Start with the bank vault principality, change the suffix, a mountain is made up of stones, fly about 300 km NW, ignore the Hauff castle by the same name, you should be there.
Date(s): 2010. Photos by Aymar. 1 - 44 of 44 Total. 2474 Visits.
1 Lichtenberg First view from the Asperg side. Backdrop, on the opposite side of the Bottwar valley, the Forstberg. There is some kind of stud farm right beside the castle (screened by the trees). Horse riding by the hour. Feel like a knight. A self captained captive balloon ride would have been more tempting.
2 Lichtenberg it certainly looks like a castle
3 Lichtenberg There is always a good reason for walling up windows. The original frame is made from sedimentary stone (onion stone, brittle confectionery stone, pecan stone?), most noticeable in the right jamb. Wood grain aligned. - Cnidarian rebus, there will be no truly invariant window frame rotations without miter joints. Predicated on diagonal symmetry. Not that it would confer any detectable advantage. Turbulent tidal zones maybe excepted. If tumbleweed can do it.
4 Lichtenberg ivy semaphoric
5 Lichtenberg Barbican. Rats, the gate is still closed.
6 Lichtenberg Recessed horizontal pillbox embrasures and a retrofitted sentry box. (Off-hand, the Charles Alexander upgrade.) Never tested as far as I know. (> recessed embrasure, Hohenasperg)
7 Lichtenberg at the closed gate
8 Lichtenberg South facing wall with narrow windows. Off-hand: library building in hotter climes. Actually not far off the mark. The visitor orientation center. It may have served formerly as commons room (my rendering of 'Dürnitz'). The 'Truchsess' or 'druga-man' will have presided over more important meals. (Some seconds thoughts. Could also have been the party room. Choice location. A left behind slipper would clinch it.)
9 Lichtenberg Outlying building with the Lichtenberg coat of arms, or at least parts of it. Anno 1545.
10 Lichtenberg If you cannot enter a castle you can at least circumnavigate it. Watch out for the dog kennels.
11 Lichtenberg In flying fortress terms, the rear gunner tower. Most of the space is taken up by a clockwork. The parapet tower is a late 16th century addition.
12 Lichtenberg owl hour, hoo-hoo
13 Lichtenberg garret window with anti-buckling device (best guess)
14 Lichtenberg A bathroom related subclass of machicolation.
15 Lichtenberg sorrel leaf against a tar filled ditch
16 Lichtenberg the drawbridge replacement
17 Lichtenberg Dry moat arch. Telltale cracks. Lateral forces are always underestimated. Subsidence could also be a factor. The hill slopes off the left.
18 Lichtenberg Cave canem against the Forstberg. Could be a mock warning. AWL. No complaints.
19 Lichtenberg, courtyard The castle court with the drawing well (no cistern as far as I could tell). The living quarters off the baron in residence (von Weiler?) are to the left. Understandably off limits to visitors. I did not dare to ask if the admission ticket agent was also the driver. On balance, probably not. (Civvies, no livery.)
20 Lichtenberg, courtyard
21 Lichtenberg, courtyard It looks like an ordinary garage door. The aposemantic coloring is however a strong indication that a giant shield bug is stabled there (striped stink bug and that ilk).
22 Lichtenberg, courtyard The 'humped' ashlar of the Staufer period. The dressed edges may have helped with the alignment. There was otherwise no need to dress the outward facing surfaces. More than enough is a feast. (Not sure if one should divulge deepest stonemason secrets.) - To the right, a 'Staufer' piton. True men do it without dowels. (Obelix, just one tap, may I.) Rawlpugs and Fischer S-plugs came much much later.
23 Lichtenberg, courtyard This exhibit poses no problem: a brake-shoe with chain attachment ring. Instantaneous transformation of an out of control coach into an iron bottomed bob sled. The two flanges did secure it once it was released. Clamped temporarily to the felloe. (The device was outlawed since the 18th century. Detrimental to the carefully metaled surfaces of our chaussées. True enough but that still does not give you a viable alternative.) By-stander Thor, unimpressed, give me something that is good for traction on a condensed water surface. - One of the older pictures shows a horse drawn farm wagon parked near the drawing well. (The fold down sides were not painted in livery colors.)
24 Lichtenberg, courtyard Hay pitching fork or pig sticker? The base would be too small to keep a load of hay well balanced. Uncommitted: the design would work well for capturing snakes. The side spur well suited for downward pedaling. Whatever it takes to drive the prongs deeper into the ground. Could obviously also have served as guard. Up to the hilt. Less herpetological, potato harvest related. The handles look curtailed whatever the function.
25 Lichtenberg Close combat. Dramatic license at its best. You also wonder why bear traps were ever invented. Much more fun this way. Wimbledon correct overhead stroke against naked claw.
26 Lichtenberg, the castle chapel The early 13th century castle chapel was the real surprise. It is probably not so small that you can touch both walls at the same time, that is just the first impression, but the combination of religious objects with motel room intimacy is a unique experience. - I was at first unable to distinguish the original parts of the fresco (dated back to 1220) from the later, 13th and 14th century additions. The first thing that struck me was that the crucifix did not belong. Baroque in style and diction. The Xmas tree clearance certainly no help. Crammed for space to put it mildly. - The chapel comes with a small tribune but you have to be careful not to bang you head against the rafters. Free association, double bunking.
