Photo: castles, fortresses and palaces, Lichtenstein Castle, Baden-Wuerttemberg

9 photos

Lichtenstein Castle – Backdrop Turned into Reality

Castles, Fortresses and Palaces

Directions

LichtensteinCastle seems to have leaped from the pages of a romance. This is not ametaphor. The future owner of the architectural marvel, Duke Wilhelm of Urach, Countvon Württemberg was so inspired by Wilhelm Hauff's novel"Lichtenstein", that he wanted to build a beautiful castle, where hisfavorite hero, the knight of Ulrich, lived. It was decided to erect the castleon the site of the old Alt-Lichtenstein fortress, which had finally fallen intodisrepair by that time. Lichtenstein’s construction lasted two years. The countpersonally supervised all the activities of architect Carl Heideloff and histeam.

In 1842Lichtenstein Castle was built. The architects also built the old bridge,mysterious stone grottoes and a tower with battlements and windows. The castleseems to be a luxurious backdrop for a historical film! Count von Württemberg issaid to have established a home theater in the castle, where he directed andplayed scenes from the favorite book. In general, the count was quite a characterand a great fan of the Swabian culture. There is a legend that it was Count vonWürttemberg, who came up with his own way of baking pretzels (brezels), whichare popular in Germany.

Coming to LiechtensteinCastle, it is still owned by descendants of the count. The Queen of England, thePrince of Monaco, and other representatives of the European aristocracy atdifferent times came to look at the scenery brought to life. Now, theLichtenstein Castle is a museum of medieval weapons; and there are viewingplatforms around the castle, where you can enjoy the idyllic rural landscapeand thick forests of the Swabian Alb. In summer and spring, from April toSeptember, the castle is open to visitors every day; in December and January itis closed. At other time of the year, you can get in it only on weekends andholidays.

Lichtenstein Castle – Backdrop Turned into Reality

Restaurants