Wednesday, 13. July Part III: More on Wartburg Castle

We joined the English guided tour at 1:30, touring the inside of Wartburg Castle starting with the lower levels.

"The castle was built on a high hill overlooking Eisenach about 1080 by Count Ludwig der Springer (the Jumper). The Ludovingians seized land and made opportunistic marriages, rapidly gaining power and influence. Landgrave (German equivalent of a Count or an Earl) Hermann I was a great patron of the arts, patronizing even the legendary Minnesingers' Contest (Sängerkrieg) which was the source of Wagner's Tannhäuser opera."

First we went to the Knight's hall, the oldest and lowest (along with the dining hall and ladies' chamber) part of the castle. The walls were built thickest at the bottom (about 5 feet) gradually becoming thinner towards the top.   Ornate columns provided support throughout the bottom and middle levels.

The middle section was the dining chamber, a much larger room more brightly colored.  

"The room known as the dining hall is in a central position which suggests that it was probably where the landgrave's family gathered. The red coloring around the window and the door has been reproduced to reflect the medieval design, bu the oak ceiling joists are largely original. Thanks to dendrochronology, it ahs been possible to determine exadtly when these trees were felled--1161--hence the precise date of this building's construction . Considering the period, life at Wartburg Castle was relatively comfortable all year round--there was a fireplace for the winter, direct access to the lavatory in the north-east corner and an arcade for use in the summer."

The third room, the Ladies' Chamber was brilliant in contrast, painted throughout with murals of the life of St. Elisabeth who lived here in the 1200s.

"According to Medieval sources this was the ladies' chamber. Also known as the Elisabeth Bower, it is the architectural counterpart to the knights' hall The capital of the central pillar which dates to around 1160 has almost lifelike depictions of the ever present eagles. The mosaics added between 1902 and 1906 are reminiscent of Byzantine mosaics and depict scenes from the life of Elisabeth (later Saint Elisabeth):the prophecy of her birth, the Thuringian marriage brokers in front of the King and Queen of Hungary, the children's engagement, the laying down of the crown as a sign of Christian humility, Elisabeth spinning wool for the needy, her husband's departure for the crusade, Elisabeth's expulsion from Wartburg Castle, her hospital at Wartburg, and the miracle of the cloak.
St. Elisabeth from Hungary, wife of Ludwig IV and Landgravine [Countess] of Thuringia [the section of Germany where Wartburg is situated] lived here from 1211 to 1228. "

Next was a very small chapel:

Moritz von Schwind, a German artist who influenced dh's grandfather's drawing, did many of the paintings on the castle:

Upstairs: "The richly adorned landgraves' room is now read as a reception room. The eagle capital of the central pillar has a base decorated with four lions, the landgraves' heraldic animal. Moritz von Schwind's frieze below the ceiling illustrates the legends of the Thuringian landgraves . Starting from right at the wall with the window, the frieze depicts the foundation of Wartburg Castle by Ludwig the Leaper, the blacksmith of Ruhla, the wall of Neuenburg Castle, Ludwig IV taming the lion, the release of the grocer and his donkey, the feast of Albrectht the Degenerate and the "Baptistm ride" to Tenneberg."

^"Minnesinger" Bookcase:  "1858 Grand Duke Carl Alexander kept important editions of Middle High German poetry on this bookcase. It depicts the following motife: middle: Wolfram von Eschenbach hands his PArsifal saga to the Landgrave HermannI; over this are two angels with the Holy Grail.  left: Gottfried von Strassburg tells his story of "Tristan" to a young couple, the figures of Tristan and Iseult float above them.  right:  Bishop Pilgrim of Passau listens as the Song of the Nibelungs is recited and recorded. Kriemhild and her mother Ute can be seen above."

"The Romantics regarded Wartburg as the epitome of German culture. German student corporations held the first middle-class public meeting of the democratic opposition here in 1817, pushing for German unification.:
By the mid 1800s many famous Germans especially Goethe advocated that the castle by restored and turned into a public museum. Although much of the castle was restored in the followed few years, the Wartburg Foundation was not created until 1922 when the ruling houses abdicated following World War I. At the end of 1999 UNESCO but Wartburg on its World Heritage list."