Today we only worked a half day at our fix it house so the rest of the day we went to Ronneburg about 10 miles from Freigerisch. We took a few pictures on the way so you could see some of the houses and old barns which I found interesting. We found some chickens and ducks that thought I was going to feed them so they all came running. As you can see there is no snow left in our part of Germany and the weather is a little warmer, 40 degrees. We saw a church and someones large estate. Lucky dogs!
When we reached the castle or fortress it was a grand site sitting on a hill above the countryside. We wound around a bit until we reached the entrance. We arrived too late to take the tour but we still had enough light to capture the grandeur of the fortress. As Gene and I walked over the stone bridge we immediately felt a great spirit about the place. It was like we had come home. We didn't know until later why we had that feeling but I will let you figure that out as you read on. The following is a short History of Ronneburg.
This Fortress was built in the 13th century, not as a castle, but as a fortress. The name means a fort built from tree trunks. The town's people in
the surrounding hillsides paid for the upkeep of certain parts of the fort and in turn they received the right to protection in case of invasions or emergencies. The ownership passed from one Lord to another until 1621 when a major portion of the castle burned down. Restoration started in 1750 and the Earls declared it as a sanctuary of religious faith and was opened to the Hugenots who had been driven out of France. During the last of the 18th Century, numerous French families lived in the Castle.
It became again a place of refuse for other religious groups such as the Inspired Sect and the Herrnhuter Brotherhood. In the 1830's there arose a problem with the Custom's boundaries which forced many Ronneburg inhabitants to immigrate to America. You might recall the name Amana which is associated with the Amana freezers and refrigerators. They were part of this group that immigrated to Amana, Iowa. The only people left were poor craftsman and shopkeepers. Today the castle guide lives in part of the castle and loves to tell stories. There is also a great restaurant where they have excellent food along with a wine cellar.
The Castle itself is laid out beautifully with an original ring wall. I hope the pictures do it justice. The tower Dom with its four balconies is a unique piece designed and built by the Welsh mason Jacob Boldonino in 1581. The little dungeon was built between the tower and the well house where the ladies would sit in the sun out of the wind and do their mending, handwork and reading. For your information, the winds here are quite uncomfortable in the winter but I imagine they are a well received reprieve in the hot summers. I got a close up picture of a Peacock that roams freely within the courtyard. There are two of them and we were told that at one time their were other females and they had a bunch of little babies but one day they found that the females and the babies had disappeared. They could never figure out why, but they think it was because someone did not like the sound of the Peacocks when they were trying to attract the females, so they took them to another location. Another interesting building was the Witches Tower or Torture Tower, so named, because this is where they held the witch trials in the late 1500's
We had a great day but we regretted not being able to see the inside of the Courtyard. I guess we will have to wait and go with our girls when they come this summer. That's when the festivals begin. Ronneburg is famous for their little shops and food vendors as well as entertainment. Can't wait.
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