What a Weekend - The Castle

Day Eight - Part One
Haut-Koenigsbourg

It seems that yesterday was just a warm up for Today's adventures!
We had asked DD if there was ANYWHERE She would like to go now that she had some company.

First stop was to buy an "Alsa+Group Pass".

This is a Transport ticket for the Alsace Region (other regions are available).
It cost €36.50 for a single ticket and just €37.50 for a 'small group 2-5 people' and is valid for travel until midnight, on any transport on Weekends & Public Holidays.

Half an Hour on a Train and then transfer to the Shuttle Bus and let someone else do the driving!

There is more to Europe than Cathedrals and today we went to visit a Castle.

First records of Haut-Koenigsbourg date back to 1147
It was destroyed in 1462
Rebuilt and fortified in 1479
Sieged, Pillaged and Burnt in 1633 during the 30 year War
And then abandoned for the next 200 years
Until it was classified as an Historical Monument in 1862

1900-1908 The Castle is completely restored by Willhelm 2nd using extensive archival photographs and building methods that were very advanced for the early 20th Century - including electricity.

1993 The Castle is entirely classified as an Historical Monument and fully restored.

It is easy to see how Archers were able to protect the Castle in Medieval Days.

Unfortunately the Fortified walls did not keep the Swiss Army from Invading.

And now the only things that are shot from these Loopholes in the Castle Walls are Photographs by the many Tourists that trudge the parapets.

And trudge we did!

Down corridors and across Drawbridges
 up staircases and through rooms

Until we came to the Kitchen
and beyond - in a VERY small room was

This 80 HL Wine Barrel - That is 8,000 litres
(and just for fun, seeing it was next to the kitchen...
1 Million Six-hundred thousand teaspoons of liqueur!)

-They may have got this IN using a crane during the restoration but there is NO WAY it is coming out again in one piece!

And of course -
No visit to any Castle is complete without Knights and Armour.

The Armoury, along with the 'Torture Chamber' and Canons in the Keep, were an impressive collection which left me amazed at the lengths to which people would go to destroy an enemy.

Just one last place to Visit 

before we catch the Shuttle to our next stop 

and that was to have Morning Tea in 'The Library'

"Cheers"