Jason and I drove over to the Rhine River this weekend. It only took an hour from where we live, so not bad at all. We stayed at a very nice hotel in Boppard, Germany, at the "bendiest bend" in the Rhine River. The hotel was situated in jut the right place as we were able to see many of the castles and not have to go too far. the weather was perfect all weekend, about 73 and very sunny. Enjoy the photos! Here is Boppard so you can see how pretty the town was ... Before we could get to the castles, we had to take the car on the ferry as there are no bridges that go voer the Rhine River in this area at all... The first castle on our trip was Burg Lahneck. Burg Lahneck is situated where the River Lahn joins the Rhein and was the northernmost fortress of the Mainz Electorate, built in 1240. Although it had fallen into complete ruin by 1688, it was restored in the original style in 1860. Next was the Marksburg Castle. This castle, towering on a high crag above Braubach, is the only fully preserved mediaeval fortress on the rhein. It was owned successively by the Eppsteins, the Counts of Katzenelnbogen, and, from 1479, the Landgraves of Hesse, until it fell to the Prussians in 1866, along with Braubach. In 1899 Kaiser Wilhelm II presented the castle to the "Association for the Preservation of German Castles". This association has spared no effort or expense in looking after the building, and has repaired the heavy damage suffered under artillery fire during the last war. The tower, 130 ft. high, is a well-loved landmark for miles around. Inside, the castle offers its many visitors an authentic picture of mediaeval fortified and domestic architecture. Through the windows we saw really pretty flowers ... View from the top ... Next it was on to Burg Maus. Construction on this castle began in 1353 and lasted more than 30 years. The Counts of Katzenelnbogen are said to have scornfully referred to this castle of the Trier Electors, slowly taking shape above the town of Wellmich, as the "mouse", which was soon to be devoured by the "cat" of Katzenelnbogen. Burg Maus is architecturally one of the finest fortified buildings along the rhein. Between 1900 and 1906 the castle was carefully restored with laudable attention to historical detail. Us with the castle in the background ... Next, was the most impressive castle we saw. Burg Rhinefels. This Castle was built above St Goar in 1245 by Count Dieter von Katzenelbogen. Thanks to the Landgraves of Hesse, it underwent conversion in the 16th century into an impressive Renaissance mansion, and again in the 17th and 18th centuries into the most formidable fortress on the Rhein against which all enemy attacks failed. Not untill 1794 was Rheinfels captured by the French troops and blown up. But even in its destruction, so harshly alluded to by Karl Simrock, the huge mass of ruins covering the top of the hill is still one of the most noteworthy sites along the Rhein. Sculpture of the Lorelei siren on the harbor mole of St.Goarshausen... This is the last of the castles that we saw this weekend. This is Burg Rheinstein. Particularly characteristic of the Rheinland castles is the position on a cliff, 260 ft. above the river. First mentioned in 1279, the castle became the property of the influential archbishop of Trier, Kuno von Falkenstein, in the 14th century. At the begining of the 19th century Prince Friedrich of Prussia acquired the ruins and had them rebuilt in psudo-Gothic style. On our last day of our trip, we took a lift up to the top of one of the mountains for a birds-eye view of the river and area. Some of the views were just breathtaking ... And others not so much ... It was a beautiful trip, and we enjoyed every moment! Until next time, Love, Jason and Angela