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From this view looking west, we see (starting with the foreground) the Salzach River which divides Austria (where this picture was taken) from Germany. Clinging to this river is the old town of Burghausen. Atop the hill in the distance extends Europe's longest fort where the rest of these pictures were taken). The fort grew from left to right. Thanks to Werner Holzl (and Wikipedia) for use of this picture.
Here's a map from the same orientation as the picture before showing the sprawling castle with its 6 courtyards. The old town and the Salzach river would be at bottom where the German text is. At top is a branch of the Salzach that forms a a natural moat from the west side. This is a natural spot for a fort and has been occupied at least from the Bronze Age.
Let's switch our viewpoint: From the fort, we look east over the old town and the Salzach river, angry after a day of heavy rains. Across the river gently rises Austria. In the early 20th century, this was a poor town but Wacker Chemical started a large plant here in 1915 and its been more-or-less prosperous ever since. The Salzach drains many Alpine creeks eventually into the Danube and Black Sea. It's so named because it was the main artery of the salt ("salz" in German) trade which made the Salzburg dukes rich.
From the castle looking west, we see this pastoral setting (sheep were actually grazing in the area at the bottom of this picture.) Lake Wöhrsee. is actually an inlet of the Salzach which here lies quiet in the gentle rain that greeted us on our first afternoon in Germany. I suspect that the fortification at left is a partial curtain wall that probably surrounded an agricultural area which would provide food when the castle was under a long siege. The tower in the distance is called the "Powder Tower." I suspect it's where they kept the gunpowder so an explosion would not destroy the main castle.
Tourists enter from their parking lot (once the moat) at the north end and walk backward through history as courtyards were added south-to-north over the centuries. This outermost courtyard was once protected by earthworks 24 feet high and a drawbridge, now gone. Behind these fortification were housed offices (e.g., the tax collector) and a granary (torn down in 1800.) Today the clocktower provides the focus of what was once the largest “Hof” or courtyard.
You'd expect a fortification with 6 courtyards to have 6 rings of a circle. As attackers breached a wall, they'd find another. This is not the case here in the longest fortress in Europe (1043 meters -- over a kilometer or about 2/3rds of a mile in length). Instead, two river branches and a nearly vertical ascent make the approach here from the east the only practical way to attack. The result is a fort built like peas in a pod -- with each pea separated by a drawbridge. To get to the duke at the far west end, you'd have to breach his defences 6 times. The sculpture is by an Austrian named Reinhard Jordan and is called "Ei." Today art has replaced warfare as the mission of this space.
This hexagonal clock tower is now the focus of the 6th courtyard which was added around 1387. The castle was used by the Dukes of Lower Bavaria as a second home and often as the main home for the duchess and widows. Future dukes would be educated here. Eventually the various Bavarian duchies consolidated and royal housing was at a surplus. So the complex became a prison and military barracks.
This outermost courtyard today obviously contains housing, for whom, we are not sure. During the end of the 14th century when the castle extended to its full length, this contained the homes and offices of the administrative staff of the castle. For instance, the chimney sweep lived here. Without him, the castle would probably have burned down many times in peace and not been available in war. Today the protective walls have long been breached and the road shown through the arches leads to the town of Burghausen.
Let's now move the to the 5th courtyard, a very large garden area. The castle was declared obsolete after Michel Ney, Napoleon's most famous marshal trashed the place and tore down the northern walls in the early 1800s. Renovations began in 1896 and many museums (art, photos, torture implements) have taken over the larger buildings.
When we think Gothic, we usually think cathedral. Instead, here is a simple chapel to inspire the fortress. Called by many names including the obvious St. Mary's and the more arcane Hedwig's chapel. This jewel of late Gothic architecture was built by fortress architect Ulrich Pesnitzer from 1479-89 during the last 25 years of the fortress construction (which took about 250 year in total.)
Considered to be one of the most beautiful gothic structures in Bavaria, the St. Hedwig's was named after Duchess Hedwig von Wittelsbach. (The Wittelsbachs ran Bavaria for over 7 centuries until the end of WWI.) Inside are late-gothic frescoes. A nearby building was used as a women's prison.
This area is now given to grass and flower gardens. It's been a garden since at least the 16th century and is known as the "Vicedom Garden." (The vicedom was the chief-of-staff for the duke who often wouldn't be concerned with day-to-day matters of the duchy.)
Let's move now to the 4th courtyard. This building was built in the 1960s to resemble an early 15th century building that served as a stables (with animal feed stored upstairs.) The new building served as a youth hostel in 1960/61 but now serves as a theater school called “Athanor,” named after a stove used by alchemists in the Middle Ages.
