Traveling Through Time Around Castles in Germany
The Castles of Germany offer a snapshot of the county’s history, culture, architecture and religion. Like many European countries, before Germany was a unified state, it was a feudal system of separate lands. Each kingdom was ruled and taxed by a clan. Rulers of their kingdoms spent huge amounts of money and labor constructing colossal palaces, solid fortress and radiant palaces to support their richly coffered lives. Those castles and palaces are still evident all throughout Germany, where they are both historical witness of legends of the past as well as enticing architectural masterpieces for visitors to explore.
Sanssouci Palace
Sanssouci was the summer palace of Friedrich the Great (1712-1786) in the city of Potsdam and features a combination of Italian Baroque architecture and French gardening arts. The palace was named “Sans souci” or “Without worries” in French, because Friedrich the Great wished to make his palace “a place of peace of mind” during life and an “eternal resting place” after his death. Friedrich proposed plans for royal architect Georg Knobelsdorff to design Sanssouci Palace with its heart being Baroque architecture featuring rows of Corinthian columns and luxurious, tranquil Rococo decorative patterns. The palace also contains terraced gardens and a park filled with remarkable landscaping and statuary.
Old Castle of Bernburg
The castle is located near Wipper Estuary in Saxony-Anhalt State. The fortress was constructed in 961 and is set on what was a crucial waterway route of Germany and Europe in its day. Thanks for this strategic location, dukes who ruled Anhalt-Bernburg spend a great deal of wealth and manpower to construct a solid castle to take hold of this commercial route for nearly eight centuries. Nowadays, Bernburg Castle is a museum which display minerals of Saxony-Anhalt State, collections of medals, artifacts that demonstrate the settlement’s history and commercial activities of old inhabitants of Anhlt-Bernburg as well as contemporary art objects.
Wartburg Castle in Thuringia
This is one of finest old castles in Germany. Situated on a precipitous cliff 410 meters high in the southwest part of Thuringia State, Warburg was constructed at the behest of Duke Ludwig Der Springer in 1067. The most important construction of Wartburg is the stone palace known as a masterpiece of post-Roman architecture with 200 artfully chiseled columns to represent the affluence and power of Prussian Empire. Another notable architectural feature is the chapel which boasts giant religious murals to portray the life of Jesus and his followers.
Let’s explore the history, architecture and religion and politics of Germany in your journey among its old castles.
