Wartburg Castle

We recently spent an afternoon at Wartburg Castle in Eisenach (Thuringa). Katrin and I were accompanied by Katrin's parents and two friends of the family. The castle was in very good condition, but the weather was very bad. So...the pictures aren't very good. We arrived in a steady rain with a temperature in the low-40's and it pretty much stayed that way the whole time. Despite that, we took an (indoor!) tour of the castle and learned about the important history of this place. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures during the tour, so we only took a few when nobody was looking!

The castle was founded in 1067 and over the years has been the site of many historical events or the home top many famous people: it was the residence of St. Elisabeth of Hungary from 1211-1228, it served as a refuge for Martin Luther and place where he translated the New Testament into German in 1521-1522, in 1817 it was the site of a student gathering celebrating the recent victory over Napoleon and during this gathering were the first calls for German unity. More calls for German unity were made at a second gathering in 1848, and helped to ignite the Revolution of 1848. German unity would not be realized, however, until 1871. Therefore, this castle is an important cultural landmark for Germans on both religious and historical grounds. Wikipedia, among other sources, has more information about the castle and its place in German history, for anybody interested. Here are a few more pics from the day: