. you see the stages of building, you see what they have done to it over hundreds of years. it is a perfect example for any architecture student! you have hundreds of years of building and extensions.
So why does it has a cross on top ? 🙂
@@Yulo2000Leyje Why not? Could now be used as a church tower, but it was probably not built as one.
It was probably not that often the case that people would starve to death, actually we don't have much evidence of people actually using the Bergfried as last line of defense in any way. Usually, when the enemies comes into the castle, it's over anyway and there was no point. It would maybe be a wise thing to do when you know your allies would be there in like a day or so. The nobles wouldn't have that much too lose, they were usually not killed, but just captured. Which often just meant sitting in a fancy room with service and all.
And by the way, the entrance often had quite solid stairs. Sometimes there was like a little gap with a small drawing bridge or just some planks you could remove, but it wouldn't be that difficult to put someone there as a improvised bridge and getting the door open was then just a matter of hours. It was probably mostly supposed to look impressive.
There are basically two different groups of castles: the old original "Burg" castles, as in medival fortified homes of nobility, and then the new castles from the 18th and 19th century, which were meant to be more a romanticising kind of palace, showing off wealth and "class" in those days. The most famous example is Neu-Schwanstein, build by bavarian king Ludwig II, a weirdo who lived in a fantasy world of his own.
And even non-nobles build their palaces in the later 19th century, if they had enough money, like in the case of the Drachenburg.
The old medival castles are a totally different breed. They were build as a fortified home and refuge for the local ruler, some earl or count or knight, just like the majority of the old castles in Scottland. I guess one of the most famous there is the castle that was used in the making of Monty Python's "Holy Grail" movie... :)
Btw., placing a castle in a big pond, or making a big trench filled with water around it, is a very old method of defense against attacker. This, or building on top of a hill were the usual way of getting a advantage over attacking forces. A "Wasserburg" is very effective in this - but not so good if you have rheumatism...:)
Both the UK and Ireland have something that no other countries have in Europe and the rest of the world. It’s the combination of beautiful rugged northern landscape combined with romantic centuries old castle ruins that gives these countries it’s fairytale aura which is of course reinforced through countless films and books. There is no other place that combines the romanticism of old castles with that kind of landscape and cultural heritage. Yes Germany and France have their own castles and palaces but a lot of the times even when a castle is old it often got renovated and therefore looks artificial and not as natural and free like the castles standing in the endless expanses of the British countryside. Therefore I actually prefer Scottish castles.
Beautiful video. We've been to the Neuschwanstein Castle in the south of Bavaria and of course the 'Heidelberg Castle' since we've lived there over 27 years.
insider tip: if you want to see a lot of castles on one trip, take a boat from Bingen down the Rhine river all the way to st. goar and you'll see about 20-30 different castles left- and righthand side of the rhine
as someone from schwerin im always happy when our castle gets mentioned
you dont recognize its beauty until youre not home for some time but its just 5min from our flat and always a nice option to go to
also funny to say is that there is a spot that has a nice view of the castle and its popular for all the teenagers to drink there late at night and it somehow connects the younger generations with this building and its surroundings
No worry about that many Scottish castles are in ruins. We've got them also. Some of the most beautiful and attractive castles in Germany we saw are "new-built" from 19th century. Very rich people created their own "Disneyland".
the burg mylau is a pretty nice one situated on a rock between two river valleys, offering amazing views of the gölzsch river valley, featuring other amazing architecture such as the gargantuan gölzsch viaduct, the largest brick bridge in the world.
I like the "Ulenburg Castle" - our local moated castle in Löhne / Northrhine-Westfalia
Castles in the UK, esp. Scotland and Wales are not ugly. I've still have to travel to Scotland but Welsh castles are breathtaking, esp. castle Coch. The history of Cardiff Castle is also nothing to sniff about. It dates back to the Roman times and it is amazing.
German castles vary from the original fortresses of the medival times to the more fantasy based castles of the 18th and 19th century and only very few of the 24000+ castles are actually habitable most of them are ruins.
Historians say, that they still discover new castles every year so that the real estimate of German castles could be more than 30-35000.
