Marksburg is the only castle on the Middle Rhine to remain intact and undamaged during the years of wars and conflicts the area suffered. It maintains much of its medieval character.
Buses are not able to navigate all the way to the top of the hill where the castle stands. Our bus dropped us off at the point where I took this picture.
Then we had to walk a zig-zag uphill path to the castle.
Once inside, we met up with our tour guide. Visitors are not allowed to wander about on their own and are required to go on a guided tour.
Although many of the Rhine castles have been rebuilt, according to Rick Steve’s (Germany 2009), Marksburg remains nearly completely the original structure.
At various places you can see where a doorway or window was made smaller and therefore safer from enemies, or easier to defend.
We were told that knights rode their horses over these stone walkways just inside the walled entrance to the castle.
You can’t walk within these walls and not have your imagination fly to tales of the past about kings, knights, and princesses.
I don’t know what the reality was for people who lived and worked within these walls from 1283 to the late 1800s, but I believe that at their core people have not changed all that much through the years. Young men and women fell in love and felt passion, parents found joy in their children, and people lived with heartbreak and loss. A lot of living occurred through the years in this place.
These canons date to about 1640. According to Rick Steve’s, they could hit targets across the river,
which was quite a distance away. From their location on the hilltop, the canons were largely aided by gravity I suspect.
Another view of the river from the castle, and what must have been a look-out point on a lower level.
If you walk along an outer wall of the castle that overlooks the river, you arrive in a garden where plants used for cooking and medicine were cultivated.
It is a gardener’s delight. The wall to the left of the photo overlooks the river from a great heights.
One of the halls is set up as a kitchen and supplied with artifacts from the time period.
The walls in the master bedroom are covered in wood paneling. Tapestries decorate several of the walls in the castle. I don’t know whether they are original to the castle, or have been provided to furnish the rooms for tour groups.
The dining hall was not as large as I might have imagined it should be, although the number of people in our tour group appear to fit nicely in the space.
The far wall of the dining hall is decorated with paint or frescoes.
Windowed alcoves branch off of the dining hall’s main room. Perhaps they provided extra seating.
I thought the iron work on this door’s hinges was interesting. It is also a very small door. What it’s purpose was, I cannot say.
The ceiling of the dining hall is paneled and painted with detail.
Our guide explained the function of this small door in the dining room, and I truly wish I could remember what he said. I do remember that the small door in the chapel was made that way to limit the ability of heavily armored knights to gain access from below during an attack. This door in the dining hall may have served the same purpose, although something in my memory leads me to believe it may have had more to do with accessing necessary facilities. Perhaps you can enlighten me.
This is the dining hall table that I managed to snatch a photo of sans people, which was no small task. The table top is an unattached plank. After each course the servants could pick up the entire thing, and replace it with another plank, pre-set with the next course. I’m still having trouble visualizing how they actually accomplished that while large men were seated there.
This is the chapel, and you can just make out the small, rather narrow doorway in the corner behind our tour guide. Although you can’t tell it from this photo, the chapel was actually a very small room that we crowded into, but it was beautifully decorated.
A good castle was never without a dungeon or torture chamber, although truthfully, we did not see anything that remotely resembled a dungeon.
But we did see a room where instruments of torture were on display. I always find this unsettling as they bring to life the horrific things portrayed in Hollywood movies.
Marksburg has a fascinating collection of armor from 2000 years beginning in the days of the Celts.
Along with the suits of armor and collection of pointed weapons, this room contained an example of a medieval lady’s armor and a chastity belt. Contrary to popular belief, chastity belts were used by women when traveling as protection against rape. Talk about making an uncomfortable trip, in a stuffy carriage bumping over rough terrain, worse.
The keep, which served as an observation tower with a dungeon below, was also a last resort refuge. The only access to the keep was across a wooden bridge. When all was nearly lost, defenders would go into the keep and burn the bridge denying their enemies entrance. I don’t know what happened after that.
When the bus returned us to Koblenz after the tour of Marksburg, we had free time to enjoy the 2,000-year-old city. Once again, Mark and I opted for a liquid refreshment before we started wandering. It’s really hard to resist all the outdoor cafes.
Originally an outpost of the Roman Empire, Koblenz became a city in the 13th century. It was a safe haven for French refugees during the French Revolution. I really like this architectural feature of building an alcove, or little bay-type area at the corner of a building. If you look closely, you will see that all four buildings at this intersection have this feature.
You’re probably starting to think that all Mark and I did on this trip was eat and drink. But I say, how can you truly appreciate a city, location, or culture without sampling their food and drink? We stopped here in the town square to sample gelato, or some kind of fancy banana ice cream dessert. Truly authentic I’m sure.
Koblenz is located at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers. There is a nice riverside walk that Mark and I took advantage of on our way back to the Viking Tor which was docked just around the corner where the Moselle River spills into the Rhine.
We made it back to our boat before the late afternoon briefing by our program director, cocktail hour, and dinner, ending what was my favorite day on the cruise.
Next up – The Cologne cathedral
See links to other posts about the Basel to Amsterdam Viking River Cruise.
Christine M. Grote 