Germany travel. Island and castle Pfalzgrafenstein in the river Rhine. Germany tours

The island is small, and, despite the picturesque location and bizarre shape, it would hardly have been known if it had not been for the Pfalzgrafenstein customs castle located there (Burg Pfalzgrafenstein). Agree, it looks very unusual - just like a ship sailing on a river. The island is located opposite the small town Kaub. Pfalzgrafenstein is widely known for its unusual shape and scenic location.

Most of the Rhine castles by the beginning of the XIX century fell into decay and lay in ruins. The reason for this was the low suitability for the nobility, as well as further unsuitability for defensive purposes.

The surviving fortresses serve as decoration of small towns or stand lonely on the river bank, or even hide in the wilderness. But wherever they are, they bear the imprint of a world completely different from the modern. Customers demanded that builders, above all, reliability of buildings, but medieval architects at the same time made sure that their creations looked beautiful and majestic. An example of this is the island castle spared by time and people, the whiteness of the walls of which is amazing today, as well as the nearby Gutenfels Castle.

He, like his neighbor, located at a height nearby, was built as imperial customs. At that time, the building belonged to the family of minsterials and had a different name. Accurate data on the date of construction of the castle is not, the first mention dates back to 1277 year. The unique form of the fortress has been used in the period of freezing.

Used in former times as an icebreaker, the fortress still performs this function due to the elongated "nose", which forms its southern angle, directed against the flow of the river. The picturesque view of the nearby town of Kaub, which can be easily reached by ferry, and the appearance of a small fortress, more like a cozy marzipan house than the formidable stronghold of the imperial customs services, attract many tourists and adventurers.

In these parts there are many castles, the towers of which appear and disappear behind the hills covered with emerald green. However, among them there is no more beautiful and nicer fortress than Pfalzgrafenstein. As if the peaceful spirit of the past in the guise of a proud ship sails softly above the water in all its glory, timeless. By the way, with its appearance, the fortress is just like a ship, and Victor Hugo also mentioned this, christening it with a stone ship that anchored forever near the city.

Pfalzgrafenstein has a number of decorative elements, bay windows, unusual loopholes in the form of a keyhole, which, nevertheless, played an extremely important role along with the purely applied details of the layout. Builders and architects resorted to all sorts of tricks so that in the future not a single ship could sail along the river without paying a fee. In order to fight dishonest merchants, two loopholes were cut at the base of the main tower in order to stretch a thick chain across the Rhine, which was raised every time another ship appeared on the horizon.

Home: Vacation-Travel.photos