We loved our little end of summer field trip to Burg Eltz.

The family and castle are named after the stream Elzbach, or Alder Creek. Eltz Castle has been in possession of the Eltz family for more than 800 years. The present owner of the castle, Dr. Karl Graf von und zu Eltz-Kempenich, alias Faust von Stromberg, lives in Frankfurt.

We paid €0,50 to park and walked the lovely forest path to the castle. It’s about a 1.3 k one way. There’s also a shuttle you can pay to ride.

Around a bend in the forest, you suddenly see the castle!

There’s a stone bridge to the castle.

There are two restaurants on the grounds.

The kids enjoyed climbing up the wall near the free restrooms.

We really enjoyed the treasury museum!

It was a lovely tour of the castle. No photos allowed inside.

And the river is great fun to splash and play!

Visit Burg Eltz!

Daily from 09:30 to 17.30 until 5 November 2017. Usually reopens in March or whenever weather allows. They update the website with info.

Tours available in German, English, French, and Dutch. Audioguides and pamphlets also available in other languages. Treasury self-guided tour included in ticket price.

Adults: €10
Children: €6,50
Family ticket: €28

We took the train to Heidelberg.

Heidelberg offers a pretty town, castle, a large wine vat, and apothecary museum.

You can only view the inside on a guided tour.

It sucked.

I couldn’t hear or understand the tour guide. I was unable to speak or ask questions due to the acoustics since I was told to be quiet by the guide and another family (and my husband) because they couldn’t hear. We were rushed through the castle and I could hardly take any pictures of anything interesting.

The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.

The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 80 metres (260 ft) up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside, and thereby dominates the view of the old downtown. It is served by an intermediate station on the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway that runs from Heidelberg’s Kornmarkt to the summit of the Königstuhl.

The earliest castle structure was built before 1214 and later expanded into two castles circa 1294; however, in 1537, a lightning-bolt destroyed the upper castle. The present structures had been expanded by 1650, before damage by later wars and fires. In 1764, another lightning-bolt caused a fire which destroyed some rebuilt sections.

There are four ways to get to the castle – car, bike, funicular, or walking.

We walked. It was hot.

We gathered for the next English tour, then they divided us in half with two different tour guides.

We entered into a room with lots of fun statues, old books, and things I wanted to look at. The guide explained none of it and gave no time to view it.

Then we went inside the castle and upstairs. There were these fun trunks with a gazillion locks.

Lots of little rooms with decorations and paintings.

We loved the fireplace!

Then we were in the chapel that is no longer used except for pretty.

The tour was over.

We made our way over to the BIG VAT.

The Heidelberg Tun or Great Heidelberg Tun, is an extremely large wine vat contained within the cellars of Heidelberg Castle. There have been four such barrels in the history of Heidelberg. In 1751, the year of its construction, the present one had a capacity of 221,726 litres (58,573.8125 U.S. gallons). Due to the drying of the wood its current capacity is 219,000 litres (57,853.6795 U.S. gallons). One hundred and thirty oak trees were reputedly used in its construction. It has only rarely been used as a wine barrel, and in fact presently enjoys more use as a tourist attraction, and also as a dance floor since one was constructed on top of the tun.

Heidelberg Castle has a history of enormous barrels; today’s barrel (Fass) is the fourth in the history of the Neckar town.

1. Johann-Casimir-Fass (1591)
2. Karl-Ludwig-Fass (1664)
3. Karl-Philipp-Fass (1728)
4. Karl-Theodor-Fass (1751)

When the French army captured the castle, the soldiers believed the empty wine barrel to be full of wine; their hatchet marks left on the barrel were later visible to tourists. According to tradition and local legend, the eternal keeper of the enormous Tun remains Perkeo of Heidelberg, once a court jester and master of the castle’s spirit production (and a famously Herculean wine drinker).

We looked at the view from the terrace.

Then we toured the Apothecary Museum. This was our favorite part!

We won’t take the train again. We couldn’t pack enough snacks and drinks in the backpack for all six of us on a hot day. It’s just so much easier to drive and pack up a picnic and be comfortable.

Hours

Courtyard: 8:00am – 6:00pm (last entry 5:30pm)

Big Vat: 8:00am – 6:00pm (last entry 5:50pm)

Pharmacy Museum: 10:00am – 5:30pm (last entry 5:10pm)

Rates

Courtyard, Great Cask, and Apotheken-Museum: Adults €3.00

Tours of interior are an additional €4.00 for adults. Tours are in English daily, when demand is sufficient.

Heidelberg is about 1.25 hours from Ramstein and 2.25 from Spangdahlem.

Studying Castles and the Middle Ages

Resources:

• A Medieval Feast Unit Celebration
• Knights and Castles Lapbook
• This castle-shaped lapbook is way cute!
• Lots of Middle Ages activities from Homeschool Share
• Middle Ages Notebooking & Coloring Pages
• Medieval Unit Study

Nanstein Castle takes its name from red sandstone.

It was built around the year 1162 after Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I demanded its construction as additional defense for the Palatinate.
In 1504, German knight Franz von Sickingen, inherited part of the castle after his father’s death in the War of the Bavarian Succession, finally acquiring the entire castle in 1518. He immediately began extensive refortification to make the castle suitable for firearms.
Nanstein is well known for an elaborate siege during the Knights’ Revolt in 1523 which claimed the life of von Sickingen. The fall of Nanstein was a symbol for the decline of castles in the Palatinate.
In 1542, von Sickingen’s sons recovered Nanstein as a fief and started reconstruction of the castle. Reinhard von Sickingen completed the reconstruction in 1595. In 1668, Elector Charles I Louis forced Lotharingian troops from the castle and razed the fortifications.
In the 19th century the first conservation work was done on Nanstein, and this has continued to the present day.

The kids were super excited to see their first castle!

We hiked all over the castle and grounds.

Katie thought it was hilarious to stand in the garderobe.

Fun standing in little niches.

Love this fountain!

Look at that gorgeous view of Landstuhl!

There’s a great little cafe too. We got our first taste of German food – great salads, schnitzel, and beer!

Burg Nanstein has lots of fun events and festivals year round.

Opening times:

Jan. – March:    10:00 to 16:00
April – Sept.:   09:00 to 18:00
Oct – Nov:       10:00 to 16:00
December:       closed
Mondays, except holidays: closed

Admission prices:

Adult€4,00
Children (ages 7+) €2,50
Family ticket 1 (1 adult and children) €4,00
Family ticket 2 (2 adult and children) €8,00
Audioguide €1,00
Castle guides €1,10 in German and English

Burg Nanstein is about 5 minutes from Ramstein and about 1.25 hours from Spangdahlem.

Studying Castles and the Middle Ages

Resources:

• A Medieval Feast Unit Celebration
• Knights and Castles Lapbook
• This castle-shaped lapbook is way cute!
• Lots of Middle Ages activities from Homeschool Share
• Middle Ages Notebooking & Coloring Pages
• Medieval Unit Study

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