thick walls

[Carsten Schermuly]

I like the photos of that castle Plesse, it is "mine", a castle near my hometown Göttingen, I visited with my youngest sons.
The larger window, looking like a door, is the former maindoor of that tower near half height of tower. A door on height of ground was not present because security and broken out later, in this case around 1885. The stair is also from 1885. Drawings from 16th century of the castle do show a wooden bridge from that door to a neighbour building. The door on height of about seven or eight meters over ground was a defense device - ladders to enter the tower have been pulled upwards - so possible present enemies could not enter the tower.
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This is on the upper half, the wall might be around a half meter thinner. A window in regular size.
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The walls have been erected in early 12th century. A mighty fortress ...

[Carsten Schermuly]

The both windows from outside. The building at left has been two floors higher before it was burnt down during the thirty aged war. A small rest of the lower edges of roof is saved. So we can imagine how that could have looked with a bridge between the tower and the house. The roof must have had about fifty to fiftyfive degrees, pretty steep.
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[Carsten Schermuly]

My mother told me, she already did swing on that branch in summer 1928. It is a nut tree, but not an european sord. I do not know it by its botanic name. I only know two exemplars of that tree sord all over Germany, never seen again.
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This is a MUST for all men on this globe - right? No matter what age.
A rare beech tree sord, not good to work with, but pretty hard like oak.
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[Joel Merrill]

My mother told me, she already did swing on that branch in summer 1928. It is a nut tree, but not an european sord. I do not know it by its botanic name. I only know two exemplars of that tree sord all over Germany, never seen again.
1280 x 960 - 350 KB
http://haufenzeug.de/cs/pics_for_NazNet/dscf0005_low_colour.jpg

This is a MUST for all men on this globe - right? No matter what age.
A rare beech tree sord, not good to work with, but pretty hard like oak.
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http://haufenzeug.de/cs/pics_for_NazNet/dscf0006_low_colour.jpg

Thank you for the pictures. I love castles. If we had the money, my wife and I would love to go to Europe and visit castles.

Joel :fav18

[Carsten Schermuly]

The eldest towns of Germany are founded by the Romans, Cologne, Trier and Xanten, all three on the Rhine River. Cologne and trier are overbuilt by younger towns unto today, so it is difficult to dig them out. For example, in Cologne the Römisch - Germanisches Museum is built partially as a cellar about 8 to 10 meters, to ~30 foot under the streets, aescalator is used to go down. Only Yanten was not overbuilt and can be restored completely - and since twentyfive years one by one building will be erected, izt begun by the stadion.
See Google picture search result
http://images.google.de/images?q=Xanten&hl=en
I have been there in 1975, shortly after the beginning of restaurations and I found alot of tone pots rests on the sirface of farmers land in the neighbourhood of that stadium, to that time its base walls have been digged out - no more.
Where ever we go inside our country, we meet elements of the complete chain of history from that time, stabile buildings have been erected. For sure, there are much elder things, but not as popular as the last two thousand years.

You will know how it will be - living in richness, we can not imagine the yearning of the hungry.
You are right - old castles do breath the spirit of the very interesting theme history - and do more, let dream - also a bit romantic, because the most do lay decorative in a pretty landscape.
And you will meet stories, you will know from children times - all the nightmares are bound on such places - äh - the most, not all. For example, the Sababurg, oneahalf hour by car away, is the place of Rapunzel. The brothers Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm listened to it and wrote it down on the Sababurg.
http://images.google.de/images?hl=en&q=Sababurg

Rapunzel on WikiPedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapunzel

Interesting is the connection between an unwanted child and the plant we call Rapunzel - in pre potatoe times (potatoes came from the New World) such things have been eaten daily - and understandable - some do not taste interesting, have been unbeloved, got misrespect as an ordinairy food.

Watch, what Rapunzel does, locked in a tower, she must let down her hairs as a ladder - because the tower had no door on ground, just - as told before - without a ladder in an unreachable height.
History is a puzzle game. I love it like you.

