This is the South Tower of the Wartburg near Eisenach, Germany. It was erected in 1318. The building on the right is the servant's quarters and dates back to the 15th century. The castle itself dates back to 1067, but not much of the original structure remains today.
The Wartburg was the site of various important events in German history, including a Minstrels' Contest where the looser was going to be executed (instead of executing the looser they decided on a rematch the next year which ended without anyone dying), Luther hid here after being excommunicated and translated the bible into German, and a 1817 fraternity meeting first raised the call for a unified Germany (as opposed to a bunch of tiny kingdoms) to name just a few. The frat boys also effectively chose the colors of the present day German flag, which uses the colors of this fraternity.
Unfortunately I don't have any well planned shots of the castle. It was just too windy and cold to spend a lot of time on top of this mountain, but hopefully this is enough to offer a glimpse of the history we saw in Germany this winter.
South Tower
This is the South Tower of the Wartburg near Eisenach, Germany. It was erected in 1318. The building on the right is the servant's quarters and dates back to the 15th century. The castle itself dates back to 1067, but not much of the original structure remains today.
The Wartburg was the site of various important events in German history, including a Minstrels' Contest where the looser was going to be executed (instead of executing the looser they decided on a rematch the next year which ended without anyone dying), Luther hid here after being excommunicated and translated the bible into German, and a 1817 fraternity meeting first raised the call for a unified Germany (as opposed to a bunch of tiny kingdoms) to name just a few. The frat boys also effectively chose the colors of the present day German flag, which uses the colors of this fraternity.
Unfortunately I don't have any well planned shots of the castle. It was just too windy and cold to spend a lot of time on top of this mountain, but hopefully this is enough to offer a glimpse of the history we saw in Germany this winter.
Interesting tower martin. i wish we could see abit more detail of the stairs. very nice mix of architectures
Martin: Yes, I probably should have lightened that up a bit. This shot was taken on a very overcast day. There may not be enough dynamic range available to fix this, but I will try. Thank you for the suggestion!
Well composed. You could have just as easily taken a picture of the tower itself, but I like that you included the servant's quarters. The architectural styles contrast well and give the picture more visual interest.
Martin: Thank you, Clint. I thought the tower by itself would look a little lonely. Glad you agree.
There was a VW Wartburg, a limited edition VW Jetta/Venco whatever it is called in the different countries wit this tower on the LE badge. Never knew it had such a history.
Great post.
Martin: That is pretty funny! The main assembly line for the East German car (the Trabbi) was Eisenach, the town at the base of this castle. Surely they didn't want to imply that the Jetta shares DNA with the Trabbi!
Business As Usual
Beautiful Galves...
Salty Swamp