Another important building in the 4th courtyard is the house of Aventinus, named after the famous (at least to Germans in this area) Johannes Turmai von Abensberg, a cleric who tutored the future princes and became an important humanist and Bavarian historian. Note the Gothic staircase (humble living accommodations such as these often didn't survive.) This started its life in stone as another defensive tower.
The entrance to the 3rd courtyard is the first to maintain its wooden drawbridge (center.) The walls here are over 10 feet thick with defensive towers on either side.
The first tower at the left is the steeple of the town's church (St. Jakob's) and gives some idea of how this fort towers over Burghausen below. The three other towers with dunce's caps are called “Pfefferbuchsen” because they resemble pepper casters -- at least in this part of the world. They once contained artillery which could blast the church into smithereens. Walls here appear short, primarily because the terrain on the other side is so steep that an attack here was unlikely. At far right is a bit of the large building that serves as the fortress arsenal. Please forgive the raindrops on the picture as it was wet in spots here.
This courtyard is the smallest of those protecting the main castle.
A covered medieval staircase. This courtyard was added in the 1420s.
While there is a museum of torture instruments here, this rack is actually used to lock bikes.
This was our first day in Germany and the only time we had to get out our rain gear. We found this model demonstrating the latest fashion in rain coats.
A glimpse of life without Jane: St. Jakob's tower rising in the old town below with the Salzach river behind. This doorway was added after the fort was deemed obsolete as a defensive structure.
Pope Benedict XVI was born about 6 miles from here in the small town of Marktl.
A view of old Burghaus below
The third courtyard holds the arsenal: Grain was stored in the top floor; weapons on the first two floors.
We now enter into the second courtyard through the Georg's Gate, named after Duke Georg the Rich of Bavaria-Landshut who ordered the construction and married Hedwig, a Polish princess. Both their crests appear here. (Use the enlarge button to see the Bavarian lions on the left and the Polish white eagle on the right.)
This was the first time the original fortress was expanded. Stables holding over a 100 horses were also once located in this courtyard.
Inside the 2nd courtyard, we find this cafe catering to the tourists. Duke Georg the Rich staged on of the middle ages most elaborate feasts when he married Hedwig Jagiellon, daughter of King Casimir IV of Poland in 1475.
What do you think this is? Some German words translate well...
...this was probably not here for the 1475 Landshut Wedding which is still commemorated in the German equivalent to our Texas Renaissance festivals. The Bavarians and Poles wished to join in matrimony in order to ally themselves against the Ottoman Turks who threatened Europe then. Even if this were here, it would be a long walk for the guests as the wedding was held in the Bavarian town of Landshut.
Let's now enter the innermost of sanctums: the original castle. The place seems well fortified but has no obvious keep. (Thanks to Wiki for the picture at upper right of the castle as seen from the exterior.)
These old buildings hold museums and exhibition space which can be rented out for weddings or corporate team building. What would Duke Georg think? Napoleon (not exactly an invited guest) stopped by in 1809 with 100,000 of his troops. He declared the fortifications obsolete. (Given that he was standing here, he was probably right.)
Given its easily defended location, this innermost area has been habitated since at least the bronze age. During the 1st & 2nd centuries, Celts lived here as Rome's power did not extend this far. Medieval construction started around 1180 by the first Duke of Bavaria, Otto I. But most of what we see here was the work of the three "rich" Bavarian Dukes culminating with Georg (1479-1503).
Supposedly these cannon balls (now turned into sculpture) were meant for the cannon in the "pepperbox" towers we passed on the way in. The rich dukes fortified Burghaus as it was their second home and they thought the Ottomans might invade their realm.
This innermost courtyard is much unlike the rest of the museum which is expansive and contains grass and gardens. Here we are nearly monolithic stone with perhaps a tree or two.
An interior view with its gothic arches. A nearby building displays the collection of the late-gothic paintings in the Bavarian State Picture Collection.
This arch holds the crest of Duke Wilhelm IV of Bavaria and the date 1523 -- about halfway through his 42 year reign (much of it with his younger brother as co-ruler. The brother refused to join the clergy). The year 1523 was when Wilhelm married Jacqueline of Baden -- but the commemorative arch was built later. Wilhelm fought the forces of the Reformation, supported the arts, and -- perhaps his most lasting contribution -- issued the purity regulations that make Bavarian beer perhaps he best in the world. (These weren't repealed until 1986 but are used as a marketing ploy even today.)
This may be the oldest Gothic church in Bavaria and is the southernmost building of the complex.
This panorama shows the staircases leading (at left) to the Knight's dining hall and (right) to rooms reserved for women and children. The arch holds a passageway between them.
What follows are mainly flower shots taken in the garden. The large size of the castle area meant that it could hold extensive gardens and over 100 horses.
Most buildings have been repurposed as museums as is the case at the entrance just off the parking lot which is now a photography museum.
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