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This castle re-built on partial ruins Hello everyone,
We started our two weeks aboard the Merlijn last Saturday. There are twenty of us along with four crew members on the barge, Gunther our bike mechanicvan driver and Peter, a rather abrasive little German who is our guide. We cycle 35-40 km. per day along the shore of the Rhine through pretty little towns, orchards and vineyards. This area is know for Reisling Wine and they say that the grapes grown on hillsides are the best for this wine. I don't know how they harvest the grapes--some of these slopes have got to be sixty degree angles. The rest of the time is spent in lectures, museum visits and walking tours. We started in the town of Mainz, one of the oldest in Germany. We have learned that so many structures built bý the Romans exist to this day because the Romans knew how to make cement--1600 years ago. Mainz had a real find a few years ago. The were excavating for the Hilton and found five Roman ships covered by 25 feet of soil. They have a museum to house them. We also visited the Gutenberg Museum. Gutenberg (1400's) was named the top person of the millenium
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Timberframe house in Mainz from 1500's in 1999 by Time Life. Columbus came second world wide. Gutenberg's major contribution was printing. He developed a method of movable type, instead of carving each letter. This meant finding a manufacturing method to make each letter. He also developed a method of printing on both sides of paper. Gutenberg bibles were one of his first ventures. People would pay for the pages, but then take them to an artist to hand paint the first letter of the first paragraph at the start of each chapter. Some of the bibles on display had amazing art work. In some cases the letter was so elaborate that it was hard to tell what the letter was supposed to be. A Gutenberg bible cost about the same as a house in the 1400's. Today, an original bible has sold for as much as six million USD.
The main emphasis for this part of the trip is the Castles along the Rhine. We learned that castles were owned by noblemen or the archbishop but inhabited by knights. The castles weren't especially large, were cold (heated by fireplaces) and dark--glass came much later so they used wooden shutters on windows. Stables were either nearby
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Wooden staircases were built outside of 'keeps' and taken in so enemy couldn't climb them. the castle or in the lower part of the castle. The buildings smelled of wood smoke, gun powder and animals. Safety was an issue--a knight didn't venture out unless wearing the full armour and accompanied by servants who were armed. When two knights met each other they would raise the visor on their armour to see each other's eyes. This was the forerunner of the military salute. The King had to give permission before a castle could be built. If someone went ahead and built one anyway, it would probably be invaded and the owners would become the servants. By the 1400's, gun powder made it much easier to take over a castle, so additional walls were built around the main building for protection. Castles were mostly built of stone, but then they were plastered and painted. Turrets had no real purpose. They were decorative and showed that someone was wealthy enough to afford them. In the middle of the castle they would build a 'keep.' This was a tower of sorts in which they stored food, water and rocks. It was the place of 'last resort' if they were under attack. They could stay for a long time and
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Armour of a knight said to have existed. He was seven feet tall! throw rocks and hot water on anyone who tried to climb up the sides. Castles also had their own chapels, usually at the front. This was so that God would bless the entire castle. Castles were financed by tolls. Each castle owner would charge ships and wagons to go past their castle. There were fourteen tolls in one 60 km. section alone. Sometimes the tolls would add up to more than the value of the goods they were carrying--something like the Canadian tax system. They could take other roads, but there was a greater chance of being robbed.
Castles had deep wells for water, but water was considered unsafe. They also thought that drinking cold well water wasn't good for the body. They wisely stuck to wine--average two and one half litres per day, although the alcohol content was only 7%. At another place they said that the daily ration was five litres for men and 3 litres for women. Their diet was heavy in bread and fish--salmon from the Rhine was especially popular. The time of castles ended in 1500 and they became only fortresses. Many were destroyed by the French in the late 1700's, about the time
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Remains of a Roman ship found in Mainz. 1600 years old. of the French Revolution. The French had designs on the Rhine. The ruins stayed until into the 1800's when wealthy young noblemen and Prussian Princes discovered the river. They would go on a grand tour as young men, usually to Italy and usually along the Rhine. It became the trendy thing to do--buy the ruins on a hill and rebuild the castle in the medieval style, so many of the castles we saw were 'fake castles.' Some of the young noblemen would have their servants dress in medieval costumes when they were in residence. Many of the castles were more medieval than when they were originally built in medieval times.
Today we leave the Rhine and start cycling along the Mosel River. We visited the village of Koblenz--another Roman settlement. They have a legend that I thought was interesting. There was a highwayman who was executed for his thieving ways in 1536. Just as the axe was coming down, this guy is said to have rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue at the executioner. He is immortalized on a wall. His eyes roll back and forth every second and he sticks out his tongue as the clock
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This is the way ship would have looked. strikes the hour. Legend has it that as long as he keeps rolling his eyes and sticking out his tongue, then no harm will come to Koblenz. Oh, those zany Germans.
Bye for now,
Donna
PS. Thanks for all the comments. It means a great deal to hear from 'yous guys.'
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Brigitte
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German History
Hello Donna, thank you very much for your stories along the rhine river also a german girl has to know. It makes it interesting to know more about knights and princesses and theier live. Wishing you a wonderful time in Trier and in the wineries ! Greetings from old Frankfurt, Brigitte