We walked across the wooden bridge that has replaced the old drawbridge and were let loose to wander accompanied only by the paper guide. I was amazed by the amount of freedom we were allowed. There weren't people looking over our shoulders making sure we didn't accidentally brush against a wall or stick bubblegum under a chair. We just sauntered along by ourselves. We walked into the entrance hall which was where visitors would have been greeted and their horses/animals watered and fed. This section dated back to the original castle - 628 (some of the castle was built later, mostly around 1200 it seems, before being added onto again a few centuries later). They had the original light fixtures, leather buckets for water, and paintings decorating the walls. Of note was the painting of somoene's hand that was chopped off for "disloyalty to the castle" - a record of a true event and a sign of warning for all who visited.
From the entrance, we walked to the oldest chamber in Germany -a room with tables and big, dark wooden chairs and writing on the walls in a very old script that was chipped here and there. This was the only room with strict warnings not to take pictures. It was very dark and cool, was was most of the castle. From this room we visited the not-so-historically accurate bathrooms for a break and then up to a cafe where people were eating. We wandered back and forth for a little bit, knowing that this couldn't possibly be the end of our tour, but unable to figure out where to go. A worker finally directed us to walk up to a turn-style gate, scan our tickets, and then walk through and open a big wooden door. It worked, but I don't know how anyone would have guessed to do this. It looked like we were breaking in to a part of the castle that was off-limits. Anyhow, from this point on we were mostly able to find our way. There were bedrooms and entertainment rooms, the room with a well that reached all the way down to Lake Constance. My favorite rooms had to be the kitchen where you could see the ovens and how they made bread, the large fountain-like container that was filled with wine, and what was referred to as "the hole of fear," through which they would lower people to the dungeons to let them starve to death. They had carvings and drawings on the walls from the people who suffered here. Crazy. We also saw a room from the 1200s where knights would practice jousting among displays of past and present weapons. There were still displays of spears and armor (you can see the picture below).
The part of the castle that was most amazing was actually found in the stable. Here there was a tiny tunnel/passage, about the size of a person crawling, that was chiselled out of the stone. You could see the twists and turns ahead by peering through the entrance. This tunnel was dug by 400 masons when someone laid seige on the castle. It leads down to Lake Constance. For 14 days, people snuck food and other provisions up from the Lake in the night through this very tunnel. The enemy gave up, unsure how the castle was surviving.
After a long but surprisingly cool day (thanks to the stone and shade of the castle), we ate a very German dinner at the Golden Engel. Todd and I then introduced my dad and Jan to Radolfzell's best ice cream place, Fernando's. I had tiramisu with chocolate- a great finish to a great day.
A view of the town from the castle garden
Suits of armor in the jousting room - the black one in the middle was worn in the 30 Year's War
The knights' banquet hall. There were three original light fixtures on the walls. In the case in the middle of the table is an elk's foot that was turned into a cup out of which they drank.
The"hole of fear"
These were tournament helmets worn by knights
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