Burg Eltz

We separated our journey home into two days. We drove the first stretch from Stuttgart to Kettwig and saw Burg Eltz on the way.

Eltz Castle (German: Burg Eltz) is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle River between Koblenz and Trier,Germany. It is still owned by a branch of the same family (the Eltz family) that lived there in the 12th century, 33 generations ago. Bürresheim Castle (Schloss Bürresheim), Eltz Castle and Lissingen Castle are the only castles on the left bank of the Rhine in Rhineland-Palatinate which have never been destroyed.

This castle was incredible. It was our favorite medieval castle because all the furnishings, paintings, artifacts were original. Most castles have rooms that are exhibits of someone or something unrelated to the castle or they have furniture that doesn't match the period of the castle or the other furniture pieces. That's why we really liked Burg Eltz! The interior was so rustic and built for harsh weather and candle light only. You really felt you were in a proper castle. There was a tour of the castle and I felt we were able to see a lot of rooms and wander through the castle at our own pace.

"The Rübenach Upper Hall with its murals by a Burgundy artist, the dainty Gothic chapel oriel and its colourful windows is also referred to as the Bed Chamber because of the large carved four-poster bed in this room."

The wall murals are incredible! They have been freshened up over the years but it is the same artwork. The mural is of flowers from the seasons except winter because there are no flowers and because they didn't want to remember the harshness of winter because it was a really hard time. The bed is built up to get as much heat from the "rising heat"as possible and the curtains are for added warmth. The chapel is in the bedroom because they were very religious back then and it was said that no one is above God and they couldn't put the chapel anywhere else so they put it at the top floor, in the bed chamber. 

"This small chamber is referred to as Countess’ Room or Children’s Room because of the paintings of children and young members of the House of Eltz or their relatives of the 17th and 18th century. Here you can also see the probably oldest surviving painted Renaissance bed in Germany, which was made around 1520."

This room was really interesting! There were other children's toys on display here and those skinny stairs in the back were for the nanny/governess. There were portraits of children and the tour guide pointed out that the proportions were off because usually the painter had already painted the body and just added the head when he was with the subject.

"This late medieval hall of the early 16th century was used for festivals and negotiations by all three branches of the family on Eltz Castle. Remarkable are the original heavy oak ceiling and the heraldic frieze as well as some beautiful suits of armor."

This was a fun room because there was a face of a court jester when you entered the room to symbolize you could say and talk about any topic without fear. However, there's a rose at the top of that red door on the right to symbolize a "rose of silence" and nothing that was said in this room left the room.

"The 15th century Rodendorf Kitchen is one of originally four kitchens in Eltz Castle. The objects displayed here date from the 15th to the 19th century."

What an incredible kitchen! I can't even imagine cooking for large groups in here. That big wooden tree stump in the right of the picture was a chopping block used for hundreds of years! Incredible! I gave it a loving pat as I walked by, what stories it could tell. Can you imagine the smoke and heat that would have filled this room? That would have been great in the winter but suffocating in the summer.

 "This was the living room of the Eltz-Rübenach family. It was built in 1311 and houses the famous painting "Madonna with Child and Grapes", a masterpiece by Lucas Cranach the Elder."

The picture-perfect medieval room. All furnishings and tapestries are original. Furniture was hard to get and expensive so they had limited furnishings. The trunk in between the two tapestries doubled as a table back in the day. What functional folks! The light coming in from the left was from two large windows that had cement benches underneath the windows. The family could sit and read, knit, chat, etc. as there was really great light. The fireplace at the back was an open fireplace which would have been hazardous but necessary for such cold winters.

We toured the castle and had lunch and decided to walk back instead of take the bus. About a minute later we regretted our decision because it was so baking hot! However, we did get this amazing view of the castle and so it was very much worth the heat. 

   

Driving through the towns near Burg Eltz we noticed a lot of the buildings were made out of lava rock and stone which was very different from half-timbered or brick in other towns. After the castle we headed to our home for the night in Kettwig. Our Airbnb was in a half-timbered home and we were so excited to see the inside of one!