Kim Richards

Current Mood: happy

So, more of our adventures here in Deutschland.  Sunday we got up and after breakfast, made our way to a town called Ritter. William heard of a chocolate factory. We indeed found them—Ritter Sport. They’re known for producing their chocolate in little bite sized squares. I thought it interesting that the idea came from Mrs. Ritter but because she didn’t copyright it, after their divorce, Mr. Ritter made his fortune with her idea.  Unfortunately the store portion was closed but we did find some at a gas station nearby. Very yummy stuff.  The museum portion was very interesting.

While waiting for Ritter Sport to open, we walked through Neue Freunde, a modern art museum sharing the same complex.  There were some pieces which toyed with your vision, depending upon where you stood, some steel sculptures and one made entirely of cable ties. I think there’s a picture of that one. 

Had to laugh at ourselves though, one particular name plaque was on a blank wall. We both stared at it discussing whether it was supposed to be the white wall itself or if the artwork hadn’t been hung yet. Turns out it belonged to a floor to ceiling panel out in the center of the room. LOL!

The big stop, and the bulk of today’s pictures came from where we spent the entire afternoon.  Burg Hohenzollern (Castle).  We took a tour just to see the interior parts but once the guide learned we couldn’t understand her, hung around after just to tell us a bit about it.  We thanked her profusely.

This version of the castle is the third time it’s been rebuilt. They don’t know when the actual first one was built but there is reference to two knights from there killed in 1061. Around 1423, family disputes over lineage sparked a war which ended in a ten month seige and the complete destruction of the castle. The only thing remaining is St. Michael’s chapel.

The second version came around 1623 and became a retreat during wartime. During the Thirty-Years War it became a military stronghold for the Austrians, after Swedish and Wurttemberg troups lay seige to it for nine months. They starved out the occupants.  After that, it cost too much to keep it up an the castle fell into ruin.

The current version is due to Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia who visited his ancestral homeland and fell in love with it. He ordered its reconstruction  in 1846.  The neat thing is he managed to gather the funds to rebuild it from all the family portions who fought over and destroyed it centuries earlier.

The rest of the pictures speak for themselves. Very beautiful place with a view you want to sit and stare at forever.  Someone brought a dog and I loved hearing his barking echo off the inner courtyard walls—imagining that happened so often in this castle’s past.  All of the inside photos are courtesy of our guide, who used our inability to speak German to allow us to take them with a wink.

The gown is embroidered with real silver spun into thread. We both loved the stained glass and armor on display. I was very excited to see actual death masks of two of the rulers.  What timing with my book titled, Death Masks, due out in less than a week!

William took every opportunity to admire the defenses of the structure.  As is typical, there are burials in the chapels (one Catholic and one Protestant) and a small grave yard  on the upper levels.   With all that said, here’s the picture link. I know you’ll love them.

http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m203/sharrisselva/Germany%20trip/March%2030%202008/