Two More Castles! Burg Hohenzollern and Burg Lichtenstein

We bet you think that we've seen enough castles. But can anyone ever see too many castles? What will we do when we go back home and can't drive a few minutes away and see a wonderful castle up on the hill, such as Burg Hohenzollern.

Our friends, Elaine and Martin Craven from Salt Lake City, arrived here to serve in Public Affairs, so we just had to take them off to see their first castles.

Burg Hohenzollern is located about 50 kilometers (31 mi) south of  Stuttgart, Germany. It is considered the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, which emerged in the Middle Ages and eventually became German Emperors. By the end of the 18th century, however, the castle fell into disrepair, and today only the chapel remains from the medieval castle.

The castle which stands today, was constructed as a family memorial between 1846 and 1867. No member of the Hohenzollern family took residence in this castle until 1945, when it became home to the last Prussian Crown Prince, Wilhelm and his wife, Crown Princess Cecillie. They are buried here.

Among the historical artifacts of Prussian history contained in the castle museum is the Crown of Wilhelm II. The crown has a large sapphire supporting a diamond-studded cross, plus 142 rose-cut diamonds, 18 additional diamonds, and 8 large pearls. Must have given Wilhelm a headache.

The rest of the Castle is the later reconstruction.

 

They had a Porsche show of vintage cars in the courtyard.

We stopped in this quaint little town on the way to the next castle and bought fresh Mendelhornken Cookies at the bakery. Yummy!

This chocolate cake was very stubborn and didn't want to turn around for me. 

 

Then we headed for Burg Lichtenstein, located near Honau, Germany and founded around 1200. The castle was  destroyed twice by wars. In 1802 the land came into the hands of King Frederick I of Wurtteberg, who built a hunting lodge here. By 1837 the land had passed to his nephew, Duke Wilhelm of Urach. He added the current castle in 1840–42 in the romantic Neo-Gothic style. Today the castle is still owned by the Dukes of Urach. It houses a large collection of historic weapons and armor.

I remember Lichtenstein from the movie, Dark Knight. Not the same Castle, but a great movie.

What a fairy tale castle this is!

Check out the firm foundation beneath this castle!

A beautiful library inside one of the rooms.

The Chapel

Every castle has a spectacular view!

Can you believe a tree can grow like this?

As we walked around the grounds, we happened upon the most beautiful ropes course.

We discovered an interesting and simple way to build a fence. Great way to clean up the yard too!