Saying so he gave his personal opinion. Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, and there is always something more beautiful than something. Yet by and large, on avergae, it is safe to say that British castle cannot compare to German castles regarding beauty.
I lived fairly close to Mespelbrunn Castle at 6:21 for more than 10 years. It was a favourite place to visit and to take visitors. I'm actually amazed that this place survived to the present day. I can only assume that its location in the midst of an almost impenetrable forest and having a lake protecting it was double extra protection. It is in the middle of the Spessart region, one of the most extensive continuous forest areas in Germany north and south of the Main River.
The Spessart forest was also the private hunting grounds of Charlemagne way back in the turn of the 9th to 10th century. In Germany, Charlemagne is known as Karl der Große (Charles the Great) and in this region, not very far from Mespelbrunn Castle are a town called Karlstadt and a ruined keep called Karlburg. In Neustadt (Newtown) on the Main river there is a place that was originally a nunnery founded by Charlemagne's sister.
I like the painting on the left side on your bookshelf!
I just visited Glücksburg castle just about a week ago and it really was stunning. See, those lake / mout castles were built in places were no mountains could be used to fight off attackers. Like in my hometown, Detmold, we have a representative castle with a small park still surrounded by the old mout from two sides. Glücksburg is in the very north of Germany, but there are no mountains. More to the south, like the Rhine/Mosel Region and especially the very south like Bavaria you almost exclusively find those mountain top fortresses.
Gotta say something about the Löwenburg at 4:40 here. The narrator correctly says it was purpose-built in the gardens/park of Wilhelmshöhe Castle (representative castle, not military fortress). However, the purpose never was to fend off attackers, but rather to have a classic romantic thing to look at when wandering around in these parks. It's sole purpose is to look nice. Then again, it does this pretty well. Have also visited the Wilhelmshöhe Castle gardens about a year ago
As an origin Mecklenburger I love the Castle of Schwerin. Whenever I'm there I go and visit it.
When driving home from visiting a friend in Bavaria - where we also visited many churches as well as Linderhof castle in Ettal, which has amazing gardens with a 25 m high fountain, many smaller pavillon castles with different exotic themes and an artificial cavern which houses a theater - my dad took a detour so we could visit Lichtenstein castle and the nearby Nebelhöhlen ("misty caves", a huge stalactite cavern). The inside of the castle is just as stunning as its outside architecture and surroundings. With lots of painted walls and ceilings and antique furniture you really feel put back to late medieval times.
They try to preserve as many old buildings and castles as possible. The cost for upkeep is quite high, so many castles are used by the government and house different kinds of offices or courts. My favourite castle is Schloss Seehof in Bamberg. It's small, but really pretty. And houses the state office for the preservation of historical monuments... quite fitting. Fancy workplace, a castle 😂
Some things to remark. Some fortresses are very nice, like the Würzburg fortress, or the fortress of Coburg. And a special thing is the restored Roman border fort Saalburg, north of Frankfurt. It was rebuilt in Imperial times in the early 20th century and gives a good impression of the life of a Roman legionnaire who served Rome in inhospitable Germania. There is an extensive museum exhibition and bratwurst "Roman Style"...
And what I forgot to mention is, that the Schwerin Castle is the seat of the state parliement of Mecklenburg- Vorpommern.
Veste Coburg is Nr. 1 for me
If you check out pictures of the no.1 Neuschwanstein, you will see that Hohenschwangau castle (my personal fave) is right next to it. There are amazing shots where you can see both castles together. Oh and btw I have been to these two at least 15 times till now. The 3 castles my hometown got are no match but are also nice buildings.
I visited a ton of castles here in Germany. A very lovely castle / palace in top condition is Schloss Hämelschenburg, run by the family von Klencke since ever. You can visit their quarters (they still live there) and look at the interior, not changed since centuries and slightly changed over the centuries (makes it special). The old kitchen quarter is very interesting. It looks as if it is part of a fairy tale. Thankfully there are not as much tourists as in Southern Germany. It is near Hameln - a nice destination too. The town of the pied piper of Hamelin (Hameln).
