When I think that we have visited all castles in the radius of about 3 hours drive already, I manage to find another one that we haven't seen yet. Today I will take you to Lichtenstein Castle that we visited last Sunday. I'm excited to share it with you as it's one of the most fairy-tale like castles that I have ever seen.
The Lichtenstein castle is located in the Swabian Jura of Southern Germany. My husband was surprised to hear that we will go to this castle as he thought it was in Liechtenstein which we visited many times already. Well, the name is indeed confusing.
The castle is towering high above the Echaz valley and we enjoyed some spectacular views of the Swabian Jura mountains. One of the most popular castles in Germany called Neuschwanstein Castle was inspired by Lichtenstein.
It took us about 2 hours to get there. We were again driving through scenic German landscape which reminded me a bit of Slovakia. Only the roads were better 🙂
The parking is located 300 meters from the castle and costs only 2 EUR. There is a restaurant with traditional German meals as well as the only bathrooms in the complex, so bear this in mind before you go to the castle. You can easily spend here all day as there are other activities, such as ropes course and hiking trails too.
The castle is protected by the wooden sculpture of The Knight of Lichtenstein at the beginning of our short walk.
We could see the complex in front of us while we were walking towards it. My husband said that it looked like a castle from Playmobil. Who knows, maybe there is a set inspired by this castle.
When you arrive at the complex you cannot see the castle yet. You will start the tour in front of The Eugene tower and The Baronial Building. The entire complex is protected by defensive walls, but you cannot walk around them as there are steep cliffs on the opposite side of the complex.
The Eugene Tower used to be the horse stable in the past. It is difficult to imagine it as it looks like a protection tower to me.
The Baronial Building is built on the right side of The Eugene Tower as well as on the left side next to the entrance.
You can choose if you'd like to visit the museum in the castle or if you would like to only walk around the castle complex. The entrance fee for the castle is 12 EUR per person and for the castle complex only it is 4 EUR per person. It is only possible to visit the castle with a guide. The guided tour is in German, but even if you don't understand the language it is worth to book the tour as the interior of the castle is stunning. We were not allowed to take photos inside, so I won't be able to take you with me, but there are some photos on their official website to give you an idea. Castle Website
You will receive an information leaflet at the ticket office which is available in English as well.
Let's pay the tickets and go inside!
On both sides of the courtyard are baronial buildings which were constructed in the 19th and the 20th centuries.
The buildings are lined with flowers and lush bushes which reminded me of Mediterranean towns in summer. In the back there is The Castle Park that we will visit later.
We only had a few minutes before our tour started, and therefore we walked past the baronial buildings rather quickly, so that we would get to the castle on time.
And here we are!
The castle as we see it today is the result of various constructions built since the 12th century. The first fortress that was standing here dates back to 1100. The fortress was destroyed and rebuilt as Knight's castle in the 14th century. It had a defensive role and resisted all enemy attacks until it was left in decay.
The only part left of the castle was its foundation walls. In 1802 The King Friedrich of Württemberg built a Baronial hunting lodge on top of the foundation walls.
In 1840 Count Wilhelm of Württemberg (King's cousin) bought and demolished the hunting lodge and built his dream castle based on the Wilhelm HaTheuff’s novel called Lichtenstein. The castle was damaged during World War II. and repaired right after the war. There were various renovations until 1999 which completed the romantic neo-Gothic castle as we see it today. History
Today the castle is still owned by the Dukes of Urach, descendants of the Count Wilhelm of Württemberg. The museum is located on 2 floors and includes 6 rooms. The guided tour took about 30 minutes and led us through those rooms where we could see original artifacts, beautiful paintings and stunning murals. And those views! I was disappointed when I was reminded that it's not allowed to take photos, but you have to go there and see for yourself 🙂
The only way to the castle is through this bridge. Luckily, we are not scared of heights as the bridge connecting the courtyard and the castle is above a steep cliff.
From the bridge we got different perspective of the baronial buildings...
The courtyard is very small and we could clearly see the difference between the old part of the castle which had a defensive function (those large stones at the bottom) and the residential area with thinner walls and decadent façade.
The white tower is called The Wilhem's Tower, but I'm not sure if it's named after the writer of the novel based on which the castle is designed or after the owner who built the castle. I would say that it will be the latter one.
The small door will lead us to the residential area which now hosts a museum. Some parts of the castle remain close to the public as they are used by the family.
There is a small cannon placed in the courtyard which symbolizes its former defensive function.
The view from small openings in thick defensive walls...
Last view before going inside...
The tour was nice and our guide told us a few funny anecdotes about the castle and its owners. We went through The Armory, The Chapel, The Drinking Room, The Ancestral Hall, The Knight Hall and
The Bedroom.
I loved the drinking room which looked like an old German pub. The most interesting object there was a large champagne glass which needed 3 people to help the person who was drinking. It was 1.93 meters long, so it was the life size glass of the Count Wilhelm. He was a giant for his time.
After the tour we went to check out the rest of the complex and we started with The August Tower (in the back) which is also known as The Cannon Tower.
