Cochem, Germany |
| A few friends from the school got together and drove to Cochem a wine village to see what it was like at Christmas time. This is the same village Kim and I visited a year ago in October. |
I always love, love the shop signs hanging
above the doors and at Christmas time the
holiday decorations that are hung above the streets.
The charming square.
For the holidays this display of a mushroom with
little workers has been put up to enjoy.
All these little "dwarfs" have
different jobs they represent.
The city tower with the beautiful half timber
buildings that are always charming to look at.
A view of the valley below as we hiked up to
the castle that sits above the town of Cochem.
Reichsburg Castle
Built about 1000 A.D.
As with many castles it was taken or used as a
bargaining piece or awarded to new leadership.
Reichsburg Castle was destroyed after King Louis XIV
armies invaded the Rhine and the Moselle in 1688.
The invasion happened during the war
of the succession of the Palatine.
This is a mosaic on a part of the tower.
The castle remained in ruins for 179 years,
from 1689 to 1868.
In 1868 Mr. Louis Ravene',
a Berlin business man, bought the
castle lands and ruins and began
reconstruction work on the castle.
We toured the inside of the castle
to see and hear some of it's history.
This is a ceiling in one of the rooms
showing the design engraved into
the wood then burned for effect.
This is something to consider having
for those of us losing our vision.
If you take the key to the door and
follow the raised pattern on the door
downwards you have an easy time
finding where the key is to be
inserted in the keyhole, even if
you can't see the keyhole!
This chair is for the man of the house.
After working outside all day he comes
in tired and in order to eat his meal
comfortably he straddles the chair and
rests his arms on the post with his plate
in front of him so he does not have
to raise his tired arms....
Wonder if it could be marketed as a wii game chair!
The castle style was rebuilt in the popular
Neo-Gothic architectural style of the times.
VERY INTERESTING FACT:
During the 19th century the fashion at
this time was for the nobility or other
wealthy citizens to purchase and rebuild
castle ruins as family summer homes.
Which is exactly how the Ravene' used it.
The origianl castle exterior was all
colored as seen on the tower on the
right of picture. But the owner liked
the stone look and only left the tower
as with the color so it was known
what the original looked like when
it was first constructed.
Eventually the taxes on the castle were
too much to manage and it was sold and
is now owned by the town of Cochem.
Such gorgeous towers to look at!
Here is the gate into the center
of the castle grounds.
Funny house on the walk from the castle.
Cute decor on this home.
Well, the Christmas Markets are only open on
the weekends in Cochem, but we ended up
enjoying the tour and view of the city and castle.
