The Wartburg Castle, replete with drawbridge, dungeon, towers and castlekeep, overlooks the town of Eisenach, Thuringia, Germany. The Castle was founded in 1067. UNESCO added the Wartburg to the World Heritage List as one of the outstanding monuments of the Feudal Period of Central Europe.
Martin Luther lived here for a short while in 1521; long enough to translate the New Testament from the original Greek into German. Luther was hiding, he had been excommunicated by Pope Leo X.
Moritz von Schwind (1838-1890) painted these wonderful Frescoes in the Rittersaal and in the Saengersaal, Hall of the Knights and Hall of the Minstrels, respectively.
Richard Wagner used this setting as inspiration for his famous Tannhauser. Gina visited the Castle, as a young girl, on a school outing while still living in East Germany. At the time it was pointed out that the Devil had appeared to Martin Luther. Luther threw his ink well at the Devil leaving a large ink spot on the wall.
For years visitors would leave with a souvenir from the Middle Ages. The devil ink spot was reconstituted many times. And after all of this deceit, the story is only a legend. It never happened.
Gina, again, visited the Wartburg, this time as a citizen of the Great United States of America. Only this time she slept in the grand suite of the "Hotel at the Wartburg".
Gina
well. I am very jealous over this! The pictures are indeed amazing for ornamentation! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletewow wow wow. this place has been high on my list to visit fro years. now i feel a fire under my butt to go there. great eye-candy. thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteHello Theresa and hello Lynne, The Wartburg Castle frescoes are indeed amazing. What makes a visit to the Wartburg even more special, for the painter, is that for only one Euro you are allowed to take as many pictures as time allows on one of the guided tours. The hotel (at the castle site) is very charming and I can't recall having a better Sunday Dinner (wild boar with potatoe dumplings and red cabbage) and breakfast anywhere. The surrounding countryside is dominatd by beautiful farmlands and rolling, green hills. A good place to have a car for touring and picnics along the way.
ReplyDeleteWell, Gina, I have just been staring and staring at these images. As a lover of decorative arts, I imagine this place would indeed be heavenly to visit. Talk about inspiration!! Thanks so much for your visit this morning – what fun that we both love Narcissus poeticus! I'm about to go cut another vaseful as the weather is warming up. If I keep them in the fridge at night, they last longer than outside in the warm air. Good thing I don't cook much as our fridge is always full of flowers! Have a lovely weekend! xo – g
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