The Marksburg should have had an honourable mentioning, as it has been the template for most toy castles. Also worth an honourable mentioning are Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, Burg Rheinfels, Schloss Braunfels, Schloss Limburg, Starkenburg Heppenheim,…
I've been to Schwerin Castle, Quedlinburg Castle, Imperial Palace of Goslar, Dankwarderode and Wernigerode Castle
from those featured in the video I've been only to Hohenschwangau, Neuschwanstein and Heidelberg, but that List is very short and there are so many more castles. Where I live in central Bavaria within a 50km range I have serveral castled and palaces and of course ruins. I just have to cross the road to get tothe local Schloss, but don't imagine it like those shown in the video. It's just a fancy nobilities home, right in the middle of the village and many villages here have their own Schloss.
However, the next village to the west has a fully grown castle towering over the village, so does the next village too and there is the Rosenburg looking down on the city of Riedenburg 20km to the east from where I live.
The reason for so many castles and ruins here is the landscape. North of Ingolstadt and the Danube river there are a lot river valleys and it's only logical to build a castle high engough to be able to overlook the valley for approaching enemies. That explains why there's literarely a castle within visual range of the next castle. They simply did't trust their neighbors.
My favorite would be Cochem, ... since it is the only one i've visited 😂, great view on the river and town below, nice museum, and right in the middle of the German wine producing area. ✌️❤️
i missed the "marxburg " , near koblenz
I live in Thuringia, Germany and we have a lot of castle or castle ruins in this area. Here are 3 castles/ruins within 1 hour of my home.
I also used to live just 40 min. away from the Schwerin castle. Definitely one of the most beautiful buildings I know.
i come from a town with 18000 people and we have 3 castles nearby (5-10km)
and easily 5 more within a radius of 20km
Im living only 20 minutes away from Heidelberg... so Heidelberg Castle (actually, the "Heidelberger Schloss" ^^) is one of the attractions we show the visitors and colleagues from other countries as a real "must have seen" sight in our region ❤
A friend of mine had his wedding in the knights hall of an old castle somewhere in the black forest.
It was magical.
That,what you think is a kind of church,the tall tower,is called the "Burgfried", wich was the last defence stand, if the castle is invaded.
The 2011 movie 3Muscetieres features Würzburg Residenz as Versailles. Honestly, this just scratches the surface.
The Schloss Hohenzollern that was shown in this video was actually the Burg Hohenzollern in Bisingen. The actual Schloss Hohenzollern is in Sigmaringen about 50km southeast to the Burg
I lived in the town below Schloss Lichtenstein. Compared to the other castles in the video, it's a small one and not really medieval. It was build for the Lord of Baden Wuerrtemberg in the midd 19th century as a hunting residence. It's worth for a a day trip, maybe in combination with Burg Hohenzollern which is an hour away from Lichtenstein Castle. Also in that wider area: Sigmaringen Castle which belongs to the same family: the Hohenzollern de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schloss_Sigmaringen#/media/Datei:Schloss_Sigmaringen_2022.jpg
If you plan a trip to southern Germany: also consider Salzburg and it's surroundings as Austria has also a lot of Castles (as well as Switzerland - there I recommend Chillon Castle at the lake of Geneva).
Mert, if you want to see A LOT of german castles, book a ship tour from Koblenz to Rüdesheim. Plus in Rüdesheim is Siegfrieds mechanisches Musikkabinett, the new home of the Wintergatan Marble Machine😂
Hello from Menden, Germany.
I'm living near Burg Altena. 30 min. drive by car away. Funfact: I was there on a Concert in 1996 called Burgrock. Headliner that time was Rammstein.
Greetings
Went to several of them. Just wonderful
So for me as a German I have to say what I haven't seen in SO many castles so that I can even list them: Veste Coburg (I live in the district), Rosenau Castle, Rosenberg Kronach Fortress, Mitwitz moated castle (there is every one there year a very nice Christmas market), Ehrenburg Castle (I think important for England), Callenberg Castle, Lauterburg ruins, Hohenfels Castle, and yes, that should have been all of them so far. Greetings 😁
Definitiv "Veste Coburg"
9:10 acually i am from germany and i have been to most of the castles in this video! thanks to my father, who made me this castle and history nerd^^
and all i can tell you: visit them! even as a german i find them stunning. i can't imagine how surreal many castles must be to travellers!
