castle burgk is situated in the southeast of thuringia, nestled into the landscapes of the thuringian highlands and is enwinded by the saale river. the river is especially scenic here, as it loops around in sinuosities several times. you can have a wonderful view of the whole area from the top of a watchtower called saaleturm, the first few photos i made up there.
we visited this stunning castle in the middle of april, and april really lived up to it's name. the weather conditions in that week of vacations were pretty wild and crazy. on the particular day we visited burgk, it was a rather rainy day, with a few dry moments inbetween. a few days later upon visiting a different castle we had a whole different vibe going on, snow and sunshine took turns quite rapidly, but wait, let's first focus on this particular day.
the castle is really a gem. from the outside it wins over with a medieval construction and inside, boy, oh boy, it was all gloriously decorated in the most beautiful baroque and rococo style imaginable. it's a castle made out of dreams, really! the surroundings, like the little park with a neo-classical pavilion, or the pathways along the saale river, really added to the overall atmosphere of an enchanted area. i could've walked there for hours on end, if it had not been so cold after a while.
the area of the thuringian highlands also is a region i didn't know so well while growing up and living in thuringia, and this little visit surely made me want to explore more of it. so, hopefully i will return eventually and discover more unknown spaces of my homeland in the future.
the view was spectactular, at least in my opinion. on the right you can see castle burgk. ( did you now that the name burgk is a variation of the german word for castle? correctly translated into english it'd be 'castle castle' :D )
by the weather alone, you couldn't really sense that we were in the middle of spring season, but when you look closer you can see flowering trees and budding leaves. the little settlement by the barrage is called burgkhammer, it was once a hammer mill.
this is the main entry to the castle, and i absolutely adore all the different architectural sections. the white wall with the many crenels almost has a modern touch to it, doesn't it?
the red tower is influenced by the renaissance architecture, of course with a very german touch, the timber frames.
the gatehouse from the other side. the crooked roof is the detail i love the most here, and also the cross down on the right foot of the house.
inside, there's a museum where they exhibit art. there was a lot of children's art, but they also put reputable artists on display as well. i loved a lot of it, but unfortunately i made horrible pictures of the museum. i fell in love with these cut-out pictures with transparent paper made by children. and please do admire the antler furniture, it was absolutely elaborate.
collages made by teenagers were another nice exhibit inside the museum. translation:
and i don't want it to end already. i don't want to accept it in general that things end, especially not so fast. but every end also means beginning and every change means development. and when something beautiful ends it also means that something beautiful happened. and this is always an enrichment.
luxurious room with tapestries, african sculpture & chinese room divider.
the interiors of the various rooms were a feast for the eyes.
the walls were so freakish-ly beautiful. all painted with various royal sceneries. this room looks like a really cool office for a history afficionado. the stucco on the ceiling is also to die for.
the tiny chapel even had a beautiful organ.
playing the holy trumpet.
beautiful fabric wallpapers & probably members of the noble dynasty of the reuß family.
another beautifully furnished room.
i loved this particular setup with the still life drawings as a contrast to the blue chinese porcelain and the intarsia cabinet.
more chinese porcelain. also, the oven embellishments were another treat for my aesthetic senses.
there was a pomp bedroom with golden stucco details and stars. it's not an understatement when i tell you that i let out high-pitched squeak tones by now.
a bed made for princesses. all the details *_*
seeing all those details kind of pushed me into an overstimulation of sorts. fortunately this was the last room inside the housing unit and we could then explore the more economic parts of the castle. i don't know what my brain would've done if it would've had to endure more of that splendor and extravaganza.
the kitchen was a very welcoming room for us! it was heated with a roaring fire, perfect for warming up cold hands. it also had a chimney that reached up approximately 30 metres or so. it was dark, and very sooty in there, and still so homey.
the clean part of the kitchen :D
the really cozy basement! we drank a few hot coffees for very little money in here.
mom about to run inside again, as the rain started to pour down.
a mummified dog! it was a common practice in history to immure animals into buildings, for good luck and protection.
a few more outside shots.
bridge money rates.
in the gatehouse passage.
we decided to venture outside again as the rain decreased for the first time that day and made our way to the park and its little pavilion ( that resembles a house more than a gazebo :D ). the castle itself was built on really impressing slate rocks.
imagine luxurious summer parties being thrown here! they must've had the time of their lives back then. oh, the decadence.
pavilions were mainly built for entertaining. little concerts & banquets were given and people indulged in decadent debaucheries.
we continued our walk around the scenery and decided to explore the area near the saale river. slate rocks everywhere and in all kinds of truly nice formations. my rock loving heart was beating really fast upon seing them.
the castle from burgkhammer. it started raining again, so sorry for the rain drops on the picture :D
burgkhammer from above the dam. the river continues a little bit smaller after passing through the barrage.
mossy slates.
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we returned to the castle for a little while and then took a different path down to the river.
a little bridge awaited us. and it continued to rain. even though there was so much rain that day, it was still a truly wonderful experience. everything was so quiet and moody.
side arm of the river.
and the castle was enthroned above everything to watch all our moves.
i truly fell in love with the saale river by now.
passing the bridge to the other side. if it had been nicer weather, we probably would've walked a few steps more.
but as it slowly was getting darker and the rain didn't stop and we were freezing into ice clumps bit by bit, we then decided to leave this beautiful place and drive home again.
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