What an incredible experience this was! This is a castle/fortress, originally built by the Romans in this far north realm of their empire, destroyed several times, rebuilt and added to and fortified through several centuries, until the Swedes overran it in 1633. It lay in utter and complete ruin until 1901, when Wilhelm II decided to restore it to its former grandeur and thus cement his ties with the Alsacien region.
The tallest tower is the castle donjon, or keep, where the royal family lived. At one end are two great round towers, with a wall between: these are the grand bastions, where the soldiers lived and kept watch and fought off intruders betimes. At the opposite end the walls come together in a star-shaped area which was a small game preserve. Inside the walls was enough room for an entire village, complete with shops, wells, storage rooms, sheds, gardens, courtyards, a forge and even a windmill! These were protected by intricate layers of defense, including grates, iron-clad solid hardwood doors, drawbridges with moats, a fully stocked armory, trap doors in every room; the list goes on and on.
It truly reminded me of the Nephite cities that Moroni fortified. And as I looked at walls that were 6-8 feet thick and 20 feet high, I thought, "We are building the fortifications that will protect the people we love and care about the most in this world. Each family prayer, scripture study, or FHE is another brick or block of stone in the castle walls. Each loving act or word of kindness is the mortar that holds the stones together."
Thank you for sharing Mom! I have learned so much history from all of your pictures and comments! Thanks for continuing teaching me! Love you!
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