Next to the Burg Eltz, I also like the Marxburg and Castle Braunfels a lot.
Neuenschwanstein ist very touristic, but fully worth it as it's full of surprises on the inside. I used the end of the Covid times to visit it and, though, some rooms were closed due to the regulations, I felt, it was the best time to go as it permitted me to go in without queuing and in small groups of 20 people only, one group per 20 mins. In normal times, it's absolutely overcrowded with people from all over the world.
On that weekend, I also visited Hohenschwangau, but it's more expensive and far less interesting.
Heidelberg Castle is also worth it to visit it.
And there are more...
As for the usage: In Koblenz, there is a fortress (Festung Ehrenbreitstein), into which they have put a Youth Hostel. We went there with my school class for a week. I loved it! Those thick walls and hidden paths even. As, originally, I'm from the very flat north, it was also awesome to sit on top of a hill and to be able to look down onto the town from there.
But, well, having lived in Scotland, I also adore those rougher castles a lot, and, having been member of two trusts, I visited a lot of them! 😍
I've been to the Wartburg, Hohenschwangau, Hohenzollern castle, Neuschwanstein on this list, but my favourite one is Burg Eltz. Also, I visited some other castles not on this list. But here in Germany there's always one more castle to visit.
Neuschwanstein has quite the interesting history. A lot of the interior was never completed. Ludwig II was the one who built it. He had quite the obsession with castles and spent all the money he had on them. He's mental state is debated and he drowned in a lake under unclear circumstances. Another one of his castles is "Schloss Linderhof", it is a mini Versailles and definitely worth a visit. Especially the artificial grotto is awesome.
Some random facts about Neuschwanstein: It's so new that steam engines were used in its construction, and one of its main building materials is ferroconcrete.
Also, it's mostly empty, as its interior was never finished.
Of course, with over 25,000 castles to choose from, this list is wayyyy too short and centers around more touristy places. The most beautiful experiences to me where the castle ruins I stumbled upon by sheer chance. Though I freely admit, visiting Eltz castle in autumn (the "side season" when it was closed for visitors) took my breath away. The place was deserted and the castle and forest around it were partly hidden in fog. Neuschwanstein castle is the least authentic, it's a "fairy tale castle" built by king Ludwig, but still makes no. 1 on every list I've seen :'). There's a very good video about german castles and palaces by Dr. Ludwig that I totally recommend to you!
Where is the imperial castle of Triffels in which Richard I. the Lionheart was imprisoned?
Hammer, Amboss, Triffels... fehlen definitiv in der Liste
You are extremly charming with your admiration of German castles. I never thought that comparing about them.
Funfact, I had a biology teacher who bought a castle ruin for 1 DM (yeah, that is how far back that was) - with the obligation to restore it. And he did. It was a very small castle, hidden in the woods near a monastery. (Oldenburg - also Olde Schwalenberg)
Burg Eltz and Wartburg are my favorites (I visited both of them) I’m Dutch. Visited Cochem too.
Have a look at Dutch castles.
I am somewhat dumbfounded that the list left out Schwerin castle - there's a reason why it's called the "Neuschwanstein of the North". Guess it's driving home the point: There's a lot of castles to choose over here. :P
There are also castles and manors in Germany which are ruined and have felt apart, but they have been preserved in 20th century to keep them in their latest state to be savely visited by the public.
Some of those ruined and preseved castles are used as stage for small concerts and events like medival markets.
My favourite castle by now is Burg Eltz. I also visited a lot of other castles like In Burg Colditz, Gnandstein, Burg Hartenfels, Burg Kriebstein, Burg Mildenstein, Barockschloss Delitzsch, Schloss Moritzburg. There are more, but I do not remember every one.