[Carsten Schermuly]

The other side -
for what have been castles needed?
As a shelter in war times.
That means, times have not been peaceful. And it means - looking on the four class system of european monarchies - poor folks must carry the heavy weight stones, often as slaves or as free men, then mindst under very unbeloved reprisals.

[Carsten Schermuly]

While looking for photos of the Sababurg I came to a webpage, I know since it was new founded
by the lutheran Pastor of the small town Lippoldsberg on Weser River. My mother had connections to from her schooltimes, so as a boy I have been several times guest of the Lippoldsberg Monastry.
See the photo in middle height - forfeit and praying.
This way I learned to know lutherans - and not under the influence of time spirits as the lutheran church looks on its surface.
Forfeit and Prayers Day, founded 1893 by the king of Prussia, lifted up by Dr. Kohl hundred years later. Following the old tradition from times of old testament, the lutheran church gave not up this day.
http://www.klosterkirche.de/zeiten/ende-kirchenjahr/buss-bettag.php
Seeing that - good memories are awaked. I do not like to see the lutheran church in the unwanted twylight of liberalism and wrong understood ecumene..

[Carsten Schermuly]

Please note,
the grey haired Gentleman at left wears an uniform of the Salvation Army.

[Marg Webb]

This is so interesting and I have loved every minute of your pictures and your explainations.
Are you the Gentelman that wrote about the hill in Berlin? I would like to hear more about that.
I was in a German orphangae in the USA in the thirty's. I do not remember any German now.

Marg.

[Carsten Schermuly]

This is so interesting and I have loved every minute of your pictures and your explainations.You can get as much as you want - I am familiar with all german countries. Germany is not large byside the States - the western part of Germany is large like Montana, now with the five eastern countries (the former DDR) it is not grown up too big. It is easy to look over a relative small country and to learn its details of history.

Are you the Gentelman that wrote about the hill in Berlin?No and Yes.
I am not a gentleman. I am just somebody - please ask my wife, ha, ha!
I wrote about the Teufelsberg - Devils Mountain, yes.

I would like to hear more about that.Please ask for anything you like - in case I do not know what you do mean, I know mindst where to get an answer.

I was in a German orphangae in the USA in the thirty's. I do not remember any German now.

Marg.Are you born in Germany or did you live in a "Germantown" or was that just a home, lead by former germans, later citizens of the United States?

For seventy years no word german spoken - no wonder you forgot it.
My daughter had studies for six years in english tongue and because the internatiuonalism of the churches universities she also has spoken english during her leasire time - and while summer break at home, she had difficulties to find the right terms in her mothertongue.

Do you know the history of socialism - so you know the history of May 1st. Since the Nazi time it is a holiday by law in Germany. What do chrtistians on such a day - seen from a christian point it is a senseless holiday? Mission meetings or other meetings with common work.
The rest of my family (four of seven children have left already parents nest) will go today to Berlin. In South of Berlin in a village named Wietstock, near the town Ludwigsfelde, lays the overconfessional Nehemiah Yard, founded and lead by Nazarenes. We have been for more than fourteen years members of the same community.

This Photo is from last year. "Day of open doors", "Guests day".
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The barn is built from bricks, typically for the country Brandenburg. Since its ground is sandy, they do not have real stones in the sense "broken out of a mountain" and must take what they could get - so since earliest times the most of their buildings are made from bricks. All over North - East Germany.
In background the new roof of the main building.

Here is a friends and prayersletter from August 1999 once the decision was fallen where they will erect the Nehemiah Yard - but - and this is typical for christians around the globe, doing steps in faith - no idea how to finance it. Only with idealism such things do not go on -
and
without idealism nothing will be moved ever.
http://haufenzeug.de/cs/pics_for_NazNet/nehemiah/nh_text/1_start_.htm

And see the front and backside of their printed friends and prayers letter from December 2003
all are smiling, not only "pleeese, say cheeese",
they really live faith - and are a happy family, building their home on a rock, not on sand.

Three times the same picture,
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large / small enaugh for good reading - 235 KB
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an overview - 190 KB
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too small to get the faces - 125 KB
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Last year the superintendent of the northwest german district, Thomas Vollenweider was there and has held a sermon.
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I must hurry now - on the Autobahn to Berlin.