While my Mom and brother were in town, we decided we would go see a German castle 'in the flesh' so to speak. Because I live at least a five hour drive from that picture perfect Neuschwanstein Castle made famous by the Disney castle, we decided we'd look for something closer to Aachen.
In Solingen, about an hours drive from Aachen is a castle by the name of Schloss Burg. Schloss Burg is an aesthetically appeasing castle situated at the foot of the Wupper valley. First built in the 12th century the castle had an interesting history. In the 15th century Swedish soldiers lay siege to the castle destorying most of the infracstructre. However, it was rebuilt to achieve its glory today. Schloss Burg is the largest reconstructed castle in the State of North-Rhine Westphalia.
However, the Castle was quite a disappointment. Whoever is in charge of maintaing the integrity of the castle and its history has failed miserably. While the outside continues to stand in true historic fashion, the inside has become victim to what can only be described as venture capitalist. The weekend we were there (November 1) the Castle administrators thought it would be a good idea to host an arts, crafts and handmade goods. While there is nothing wrong with allowing local vendors to peddle their goods inside the castle lawn, it is not acceptable to allow them to market their products inside the actual castle! In addition to this travesty, vendors were hanging their goods off of 400 year old tapestry's, blocking the view of many beautiful works of art and more. I'm very disappointed in the historical associations failure to preserve the integrity of such a beautiful castle and an important facet of German/European history.
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