Greetings from 🇩🇪to 🏴.I love 🏴👍
Honestly Neu Schwanstein only has 15 ready to visit rooms, these are magnificent, but it would make more sense to visit Linderhof Palace.
I love Burg Eltz... 800 year old, 800 years unconquered, held by the Counts of Eltz for 800 years *running* , the current Count Eltz still has an apartment there.
And it's unchanged in it's military function, in the case of a Zombie apocalypse it could still be held, unlike many others 😂.
Best regards
Raoul G. Kunz
4:30 I've never tought I'd here the words "late 18th century" and "medieval" right next to each other, but here we are...
I suppose someone has to retake their basic history class...
Ach, die paar Hundert Jahre... 😂
We got also bagpipes: ruclips.net/video/yP8m9lkD3PY/видео.html and ruclips.net/video/jpMpOU0lsTo/видео.html
German language discerns Burg (a castle in the narrower sense - a fortified house or military post ), Schloss (more like a palace) and (sometimes) Festung (a fortress). A Schloss was originally a "key castle", blocking the access to a valley or a river, but soon became the seat of a higher noble who spent money to make it more representative. The word palace by the way derives from the Palatine hill in Rome, where the Roman Emperors built their palaces; in German it became "Pfalz" denominating a major seat of the Holy Roman Emperor, managed by a count palatine. The most important Pfalz was the Palatinate of the Rhine; the count of this Pfalz got even the honor of being one of the 7 (later 11) Prince-Electors electing the German and Roman king.
In the 17th and 18th century many former castles were rebuilt as "Schloss", in the time of Romanticism in the mid 19th century many ruined castles were rebuilt in a romanticized "medieval" style like Schloss Neuschwanstein (0:30) or Burg Hohenzollern (1:20 - 1:45), the ancestral seat of the older line of the Prussian dynasty (which is the younger line of Hohenzollern).
4:15 The Wartburg originally belonged to the Landgraves of Thuringia and became in 1211 the home of young Princess Elisabeth of Hungary (1207-1231); in 1221 she became Elisabeth of Thuringia after marrying Landgrave Ludwig (born 1200, died 1227 in Otranto while on the route to a crusade). Elisabeth was committed to help the poor and to the ideals of her contemporary St. Francis of Assisi; she became known as St. Elisabeth. The younger brother of Ludwig, Heinrich Raspe, inherited the castle, but died without children, which led to a war of succession. Thuringia and the castle came to the House of Wettin, the Margraves of Meißen, which got in 1423 the title of Dukes and Prince-Electors of Saxony. In 1521 Duke Frederick III the Wise of Saxony did hide Martin Luther on the Wartburg, where he could finish his translation of the Bible into mundane German. Luther used a mix of Meißen Officialese and local German dialects; this mixture became later the base for today's Standard German. In the 19th century the Wartburg became the place of students' gatherings who propagated a reunification of Germany either as united republic or constitutional monarchy; it was one of the places where for the first time the modern German flag of black, red and gold was shown. The main "palas" building shows Romanic architecture elements; it was built in the late romanesque epoch. The half-timbered part was built in the 15th century; most of the other buildings are the result of reconstructions in the 19th century.
9:50 Burg Cochem was destroyed in the Nine Years' War (also called war of succession of the Palatinate); French troops (sent by Louis XIV) occupied and demolished it with explosives in 1689. In 1868 it was bought by Berlin merchant Louis Fréderic Jacques Ravené (a descendant of French refugees, the huguenots). He rebuilt the castle; the family used it then for summer holidays. His descendant Louis Auguste Ravené was in 1942 forced to sell the castle to the Prussian department of Justice, which used it as training facility for Nazi jurists. 1947 it came to the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, which used it as administrative school; in 1978 it was bought by the town of Cochem.
11:00 Schloss Schwerin was inspired by French renaissance palaces, but the ground plan still follows the walls of a Slavic castle from 941. Since 1990 it houses the parliament of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; other parts are used as museum, the gardens are open to the public.
