We're still looking back at our vacation in November of 2018. After a day of touring together with my mother-in-law, we spent the night at her place, before starting the next stage of our trip. On the way from the city of Kassel to our next destination in the Harz Mountains, we stopped to check out an abandoned castle in a small town situated in a valley between two low mountain ranges.
We wanted to check if there was any possibility to explore the beautiful old castle located on the northern edge of the village. As we drove up and saw the castle, our hearts started beating faster - what a beautiful building this was! At the same time, feelings of disappointment started creeping in, because we could already see that there was no way to get on the premises. A high wall and a large gate kept us from entering, and we did not want to sneak across various neighbor's lawns to check if there was a possibility to enter from the other side.
So we were almost ready to get back into the car and drive on to the next stop, when we saw an older man exit one of the outbuildings and walk across the courtyard. We called out to him, and it turned out that he was a kind of caretaker for the place. He lived in the outbuilding and was looking out for the castle because a new owner had bought the building and was planning to begin renovation soon.
We asked him if there was a possibility to get into the castle to take a few photos - and to our surprise, he said yes! Then he opened the gate, so we could park right in the courtyard. After we had gotten our gear out of the car, he unlocked the castle door and took us on a tour through the castle.
This guy was really nice. He was with us the entire time, told us about the history of the castle, told stories from the past and explained what was planned for the future. All in all, we were in there for about two and a half hours, and the caretaker managed to fill the entire time with a wealth of information while we took our photos. He seemed to really like us and the fact that we had a genuine interest in the place and its history. We could have stayed even longer, but we had a dinner engagement by the campfire for the evening - and one more spot to explore on the way...
To find hout about the history of this place and to check out all the photos, click the button below:
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