We had been looking forward to this missionary outing, as we had seen pictures of Burg Eltz. It is a 150 Mi trip from Frankfurt to Munstermaifeld. The castle is named Burg Eltz because it is situated by the Elz river. I wish I could explain in words how beautiful and unique this castle is, but I did find a British traveler by the name of Katherine Macquoid who discribed her feelings upon seeing this magnificent castle.
" The road became yet steeper, and mysterious, invisibility of Burg Eltz gave us a thrill of expectation when through the trees that closely bordered the winding way, we saw that the valley was opening before us. Then suddenly, between the interfacing branches, we had a vision, a mass of pointed roofs and gables showed itself. A little farther on , we came to a sign post with an arrow pointing to a path off the road. A few paces along this path a break came in the trees, and almost without warning, Schlotz Eltz lay before us. It is like a fairy tale in Stone. The whole scene seems to be a beautiful dream rather than anything real."
I can second those sensations. When you first look at where the castle is situated, not on a mountain, but in a valley, you ask yourself why ? The reason is because the high rocky foundation in the middle of the valley makes for a perfect foundation and the river that flows around the rock forms a natural moat. It has always been in a good position as it was a traditional trading route as far back as Roman times. It has been referred to as a magnificent Ancient Knights castle. The Castle has been in the Eltz family (Formerly known as Palatio Family) for 50 generations from 1131. The Castle as it is today was completed in the 15th Century .
These are pictures of the inside of Burg Eltz. It was a very livable space, nothing like some of the other castles we have seen that were owned by Bishops and Counts. The castle was once inhabited by serveral Eltz families, Eltz of the family Lion, Eltz of the Siver Lion and Eltz of the Buffalo Horns during the 14th Century. It became rather crowded, so they began to separate themselves into apartments with their own kitchen etc. Today we can see three distinct houses, called respectively, Kempenich House, Rodendorf House and Rubenach House. The last remaining Eltz family still live in the Kempenich house today but the other two are open for tours. All the furniture and artwork belong to the Eltz family. The most famous painting is the Madonna painted by Lucas Cranach in 1520. We were not allowed to take pictures of the rooms, only the museum but I bought a beautiful book that I took a few pictures of. I loved the Kitchen. I told Elder Walters that I wanted a kitchen that looked like that but with all the conveniences. I spotted a piece of tree trunk about 5 feet in diameter that was used for a chopping block. No wonder people died young. Just an observation. A fact I learned is that they would put baskets on thin ropes and hoisted them full of their favorite foods up to the ceiling so that the rats would not get into them. Yuk! There is a bedroom with a pedestal bed and hanging drapes on the sides for the night time. I learned that this was done because they wanted to retain the heat that had risen to the ceiling. I loved looking at everything from that time period.
The Treasure vault was in the cellar and it had a little of everything. I loved the jewerly, the hunting statue of Diana. The coat of arms and the genealogy chart that was commissioned in 1663 by Johann Eltz Kempenich family. It was actually 4 genealogy charts, his mother and father and her mother and father.
This is a chapel in Munstermaifeld. We also noticed a little German man coming out of a Restaurant. I asked him if I could take his picture and he said yes, but his wife promptly left. I thought he was so cute.
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