12:30 The first castle was 1423 conquered and destroyed by the Swabian League (a defence association of Free Imperial Cities and other Imperial estates, formed after the dissolution of the Duchy of Swabia). The second castle was built in 1454 and occupied in 1634 (during the 30 Years' War) by the troops of House Württemberg, which acted as an ally of Sweden. In 1635 it was regained by Imperial troops with the help of forged orders for the castle commander, but not given back to Hohenzollern. Until 1744 it was hold by Habsburg, but during the Austrian war of succession 1744/45 occupied by French troops. In 1798 it was abandoned. In 1819 the ruins were visited by the Prussian crown prince. As he became Prussian king in 1840 he began to plan the reconstruction, which started in 1850, co-financed by the Prussian and the Swabian lines of Hohenzollern; the Prince of Hohenzollern-Hechingen (who owned the castle hill) as well as the Prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen had abdicated in 1849 after the 1848 revolution and ceded their reigns to Prussia (but the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen were 1866-1947 Kings of Romania).
We once rented the entire youth hostel in Burg Altena for 2 nights with nearly 60 people from different WoW Clans for a fun meeting with lots of alcohol and Barbecue. Awesome place
One real old castle which was use by robber barons / knights and still has the vibes of that time ( people lived there without Glas windows with open fireplaces inside and robbed the merchants on the way to Nuremberg) is Burg Prunn. In 1566 the fourth oldest complete version Nibelungenlied was found there. By the way , the towers in old castles aren‘t part of churches but are the so called Burgfried, the best fortified ( and therefore often the oldest) part of the castle. Built with meter thick walls they were used as the last keep for inhabitants in wartimes.
Castles on lakes are more likely to be found in northern Germany. The landscape in northern Germany is very flat. So there are not many hills on which you could build and defend a territory. But since the north is full of lakes, the next best option is to build on an island of a lake or a peninsula, since you often only have one accessible side to defend.
Half of them i saw in real. Its breathtaking
Near my Hometown in Baden Württemberg ist a Ruin from the Year 773
The video shows pretty well preserved or restored castles and palaces only, with Heidelberg being an exception. But there are many ruins of mainly medieval castles. Castles in ruins didn't necessarily reach that state by use of weapons. Some were simply left to decay and subsequently used as a quarry.
Have a look at the "Zitadelle" in berlin spandau. Not a beauty but my hometown and there are awesome concerts.. watched tenacious D last time. Machinehead and korn aswell.
The central big tower in German castles is called the "Bergfried" and was the last line of defense. There is a distinction in German between a "Schloss" - a pleasure representative building and a "Burg" - a defensive castle.
There are also tons of ruins in Germany, especially in my region in the west which has one of the highest amounts of castles in the world (the French didn't make for particularly good neighbours), however most were filled with black powder and blown up by the French under Napoleon
Check out "Burg Mylau" (bei Reichenbach im Vogtland, Sachsen)😉👍
3:29 min: The castle near Eisenach is not called "Warburg", but "Wartburg"
I live near "Marienburg" - Castle in the area of the City of Hildesheim. You really should come over to visit. It's not so far away from Your home. Just a short flight to Hanover...😊 See You in Germany!!
Native here! Sanssouci is the most impressive for me with their many buildings in the huge park. Maybe because i saw Carlos Sanana live and for free that weekend in Potsdam. You will definitley need a break and get some cake in the dragonhouse cafe because there is so much buildings to see. google park sanssouci and you will find them all.
The Heidelberg castle also has the largest wine barrel in the world in it's cellar.
Don't forget your Whisky...for me the best in the world 😊❤
As a German, one of my favourites is Edinburgh Castle, actually. And my single most memorable (in a good way!) stay in a youth hostel was at Carbisdale Castle. In fact, I had vague plans of going there with my kids one day, so I was pretty sad to hear that it was closed and sold to an unnamed private owner.
I grew up in the Palatinate Forest in Southwestern Germany nearby the French border. It's pretty similar to Scotland when it comes to castles. We have lots of ruins and they only get restored as little as possible to meet safety standards. A few railings here, a fixed staircase there. If you're lucky it's partially restored and has a museum attached to it.
