The Castles of the Rhine

Robert R. Taylor

Description

Far from being mere antiquarian or sentimental curiosities, the rebuilt or reused fortresses of the Rhine reflect major changes in Germany and Europe during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Taylor begins The Castles of the Rhine with a synopsis of the major political, social and intellectual changes that influenced castle rebuilding in the nineteenth century. He then focuses on selected castles, describing their turbulent histories from the time of their original construction, through their destruction or decay, to their rediscovery in the 1800s and their continued preservation today.

Reading this book is equivalent to looking at history though a romantic-nationalist kaleidoscope. Amply illustrated with maps and photographs, The Castles of the Rhine is a wonderful companion for anyone with dreams or experience of journeying along the Rhine.

Sujets

• History

Informations

• Publié par: Wilfrid Laurier University Press
• Date de parution: 01 janvier 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780889205857
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 24 Mo

Extrait

Above Bad Godesberg, Godesburg, about 1840: The ruin of Godesburg,
near Bonn (presented here by J.L. Goetz), was the first to greet early
nineteenth-century tourists bound up the Rhine. Drachenfels (middle
right) loomed further in the distance. By this date, improvements in
engraving and publishing methods had familiarized non-traveling
Europeans, too, with the Rhine ruins. The remarkable castle-rebuilding
movement was already underway. (Compare this view with Fig. 41.) Courtesy
of Verlag Th. Schafer, Hannover.W$t Castle* of tfje &fnne
Recreating the Middle Ages in Modern Germany
Robert R. Taylor
Wilfrid Laurier University PressThis book has been published with the help of a grant in aid of
publication from the Canada Council.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our
publishing activities.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Taylor, Robert R.,
1939The castles of the Rhine : recreating the Middle Ages
in modern Germany
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-88920-268-0 (bound)
1. Castles - Germany - Conservation and restoration.
2. Gothic revival (Architecture) - Rhine River Valley.
3.cl) — Germany. 4. Architecture,
Modern - 19th century - Germany. 5. Architecture,n - 20thy -. I. Title.
NA7740.T3 1998 728.8T09434 C97-932432-7
Copyright © 1998
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5
Cover design: Leslie Macredie
Cover illustration: Above Kapellen near Koblenz,
Burg Stolzenfels about 1630
(courtesy of Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz)
Printed in Canada
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights
hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—
graphic, electronic, or mechanical—without the prior written permission
of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or
reproducing in information storage and retrieval systems of any part of
this book shall be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprography
Collective, 214 King Street West, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S6.For
Robert John TaylorThis page intentionally left blank CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
PART ONE
FOUNDATIONS
1. Political and Economic Power on the Middle Rhine 24
2. Romanticism and Nationalism on thee Rhine 51
3. Monuments and Documents on the Middle Rhine 69
PART Two
VINDICATING THE OLD REGIME
4. The Holy Alliance in Stone 98
5. Hohenzollern Dreams 112
6. King of the Rhineland 127
7. The Hohenzollerns at the Hunt 149
8. The "Cartridge Prince" and His Consort 165
PART THREE
BUTTRESSING THE STATUS Quo
9. A Justification of Aristocratic Privilege 170
10. The Fulfilment of Bourgeois Ambition 189
viiviii I Castles of the Rhine
PART FOUR
DEFENDING THE REICH
11. Symbols of German Unity 218
12. Monument to German Glory 229
PART FIVE
SECURING THE PAST FOR THE FUTURE
13. To Entertain, Enlighten, and Exploit the Traveller 250
14. To Study the German Past 264
15. To Teach the Young and the Ignorant 282
PART Six
CONCLUSION
16. "Can Stones Speak?" 304
APPENDICES
1. Glossary of Architectural Terms Used 316
2. Medieval Fantasies9
3. Hohenzollern Castle Projects Outside the Rhineland 324
Notes 333
Select Bibliography 377
Index 383LIST OF
ILLUSTRATIONS
Above Bad Godesberg, Godesburg, about 1840 frontispiece
1. Braubach and vicinity about 1605 3
2. The Rhineland in 1700 26
3. Thed occupied by France 18137
4. Prussia's Rhine province8
5. Germany 1871-19189
6. The Hohenzollerns in the nineteenth century0
7. Chronological tables 31
8. Castles of the Middle Rhine (northern section) 70
9.s of thee Rhine (southern)1
10. Burg Ehrenbreitstein in 1636 100
11. From Koblenz, Burg Ehrenbreitstein in 19911
12. Koblenz, Fort Alexander in 19808
13. Near Trechtingshausen, Voigtsburg (later Burg Rheinstein)
about 1636 116
14. Voigtsburg rebuilt as Burg Rheinstein about 1840 117
15. Above Kapellen near Koblenz, Burg Stolzenfels about 1630 130
16. Schloss Stolzenfels about 1840 131
17. Ats in 1980 144
18. Near Niederheimbach, Burg Sooneck about 1840 152
19. Burg Sooneck in 1980 153
20. Near Assmannshausen, 5«rg Ehrenfels in 1980 162
21. Above Oberlahnstein, 5«rg Lahneck in 1675 172
22. Burg Lahneck in 1980 174
23. Schloss Sayn and vicinity about 1850 180
24. At Bad Honningen, Schloss Arenfels in 19913
25. Above Trechtingshausen, 5«rg Reichenstein in 1980 186
ixx I Castles of the Rhine
26. Near Niederbreisig, Schloss Rheineck about 1840 192
27. Above Niederheimbach, Heimburg in 19805
28. AtSchonburg in 1980 197
29. At Rudesheim, Boosenburg in 1991 201
30. Burg Gutenfels in 19803
31. Above Konigswinter, Schloss Drachenburg about 1890 207
32. At Drachenburg in 1991 211
33. Atg in 19803
34. "Roland's Arch" in 1840 220
35. Above Rhens, the "Royal Throne" in 19916
36. Braubach and Marksburg about 1630 230
37. From Braubach,g in 19801
38. Cover of the Cologne-Diisseldorf Steamship Schedule, 1897 251
39. Drachenfels in the 1990s 257
40. Burg Rheinfels in 19919
41. Godesburg, about 1896 262
42. Above St. Goarshausen, Burg Katzenelnbogen about 1630 266
43. #«rgKatzin 19807
44. Oberlahnstein, Martinsburg in 1980 273
45. From above Kaub, the Pfalz in 19805
46. Above Nassau, 5«rg Nassau about 19908
47. Bacharach and 5wrgStahleck about 1672 284
48. Burg Stahleck in 1980 286
49. Eltville, castle of the archbishop of Mainz in 1991 290
50. £«rgKloppin 1991 292
51. Above St. Goar, Burg Rheinfels in 19806
52. Koblenz, the "Old Castle" (Alte Burg) in 1991 301
53. Above Oberlahnstein, 5«rg Lahneck in 1980 306
54. The German States, France, and Luxemburg in 1815 326ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
or their friendly assistance I am indebted to Dr. Walter Avenarius
F and the staff of the library and archives of the German Castle
Association (Deutsche Burgenvereinigung e. V. far Burgenkunde und
Denkmalpflege} at Marksburg, Braubach am Rhein. In addition, the employees of
the city archive in the Old Castle (Alte Burg), Koblenz, and of the local
history collection of the public library in the Dreikonigen-Haus, also at
Koblenz, were very helpful on my several research visits. Elsewhere, I
have been ably advised by the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library,
the New-York Historical Society, the Institution of Engineers of Ireland,
the Newcomen Society, Mrs. Gabriele Berneck of London, U.K., Prince
Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn of Bendorf-Sayn, Baron Rudolf von
Preuschen of Burg Lahneck, the Bundesvermogensamt of Koblenz, the
Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege of Rheinland-Pfalz (Mainz), and the
Rheinischer Verein fure und Landschaftsschutz (Cologne).
The University Library of Hannover and the Prussian State Library of
Berlin each offered a special service. Particularly helpful were Annie Relic,
Edie Williams, the late Sylvia Osterbind, and the Interlibrary Loan staff in
the Reference Library at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario. The
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada funded my
research in Germany while the Canadal supported publication of
the book. Brock University provided funds for map-making and
illustrations, and course relief time for writing the manuscript. Dr. Roberta M.
Styran generously provided invaluable editorial criticism when the work
was in the manuscript stage.
Every effort has been made to trace the ownership of all copyright
material reprinted in the text. The author and publisher regret any errors,
and will be pleased to make necessary corrections in subsequent editions.
xixii I Castles of the Rhine
I am also indebted to Sandra Woolfrey and her staff at Wilfrid Laurier
University Press for their various efforts in seeing the work through to
publication. Naturally, any errors or misconceptions in the book are my
own responsibility.
January 1998 R.R.T.PREFACE
The castles, looking more like the sets for a production of
"Tannhauser" than any stage designer would dare to provide, were
perched high on scraps of crag that would have given the very
1eagles vertigo.
ernard Levin's enthusiastic recollections of his first encounter with
B the castles of the Middle Rhine are similar to my own. Television,
cinema, and advertising campaigns had prepared me (and many of my
North American contemporaries) to be enraptured by the romantic sight
of "medieval" castles dominating the vineyard-covered cliffs above the
great river. The knowledge that most of these legendary castles were
nineteenth- and early twentieth-century reconstructions, some less than forty
years old, produced surprise, even moral outrage. "We might well be
stirred by the sudden prospect of ruins," wrote Kenneth Clark, "but once
2we knew them to be artificial our pleasure would evaporate." And so the
Rhine castles, rebuilt ruins, began to seem "theatrical" in the worst sense
of the word.
As a young scholar, therefore, I rejected the Rhine castles as
unworthy of study for historic