27 Lichtenberg, the castle chapel The Last Supper. Some mildly erotic lap cuddling intimacy. Obesity was not yet a problem. The lower right hand panel could show a supplicant or a doubting Thomas. The blessing seems mutual. There is also the problem that the kneeling figure should do the touching.
28 Lichtenberg, the castle chapel Starting with the fully colored elements: the bottom panel shows the distaff side of the Lichtenberg family in organ pipe order. A daring donkey rider ignores the confining panels (the palm branch rider is attributed to a first artist, around 1220, the more stylized panel scenes are Gothic, 13th and 14th century.) Also top row, an adoration scene or a baptism. Funnel shaped Jewish headgear, the 13th century type, is prominent. (Less likely, the three wise men balancing long necked incense vessels on their heads.) In palm frond direction, a cloud hand offers a chalice (more intuited than seen). The large and well composed figure on the sidewall (extremely foreshortened) is either a Madonna or a St.Christopher. Conventional enough. The true problem starts with the two shamans (what else should you call two legged pedestrians dressed up in animal skins). One could be donkey headed (a twisted wolf's snout a the limit). The head of the other is effaced or expunged. Cannot come up with a...
29 Lichtenberg, the castle chapel Can only repeat that the costume ball dressed extras are glossed over in the info room description. As if I would need somebody to tell my about John and Mary under the rood.
30 Lichtenberg, the castle chapel The crucifixion is from 1220. A 'Vexilla Regis' sound track might not be out of order. Plainsong will do. Partial retraction, the man of pain (same marmorated halo as the palm branch waiver) and the two faithful, John and Mary, are from that period. The elongated, long haired figures are Gothic overlays. Airdropped spiritual support from another century. The names of the interior decorators have all been lost. Textbook tag, Master of Lichtenberg. Not completely clear which master is meant, the Romanesque one or one of the creative Gothic restorers (Gothic A, Gothic B, Clapton and Stockhausen hotting up older string quartets - no evaluation, I am barely able to come up with the names). - I found out afterwards that the small, 11th century Peterskirche in Oberstenfelds showcases similar frescoes, all attributed to the said artist (the 'Meister' of Lichtenberg). It is probably assumed that everyone has seen the frescoes there and knows which style is meant.
31 Lichtenberg, the castle chapel An expressionistic Eve. (Freudian charcoal?) Gallery paneling. Found no reference anywhere. Noticeable woodworm problem.
32 Lichtenberg, up on the keep from left to right, Wunnenstein, Köcherberg and Forstberg. Foreground, Oberstenfeld. In passing, the number of half-timbered houses in this picture could be counted on one hand. External events aside, dressed stone and timber are simply no longer the preferred materials to draft for load bearing tasks. Next challenge, truss roofs. Actually not sure how large array solar sails would look.
33 Lichtenberg, up on the keep The castle maze which actually looks more like a topiary garden. As long as it befuddles an intruder. - The terraced ground served reportedly once as gun platform. If so most likely a Charles Alexander upgrade, even as the barbican enhancements (first half of the 18th century). Speaking of long range artillery, a gun platform on the Wunnenstein would have made more sense. That way you could have covered the Autobahn A81 as well as the Bottwartal. Two objectives for the price of one.
34 Lichtenberg, up on the keep a partial overhead view of the 'rear gunner' turret
35 Lichtenberg, up on the keep View from the roofed keep. Forstberg.
36 Lichtenberg, up on the keep A view from the Lichtenstein keep on the Hohenbeilstein. The picture is shopped, in this case, made to look old (variant jargon: Piltdowned, Corbie treated, time stamped in modo scriptorium).
37 Lichtenberg tournament in progress
38 Lichtenberg Waiting for the award ceremony. The tent colors would be more in keeping with a Schaubeck castle sponsored event.
39 Lichtenberg Bottwartal frog pond with Lichtenberg in the backdrop
40 Lichtenberg Immutable. It also helped that the 16th century lord of the manor knew when to shell out some protection money. The revolting peasants were bought off. One more narrow escape. The odds were heavily stacked against a long term survival. 19th century imitation castles do not count.
41 Lichtenberg It is obviously a Willow and not a Black Locust. The narrow leaves and the location are a dead giveaway. The distinction is not quite so easy if you come upon a pile of green clad cord wood. The ropey bark can be somewhat misleading. (Always easier if you know what to look for.) Both kinds of woods would obviously be well suited for stem cell research. Cut them up as much as you want, they still will reaffirm their innate eidos given the slightest encouragement (wetness will usually do). Asexual propagation is no rare feature in the plant kingdom but few trees can regroup out of just any cutting (always given some reasonable size limit). [Snow White in her overgrown castle, whom do you tell.] Related talent: most species suitable for hedge duty can sprout at will, in particular osier, privet (forsythia family), coralberry, box, hornbeam and yew. A more prosaic term for this lower ranking magic is cut resistant.
42 Lichtenberg The Lichtenstein bookended by the level crossing signs of the Kreuzstrasse in GrossBottwar.
43 Lichtenberg it is the Southern side when you see vineyards
44 Lichtenberg Four flags and a windsock in matching colors (why is it a windsock and not a wind legging?). The car is a Fiat Punto. I distinctly remember that somebody did blow an Alphorn right behind me. Nothing wrong with foresight. A good sportsman is always prepared for a malfunctioning doorbell. (Minor disavowal, it was something small and obviously battery powered.) - In case you wonder, the flags are clipped to the glass. In theory you could lower them by operating the window crank.