My husband loved this part as it showed various artillery pieces. His only complain was that we couldn't go inside..
But I could take a photo from behind the bars 🙂
Then we moved to The Mary's Tower. I have no idea why all of them are called towers as they don't resemble towers at all.
It was used as the castle's chapel...
And now to the views of the Echaz valley with countless red roof houses and the mountains of the Swabian Jura..
It looks like we should be able to see the castle from the valley, but we couldn't find it when we were driving there. We were also shocked to see the change in altitude as it didn't seem so high when we were driving.
Can you see the open windows in the castle? This is where The Ancestral hall is.
The best views were from the highest point in the complex (on the right).
Me and my shadow 🙂
There were some benches in the complex, but most of them were in the sun, so people preferred to sit under the trees on the grass...
The castle park is not spectacular, but I can understand that it's not big as it's a family castle.
The last glimpse of the castle before heading back to the car...
The advantage of not so touristic places is that there are not that many people around, and this is exactly how we like it. Of course there were some people, but it was not too bad. It was quiet and pleasant, just a bit too hot, but we can't have it all 🙂
After the tour we drove to a town nearby for dinner hoping that we would get home by 8 PM. When we arrived we decided to explore the town after dinner and came home after 10 PM! We were exhausted, but happy and this is what counts.
I hope you have enjoyed another day with us.
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina
Tak jsem konečně našel čas se na to pořádně podívat :) Přiznám se, že ten úvod lehce zmátl i mě - jet ze Švýcarska do Německa na Lichtenštejnský Hrad, to je opravdu zajímavé kombo :D Ale hrad je to teda nádherný, to zase jo. A ten Neuschwanstein tam taky vidím ;) Teď se o tom hradu (Neuschwanstein) hodně mluvilo v médiích, kvůli té tragédii, co se tam stala, asi jsi o tom slyšela...
Škoda, že se vevnitř nemohlo fotit, to bys měla materiál ještě minimálně na jeden další post :) My teďka byli na výletě v Kutné Hoře a v tamní kostnici, která je známá po celém světě, se taky nesmělo fotit, tak jsme tam ani nešli. Já jsem se právě těšil, jaké si tam udělám parádní fotky na článek a nemám nic :/
Je mi jasné, jak muselo Stefana mrzet, že je "dělostřelecká místnost" zamknutá, tam by se vyřádil, co? :D ;)
Btw líbí se mi, jak teď vždy na konci postu přidáš i jednu fotku tebe samotné, dodává to tomu autentičnost a osobitost :) Dobrý nápad.
@tipu curate 6
Správy už dlhšie nesledujem, lebo sú depresívne a na sociálných sieťach sa zameriavam len na videá o psoch 😁, takže som o tej tragédií nevedela, ale hneď som si to pozrela. To aby sa človek už bál ísť aj na výlet. Strašné.
Ja by som to všetko stesnala do jedného postu. Mám rada, keď mám len jeden post z každého výletu, ak keby tam malo byť 80 fotiek 😂 Oh, tak to ja by som tam šla tak či tak 🙂 škoda, že ste sa rozhodli inak, možno by ste mali pekný zážitok.
No podľa mňa to bolo zatvorené presne kvôli takým ľuďom ako je Stefan 😂
Ďakujem 🙂 nie vždy sa to podarí, ale snažím sa, teda Stefan sa snaží 😉
S těma zprávama máš pravdu, většina z nich vyvolává v lidech jenom negativní pocity, někdy zbytečně... Filter "doggie videos only" se mi líbí, asi ho taky zavedem :D Vlastního pejska neplánujete? Když už kvůli zahrádce a balkonu nikam dál stejně nemůžete a času doma trávíš dost, tak by to šlo, ne? :) My máme psy taky moc rádi a chtěli bysme i vlastní, ale s nomádským životem, který jsme doteď vedli, to moc kompatibilní nebylo...
Jo, Stefan se snaží. Fotí tebe, sám ochotně pózuje do každého článku... Ví vůbec, že už je na Hive hvězda, i když si tu ještě ani nezaložil účet? :D
Tento týždeň nič nestíham.. teda stíhala by som, len som tak strašne unavená, že keď môžem, tak spím 🙂
No to je úplne najlepší filter na svete. Žiadne drámy alebo násilie, len strašne zlaté stvorenia 🙂
Mama má psa a je to strašne veľa roboty. Potrebujú neustálu pozornosť a tú im ja neviem dať a zároveň cestujeme menej, ale predsa cestujeme. Nemáme tu nikoho, kto by sa nám o psíka postaral. Tak ja si ho len užijem, keď som na Slovensku. Nabijem sa energiou a vrátim sa do Švajčiarska 🙂
Jasne, že vie 🙂 On bol so mnou aj minulý rok na HiveFeste, takže veľa ľudí spoznal. Síce nebol na konferencii, ale stále večer prišiel k nám. Veľmi sa mu to páčilo a chcel si založit účet, len na to nemá čas. Ale z času na čas povie, že už ho konečne musí založiť. No uvidíme..
V pohodě, já v poslední době taky nestíhám vůbec nic... Nejvíc to teda odnáší právě Hive, ale tak na to jsem už několikrát upozorňoval, že to tak bude :D :/
Ty dokážeš v tom horku spát? To teda závidím, já s tím dost bojuju... Tady v Praze se často venkovní teplota drží kolem 25 stupňů až do noci, takže i když spím už skoro na balkoně, stejně to moc nepomáhá :D
Joo, to si pamatuju, že s tebou Stefan byl i na HiveFestu. Tak třeba jednou nadejde ten velký den, kdy se k nám oficiálně přidá :)
Hezký víkend přeju!
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Wow, that is a nice view. It is so high up that you can see the city and the trees surrounding it, as well as the mountains. I also like the different sizes of the canons.
Whenever I hear the name Liechtenstein, I am always reminded of the movie A Knight's Tale. So finding out that a castle is named that as well is pretty cool.
Actually, the castle is called Lichtenstein, it's a slightly different pronunciation in German 🙂
The location was really cool. If it wasn't so sunny, we would probably spend much more time there, but it was way too hot for me.
Thank you for stopping by!
Oh that's a shame on the name then.
There weren't any restaurants/stores nearby so you can rest inside while it's still hot? I remember in your other posts you sometimes eat in the locations. I hope you were able to see most of the good ones though.
This is still a private castle which is actually used by the owner. They have their private chambers and spend a lot of time there, so I guess they don't want to have there any public facilities. There was a restaurant but it was outside of the complex. We couldn't even buy water in the castle complex, so it was good that we had some with us 🙂
That makes sense. Different strokes for different folks. It's good that you were prepared with the water though. I guess some royalty are snobs since they didn't even invite you guys for lunch. 🤣
But thanks for answering my questions and sharing your knowledge. I always tend to learn a lot of new things with them.
Wow! Extremely interesting story! The castle looks so big! It looks very high indeed. It's so beautiful! Your photos are so bright! It is interesting to walk and observe all these rooms in the castle, and learn how the barons lived! I wonder why such a large champagne glass was created 😆 why don't they have enough small ones? 🤣 But really a very interesting subject!
The castle itself is not so big, but the complex is large.
I guess it was only to show that they CAN have such a glass 😁
Thank you for stopping by!
Castles are always such a cool places to explore. Especially when these are located in a scenic place. In this case, in the mountains.
For some reason, castles often are built in scenic places by default 😅
Well, I guess it's because they are mostly built on hills for protection, so it comes together with scenic views 🙂
Have a lovely day!
That location on the hill is incredible. The cover shot is stunning. Well done! The price for the entire experience seems very reasonable and the drinking room inside sounds like it would be a really cool spot. Can't go wrong with a German pub.
Indeed! And the room smelled of wood which was adding even more to the experience 🙂
Thank you for stopping by!
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We have a very similar castle in Crimea. Once it was a mega cool resort in Ukraine. The castle is called the Swallow's Nest.
The one in Crimea has much better views 🙂 I hope it will become a mega cool resort again very soon!
Thank you for stopping by!
The castle is spectacular, your post managed to transport me to that place.
I'm glad to hear that 🙂 Thank you for stopping by!
I must tell you that I am amazed at the number of castles there are and that you visit, I am passionate about them.
Already with the first photograph I said to myself that this is excellent.
One of the ones that surprised and pleased me the most was the one of the entrance by that bridge, I felt I was crossing it.
Thank you very much for making it possible for me to see all this!❤️
I'm really grateful that we live relatively close by such places 🙂 With my husband we are passionate about history and architecture and love visiting castles..
I'm happy to hear that it made you feel like you were crossing it 🙂
Thank you for your kind words!
And I travel with your photographs, maybe one day I will be in one of those places. Thank you for that!😀
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An interesting back story indeed. And you captured the place well. Nice shots
Thank you!
What a beautiful, fairy tale castle 😍 the views of the valley and village below are stunning. I could picture the lord of the castle looking down over his domain haha
When you're there you can even feel like the lord of the castle looking down over his domain 😉
Wow, WOW and Double Wow... phortun is right, this place is amazing and goes straight onto my list of places that I want to visit!
That castle on the cliff!! Amazing...
I'm happy that you liked it 😉 It's indeed an amazing place 🙂
That's a very cute castle. And I agree with you husband, it gave me Playmobil vibes.
Oh, he will be happy to hear that he is not the only one thinking it 😂
Look pretty unreal
And yet it is real 😉 I hope you're doing well! Will you make it to the HiveFest this year?
a bit crazy with work, but overall not bad :)
i am thinking about it :) it would be a bit complicated especially for the trip. can't get to US (visa) and all flights to mexico are 30+ hours and double the price.
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Beautiful photos! They convey a lot of peace, great landscapes!
Thank you!
These photos remind me of some scenes from fairy tale movies.
Me too! Thank you for stopping by! 🙂
Very Fairytale-like indeed! Excellent Post
Thank you!