Where is wartburg germany

There used to be a stain on the wall where Luther supposedly threw his ink bottle at the Devil later found to be a more recent addition , but so much of it was scraped off as souvenirs it is now just a hole near the heating stove. The palace or Residence of the Counts is in a three-story building towards the rear of the castle complex. This part of the castle can only be seen as part of the guided tour, but it is a must! All but one of the daily tours are in German, but they provide a very detailed brochure in English that covers the same information.

The English tour is daily at p. The interiors are stunning. The structure of the rooms is unchanged from the Middle Ages, but around the walls were decorated with mosaic tiles, paintings and tapestries. Although a bit controversial, the additions are undeniably magical. I've seen many castle interiors, but the Wartburg's are truly spectacular. In Elizabeth's Boudoir , the charming vaulted chamber is completely covered with small tiles made of colored glass.

Both the Landgrave's Hall and the Troubadours' Hall are beautiful as well, with carved wooden columns and murals depicting the history of the castle. The Banquet Hall Festsaal is vast and lined with ornate arches, and the coffered ceiling is impressive.

Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria had a room created at Neuschwanstein castle inspired by both the Festsaal and the Saengersaal of the Wartburg.

It's fun to explore the well-preserved passages of the Burghof. The castle grounds and Luther's room are open daily to 8 Nov-Mar Guided tours run daily from Nov-Mar There is one daily English tour at , year round. The Wartburg is sitting on a large hill just outside the town of Eisenach , in eastern Germany. It is walking distance if you don't mind a 30 minute walk from the town, most of which is uphill and rather steep.

If you've got the stamina for that, it's a pretty walk through a hilly residential area of Jugendstil villas built at the turn of the century and then a forested, steep climb to the castle. Otherwise, you can take Bus 10 or 13 from the train station just outside the Altstadt in Eisenach.

There is a parking lot at the base of the castle, and then a foot walk uphill, but there's a shuttle bus for those with impaired mobility. In summer, children can ride a donkey up to the castle. The town of Eisenach is worth exploring as well. Johann Sebastian Bach was born and raised here, and Martin Luther boarded here as a schoolboy. The Bach Museum is very well done, and there are interesting collections for both Wagner and automobile fans to investigate.

On summer days in good weather, children can ride to the castle on donkeys for a fee. Look for the donkey station or Eselstation along the road just after the parking lot. During the summer, Wartburg attracts more than 3, visitors per day.

To avoid crowds and waiting lines for tours in high season, it's best to visit on a weekday preferably early in the morning or late in the afternoon. The Romantik Hotel auf der Wartburg is an historic and upscale inn and wedding venue next to the castle. The path is about meters long, and although it's a little steep in places, it's easy enough to climb or descend as long as the pavement isn't icy.

If you're elderly, infirm, or handicapped, you can take a free shuttle from the parking lot to the castle entrance. An entrance bridge and tunnel lead into the castle courtyard. You can enter the castle grounds without buying a ticket. According to our Wartburg tour guide, the fortifications weren't meant to serve any defensive purpose: Wartburg Castle was built as a symbol of the founding Ludovinger family's power, wealth, and social status.

To reserve your place on a guided tour of Wartburg Castle, or to visit the museum, go to the ticket office in the castle's first or outer courtyard. Guided tours conclude with a visit to the museum. You'll also find a gift shop with souvenirs, books, Thuringian handicrafts, and other items next to the ticket office. Toilets are nearby; look for the sign in the courtyard. Wartburg Castle's large cistern , or Zisterne , is an impressive sight. The guided tour begins with a visit to the Romanesque section of the castle, where you can still see the original oak ceiling beams from the 12th Century.

Stone carvings, such as this bas-relief, add to the medieval atmosphere of the older rooms in Wartburg Castle. This representation of St. Anna Selbritt was carved in lindenwood around The carving shows the saint with her grandson Jesus and her daughter, the Virgin Mary. Wartburg Castle had angels long before they came to Montgomery.

Wartburg Castle's most over-the-top feature may be the Mosaic Room , which looks as if it were lifted from a Byzantine basilica. The intricate mosaic decor was commissioned by Kaiser Wilhelm II and created from to Elizabeth of Thuringia or St. Elizabeth of Hungary , who died at age 24 after founding hospitals and caring for the poor in Germany.

Martin Luther stayed in this room and the sleeping room behind it for days in Although the walls are original, the desk and chair are replacements from the Luther family's furniture collection: The desk and chair that Martin Luther used while translating the New Testament into German and writing polemics at Wartburg Castle were carted away over the centuries, one sliver at a time, by religious pilgrims. Wartburg Castle's Festsaal or Festival Hall is on the top floor of the Romanesque Palas , where it runs the entire length and width of the building.

The room which has been restored and enhanced over the centuries was the site of the Wartburg Festival of , when members of university fraternities organized what has been called the first democratic meeting on German ground. The stone-built palace in its lower sections is an important example of civilian architecture of the Norman period.

The same can be said of the masonry sections of the rampart and the South Tower. The remainder of the property is a reconstruction carried out under the influence of romantic ideas together, in this particular case, with an attempt to resurrect forms that would bear witness to the presence of the great historical personages who once inhabited the castle St Elizabeth, Luther, etc and offer an illustration of a political idea in search of national unity.

The conditions of authenticity may be defined here in the light of two principles: archaeological authenticity found mainly in the palace, and fortifications; and symbolic authenticity, where the form matters less than the idea it represents.

This is not simply a building, but architectural work of art, one of great quality, expressive of a true idea. The Wartburg Castle is covered by protective legislation at regional State of Thuringia and municipal levels.

The listed monument encompasses the entire hill on which the castle is built. The protected area of Wartburg is part of the planning zone of Eisenach, which restricts all forms of development around the monument. Much of the wooded hillside below the castle is designated as a nature protection area NSG and fulfils the function as a buffer zone for the property. The property is owned by the Wartburg Foundation of Eisenach, established in The Foundation is a legal entity under civil law, with its headquarters in Eisenach.

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