After the 30 Year War many castles were torn down and used as building materials by the locals. From the hundreds we have and the 40 something I've visited only two have been completely rebuilt. Berwartstein (which is privately owned by a family who rents out the tower as guest room) and Trifels (which was rebuilt by the Nazis as a propaganda project because of its historical significance).
I once was in Hohenzollern Castle as a child, in the Wartburg I was on a tour folws Martin Luther, and thi year I was in Castle Cochem
By the way, the city of Altena (the 2nd Castle) turned out to be the cheapest germany town to rent an appartment. 60sqm for 200 Euro in a good condition. Because they had a previous military camp from the british that turned into appartments but with the soldiers the whole population went away to other cities, loving 50% of it's people in just a decade.
In my area there are plenty of smaller castles that have been repurposed at one point in the past as schools, orphanages, disabled homes, disabled workshops or simply flats to rent as they are quite difficult “real estate” when you think about it, if your not one of the super pretty places and you’re not a super rich family it is impossible to keep a castle running as a family home or even open to the public as it is so expensive to maintain, let alone heat those places….
The most impressive castle is Burg Eltz as it has been inhabited by the same family since the middle ages. It has the original style and look 19th ct. Neuschwanstein strifes for.
Burg Eltz is my favourite, but I have not seen all Casles and Burgs in Germany. Have to attmit, I haven´t seen the east Germany. Sad, but I will go to see a few.
My Home is my Castle.
Built by my father in 1957.
I seem to remember the Scottish ruins are due to a tax-reform in the late 18th century. One had to pay taxes for the size of a property if there was a roof on it, so people dismantled roofs. And once the roof is gone it takes about 75years to turn a building in a ruin.
And these german castles are mostly restored - and often reconstructed - in the 1820's to 1890's - or completly rebuilt from scratch like Neuschwanstein. (There was a ruin beneath, but it was removed for the sake of the King's new Fantasycastle.)
I don‘t know about any region with the most beautiful castles, but when you go to the south, you will probably find the most castles in one place. There is literally a street called „Burgenstraße“ (castle road) where you will see around 70 castles on your way.
The Wartburg Castle is also the castle were Martin Luther hid and there is a recreation of his room. Also with the ink on the wall as he reportedly saw the devil
Das Wasserschloss Mespelbrunn is mentioned very rarely and I am delighted to see it here. It is a real treasure in the woods of Spessart (Lower Franconia and Hessia) and was the location for some German movies of the 1050's and 60's (Das Wirtshaus im Spessart). Not only it's located quite idyllically, but in the surroundings you can also get good roast wild boar. And out of local patriotism I have to mention the Nürnberger Burg with its famous/infamous torture prisons and torture devices and old towers! Liebe Grüße!
Und die haben in Mespelbrunn, einen echten Schrumpfkopf. Sieht man auch nicht jeden Tag. Und die Forellen, sind echt lecker...
@@melchiorvonsternberg844 In echt, einen Schrumpfkopf??? Ja, schmeckt denn der? 🤣
@@heha6984 Der wurde irgendwann im 19. Jhr. von einer Südamerika- Expedition mitgebracht. Ich denke, dass da das MHD abgelaufen ist...
@@melchiorvonsternberg844 Aber sind die nicht durch diverse Verfahren haltbar gemacht? So wie Trockenfleisch irgendwie? 😵💫🤢🙄
@@heha6984 Warum googlest du das nicht einfach, oder schaust bei Wiki nach? Ich bin wirklich kein Spezialist für so etwas. Ich wollte nur auf eine Besonderheit von Mespelbrunn hinweisen.
Neuschwanstein is beautiful, but no one ever really live in there, so it's missing something. I prefer Hohenschwangau, the neighbouring castle where King Ludwig's family actually lived. And, of course, Hohenzollern Castle.
I know, it sounds a bit weird, but my fave castles are all in Austria: Hochosterwitz Castle, Heinfels Castle, Hohenwerfen Castle, the fortress of Kustein.
btw. we have a Law the "Denkmalschutzgesetz" - mean "you have to take care of old buildings etc."
a lot of these castles are actualy 1800s romantic piriod (the elegant ones)