I had the pleasure to visit Reinfels Castle in Germany in the summer of 2007.  If I remember correctly, it cost 4 Euro to enter. I spent about 4 hours there, and took about 100 photos with a point-and-shoot digital camera. We simply followed the standard tour on the guide map, and every so often I took a photo. I went with my friend Ed, who you will see in some of the photos.

 

    The fascinating thing about this castle is how large it is. I didn't take more than one photo in the same place. As we wandered around, following the path specified in the guide map, we felt sure that we had seen the main part, and just around the bend we would come to a familiar place. Instead, the castle seemed to get larger the more we explored. It was truly an amazing experience to wander aroound in this manner. The official tour crossed itself only once or twice.

 

    Reinfels Castle was built beginning in 1245. It was modified over the years, with 4 major additions spanning 4 centuries. In 1796 the exterior walls of the castle were blown up.

 

    To emphasize the point, let me say again that it was built beginning in 1245. That's over 200 years before Columbus landed in America! The exterior walls were demolished in 1796, about the time of the American Revolutionary War. This castle was essentially ABANDONED at about the same time that Ohio was first SETTLED!

 

    I suppose that most people around the world are used to living around ruins that are centuries old. In Ohio, we think that something from 1820 is old.

 

    I hope you enjoy the photos. They are presented in the order that I took them in.

 

1. Reinfels Castle on the top of the hill. <br>

 

2. This is a sort of trolley rail for hauling grapes up and down the steep slopes that we passed on the way to the castle. <br>

 

3.On the road to the castle, we saw two cars almost sideswipe each other here. One of the cars was a VW beetle. <br>

 

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7. The entrance to the castle. <br>

 

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11. A small museum. Inside were some old weapons and a model of the castle when it was inhabited. At its peak, the castle was about 5 times larger! <br>

 

12. Layers. <br>

 

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31. Only a small portion of the castle has been restored. This part is now a hotel, which we did not visit. <br>

 

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38.This observation area is another part that has been restored, or rather, rebuilt. If I remember right, it was rebuilt in the 1930's. <br>

 

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45. You might think that this big room was a church or chapel. According to the guide map, it was just a humble storage room. <br>

 

46. I'm not sure that this was part of the standard tour. We found a door back in a dark corner, and an electric light switch. <br>

 

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81. These narrow passages were known as mines. Apparently, they were designed to hold explosives. If enemy troops gathered in the field on the surface, the explosives were to be ignited to destroy the enemy. It seems odd as a military tactic today, especially since the mines could be used only once, but who knows? It was a different world back then. Anyway, we spent quite a bit of time crawling around in these, always being careful not to get lost. We found that it would be hard to get lost anyway, since there were no loops; every branching tunnel led to a dead end. Not only were these tunnels narrow, but they were also steep! <br>

 

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91. As we left the castle, the man at the gate was surprised to see us. He thought that the last tourist had left. If he hadn't stayed late for a special night tour that was coming, he would have locked us in! <br>

 

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93. Back to town, down the road from whence we came. Hope you enjoyed the tour! <br>

 

I LOVE GERMANY! Thanks for sharing!

Impressive! I marvel that such massive, complex structues were built with hand labor and animal power. Even the people for whom they were built lived lives that didn't have a lot of comfort by contemporary standards, but the people who labored to build them and tend them and serve the owners must have had exceedingly bleak existences.

Neat!