A handsome, knightly race, which continued to live until the 17th century, were the Knights of Lichtenstein. Their ancestral castle, the Lichtenstein Castle, rose above Honau directly above the sources of the Echaz on the site of the "Old Lichtenstein".
The Lords of Lichtenstein (the last Lichtenstein fell in 1687 in the fight against the Turks) belonged next to their stately headquarters also goods and rights in Honau, Oberhausen and Unterhausen, Holzelfingen and Kleinengstingen.
In the course of the city wars, the Lichtensteiner have variously incurred the revenge of the Reutlingen. The latter took possession of the castle and destroyed it in 1377. However, this castle was not rebuilt. Instead, the rule of Württemberg built another castle Lichtenstein. However, not on the square of the old castle, but 15 minutes away on a demolished by the Albwand rock cone of the same rock edge.
The castle, built around 1390, was considered one of the most defensive of the Middle Ages and withstood all attacks. However, she lost her place in 1567 as a ducal seat and fell into disrepair. In 1802 it was demolished to its foundations and replaced by a simple forest and hunting lodge built only a few meters away.
In 1837 Wilhelm Graf von Württemberg acquired the Forstschlösschen and its adjoining property from his cousin, King Wilhelm von Württemberg. Inspired by the novel "Lichtenstein" by Wilhelm Hauff, was built in 1840-42 to plans by the architect Heideloff and the ideas of the builder Count Wilhelm of Württemberg, a German knight's castle in the style of the Middle Ages. The new building included the walls of the old castle up to the second floor. The outbuildings, the castle courtyard and a ring wall with bastion-like towers completed the castle complex. The decorative decorations and murals in the interiors of the castle were done by painter Eberlein from Nuremberg.
The creative, invigorating soul of the whole, however, was "the illustrious client with his ingenious ideas always himself," as contemporary reports announce.With special love and his understanding of art and home (Count Wilhelm was the first chairman of the Württemberg Altertumsvereins) were the Schloss Lichtenstein, the romantic knight's castle in neo-Gothic style, was inaugurated in 1842 in the presence of the king.
In 1929 the "Civil Society of the Dr.-Ing. Wilhelm Duke of Urach Count of Württemberg "founded, as the desired Fideikomiss, a historical legal institution of inheritance and property law, was rejected by the Fideikomissgericht.
From 1980, the restoration work began on the outside and on the tower and roof. In the course of the following years until 1998, work took place on the first floor and on other important art historical buildings and objects. As of 1998, the restoration of the second and third floors, supported by the Wüstenrot Foundation and the promotion community for the preservation of the castle Lichtenstein performed.
SO we find out I have a thing for heights over large drops on natural stone. I don't mind them as much went it's man made and sort of guaranteed to be sturdy - where natural earth could collapse on me... so i have a HUGE issue wanting to do what Butch is doing. He asked me to sit on that tree and it was a hard NO!! It's hanging over open air just beyond that curve in the tree... dropping hundreds of feet down the slopes to the valley. uh, yeah... nope.
Don't ask me to translate as I have no idea how. But apparently this was an sea at one time and a large zone of erosion and there are a lot of fossils in the stones. The whole monolith there is covered in them. About 12" or larger. Very cool to see.
You can see the castle over our shoulders. (and see? I'm on a man made jut out over the valley... no nerves here at all... but on a natural edge? NOPE.
Actually this shot is AFTER the tour and on the bridge. I'm not sure what is up with the look on my face, but hey, it's a picture on the bridge proving we were on the other side :)
After the tour we stopped for a beer and some cake. Well, Butch had some cake. It wasn't my taste in desserts - it was apple crumble. It was OK.... but nothing I really would enjoy. I had about three bites - just to make sure. The sad things about desserts here in Germany - they aren't that sweet. This one had very tart apples in it... they were good, but not quite what I would have liked.
So after the castle we drove into Stuttgart and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant that Butch's golf buddies recommended. It was surprisingly good.
You do pay for chips and dips, but this was three different flavors of dips - NOT like the sttes, they are very small, barely dip a corner in dips, but they were good. There was a sour cream something (white one on top) - then going clockwise, Salsa, guacamole (very tasty one at that!) and a chipotle flavored dip - quite tasty. And my drink was a Bikini Bomber and Butch has something that I don't remember... sorry, it is my blog after all. I think it's something with rum, but not sure. I did take a sip of it. It was OK.
Butch got Fajitas. The plate was NOT sizzling but the fun thing is the goodies to put on the fajitas. There are cucumbers. OK, not that weird... and COLESLAW. Yes, we are in Germany folks. Butch said it was a good coleslaw and he said he should have added it to one of his as it was good and may have been a good combo as well. Sort of funny! Welcome to Mexican food in Germany. Still, the meat was tender and tasted good - I tasted the chicken and the steak on his and it was quite good.
I opted for tiny burritos. There was a chipotle, a chicken and a cheese with veggies. The cheese one was meh... but the other two were great! And again witht he dipping sauces. It was a good combination.
After we ate we did drop by the base. There WERE some parking spots near where we could walk in.. but LORD it was crowded!!! Really super crowded. I think had we not had a super full day we would have attempted to stick around and watch the fireworks... well, that and had some chairs as well - we didn't toss any into the car before heading out, so we would have just been walking around a few hours until we could see the fireworks then fighting the crowds to get out again? Nope... didn't sound like fun to me for sure!! So we headed home. It's OK as I am not that huge a fan of fireworks anyway, so I don't feel like I missed a thing.
