The ever engrossing and a sure bet for a good take-away to ruminate on, Boing Boing, recently presented two brief and chilling tracts about the echo chamber of communication and some dismal reflections on the realities draped by economic cheerleading. Boy, this was some bleak stuff, presented in a way that was hard to refute or not be disheartened.
Castle Week happened to coincide with the beginning of Wikipedia’s month long call for sub- missions of landmarks, monuments and memorials. While I do not think anything looked at and looked after as a castle is something novel and undiscovered, there is always something to learn and maybe by sharing some of things I’ve seen can inspire a little deeper investigation. Erecting and maintaining a castle, even while not under constant siege, was a very, very expensive prospect, especially in medieval times before the sophistication of trade and monetary instruments in the Renaissance. 
Most of the landed-gentry only had a single settlement to their name and did not live in much fancier quarters than their tenant-farmers. Sometimes, like with the gorgeous Burg Eltz along the Moselle river, flowing through Germany and France, different branches of one noble family combined their resources to build a shared residence and defensive fortification. Three lines of the same family (and descendants of the same founding members at that) live in separate sections of the castle nestled in the wine-growing valley on the road to Trier. At the other end of the Land, separated from its neighbouring state capital by the river Rhein, the ancient city of Mainz hosts an array of fine architecture. 
One particularly interesting structure is Ostein Court (Osteiner Hof). This mansion was originally built as residence for the prince-elector of Mainz and his descendants. The unrest and upheaval of the French Revolution and subsequent Franco-Prussian War, however, meant its owners did not get to enjoy it for long. French forces occupied the Rhineland-Pfalz side of the Rhine and the court became the administrative building of the newly appropriated land. Once Prussian forces retook the German territories (and grabbed more than what they had lost with the conquest of Alsace-Lorraine), the building served as a military headquarters under various commands, mostly uninterrupted until the present. Just in the foreground, there is the elaborate and nine-metre high Fastnachtsbrunnen (the fountain of the so-called fifth season, Carnival) commemorating the yearly proclamation on 11. November at 11:11 of the beginning of the local revelry and abandon lasting forty days until Lent. Long before the fountain was dedicated, another announcement came from the same balcony to the people of Mainz, the declaration of war in 1914. It’s kind of bittersweet that the decree of party-time echoes from the same location and at the same exact time the armistice of the fighting is observed. Legal augurers, deciding that there is too much creeping in shop opening hours in Bavaria and creative license to skirt the limitations, have reinterpreted the exceptions granted to petrol-stations to expressly apply only to car and truck drivers and not pedestrians who are interested in using the attached convenience stores. Some people are quite disgruntled with the suggestion that the passing shopper would not be allowed to make purchases after eight o’clock in the p.m., the latest hour that retail stores and markets are traditionally allowed to remain open.
There are a few gas stations here in this rather rural area open around the clock (with only a nighttime register) and some fast food establishment whose drive-thru window is in operation twenty-three hours a day, which seems like another assault against people moving under their own power, but before this bit of news, I had not given the idea any thought and took it for granted that in some place, somewhere would be open. Nowadays, I’ve only ever bought the odd pack of cigarettes or cup of coffee from a gas-station, thinking the inflated costs a sign of the unholy alliance between the oil industry and food packagers and the price one pays for not planning ahead—though I know for some, the convenience is a necessity, like for those who work themselves at the stores and restaurants and Tankstelle until late. The mark-up on baby-food, beer and pizza, I suppose, is not so great as the margin on gasoline—nor as variable, but should they lose this other source of income, attendants will lose jobs. Further, people in the tourism industry say enforcing such restrictions will hurt Bavaria’s reputation as a functional and well-situation vacation destination, as holiday-makers will be frustrated with not being able to walk into a shoppette at all hours. I don’t know how legislators will move forward with this proposal and I am not sure what consequences it would have should it come into force but I does seem strange to ration purchases to someone with a motorized means of transport. Maybe it won’t only be underage kids hanging on someone with an ID in the parking lot for a favour but locals too on anyone driving a car. 
Fulda, near where the states of Bavaria, Thรผringen and Hessen come together, has, along with the rest of Hessen, an interesting and rich history of reparation and reinvention as earthly and spiritual powers were concentrated, vetted and vested. The Baroque City Palace (Stadtschloss), which has an impressive ensemble of wings, annexes and ornamentation—including an Orangerie (a hot-house for exotic plants) served as a residence for the prince-bishop electors and later the crown prince, dependent on the amoeboid influences of the time, of course, and faces the magnificent cathedral of Saint Saviour, modeled after the old basilica of Saint Peter in Rome, which houses the relics of Germany’s premiere missionary and patron saint, Boniface. 
Just south of Wiesbaden along the banks of the Rhine is the splendid residential palace and parks of the princes and dukes of Nassau. Schloss Biebrich sprawls with arcades and rotunda and was supposed designed in deference to Versailles as well but the architectural license does not at all seem derivation. The palace was badly damaged during WWII bombing raids but was salvaged and restored, thanks in large part to film and theatrical institutions, like the German motion picture rating agency, that took up temporary quarters in the intact wings. 
The archbishop of Mainz, projecting his authority, deeded this territory to the noble line in the 10th century. This grace-and-favour had significant political and economic effects for the land in the following generations, the family rearing several of the archbishops over the years and whose elevated influence cooled tension between Pope and Emperor. 
The German Castle Route, the Burgenstraรe, cuts a swath, intersected by other scenic routes, like the Romantic, Romanesque and the Half-Timbered Roads and others, from Mannheim on the banks of the Neckar River to Prague. I notice that a lot of our travels swarm around such trails. There are, however, many more hits off these main sequences. 
We had a very nice holiday enjoying the Baltic beaches and natural wonders of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern with the islands of Rรผgen and Usedom. The resorts and hotels fronting the shoreline and promenades were very picturesque and inviting whitewashed affairs, but we also had a chance to discover some more inland sites. 
Sadly many traditional castles in the region are in sore need of care and have been more or less abandoned—though there has been renewed interest in such real-estate and preservation efforts. Crumbling castles are basically free to a good home. But not all was in disrepair and there were quite a few very nice manor houses and plantation estates, just beyond the sand dunes. Situated next to a grove of thousand year old oak trees (Eiche), the Baroque collection of buildings at Ivenack with castle and cloister. With a commanding view of island and lands beyond, the Granitz Hunting Lodge (Jagdschloss) is very impressive site. 
A winding cast iron staircase hugs the tower walls and from the vantage point of the roof one is afforded a spectacular and strategic view of the former royal hunting grounds, now protected as a nature reserve. The tower also has a staggering collection of hunting rifles and trophies—contributions from the many guests entertained and hunting parties hosted. The state government invested a lot of funds to rehabilitate this building and turn it into a popular tourist-attraction, and hopefully this act can inspire the public to do more to save the region’s other historic, cultural, and natural wonders. 
