I think we had a time warp

I don't know what happened.  One moment it was winter (and still February) and the next it wasn't.  And I've still got winter pictures to show you!  I feel really ridiculously slow and out of it and because it happens with some regularity, I'm beginning to think it's a major character flaw.

I hope you won't judge me too badly because of it and will instead just encourage me periodically - I do respond well to friendly pressure!

Because the pictures tell pretty much the whole story (with the exception of some factual details), I'll make this easier on everyone by making these "fluff" posts with lots of pictures.

That's ok, right?  :)
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This year turned out to be unusual in its lack of snow.  Göttingen only had snow on the ground for about a week, maybe 10 days and it was never more than 2 or 3 inches deep.  It didn't really fulfill the Californians' hopes that if we were going to sit through an entire German winter, it should be real one.  Instead of white Christmas, we had a white 2nd week of February.  Meanwhile, in January and into February we took matters into our own hands and went back to the Harz (see the previous post for the map).

On the last weekend of January, Devin, Merlin and I went with our neighbors up to the Brocken*, north Germany's highest mountain (1142 m).  It really resembles a hill, being very rounded, but that's a result of having survived the ice age, so we forgive it.  We parked about 10 kilometers from the mountain and hiked in, stayed one night at a hotel at the top and hiked back out.

fox prints

The Brocken has more than 300 foggy days a year. We lucked out!

 It wasn't a difficult walk - just a lot of uphill, but because we followed a road we didn't have to clear our way through the snow which was about 4 feet deep.  There were also a lot of cross country skiers and the kids put a sled to good use on the downhill sections.  It was clear and cold but walking made it very comfortable.

There's a narrow gauge railway (dating back to 1899) up to the top.

 The top was very blustery with the windchill taking it down to -20 C (-4 F).  We ran around a bit, gasping for breath and watching the snow drift in the setting sunlight.

Don't we make good polar explorers?

Up at the top there's a train station, a weather station, a botanical garden (under the snow at this time of year), a hotel with a great observation deck, and an old soviet surveillance post which houses a museum.

View from the observation deck.  Primary forest can still be found here.

Post marker for the border between Soviet controlled land and West Germany.

And now for your viewing pleasure, two slightly odd videos of snow drifting.  Sorry about the major bumpiness of the first.






Notes:
* I recommend checking out the Wikipedia article since the Brocken has interesting geological, meteriological and biological features.  And there's more on the history of the mountain, too.

We saw Benno Schmidt at the cafe - he holds the world record for number ascents of the Brocken, coming on foot to the summit nearly every day (more than 6,000 times so far).

As a side note, I found I had a major disconnect between my feet and my brain, constantly feeling like I was walking in white sand (you know, beach style).  I had to stop and touch the snow a lot to actually remind myself what it was. I also admit to having a strong urge to eat it.  Also, I like the sound snow makes when you step on it.  Kind of squidgy/squeaky.  In Göttingen I walked on the last bits of snow whenever I could.  I'm kind of strange I think.

Also, if anyone is up for a visit in June, there's a 2 day walk from Göttingen to the Brocken (87 kilometers).   Our neighbors who periodically run marathons said that by the end of the walk they were reduced to an odd shuffle and could hardly get up the step into the hotel! How's that for encouraging?

Let me backtrack a bit

So ever so long ago I mentioned that we were going on a field trip and then I let it drop and didn't share any of it with you. Let me remedy that selfishness and show you pictures of where we went, back before the leaves had started to turn all sorts of fantastic colors (that'll be a different post).

Wartburg is a castle in the state of Thuringia (Thüringen, in German). Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the castle's foundation was built around 1080 while other portions were added up until the late 1800s.  Major repairs have been undertaken since the 1960s.

Among the things the castle is famous for other than it's age:

• 1207 - essentially a medieval poetry slam, the Sängerkrieg (Singer War) is surrounded by legend and yet still appears mostly factual - so there's speculation about whether or not it happened, but some fantastic art work in its own right resulted, including the frescoes by Moritz von Schwind (see below for photos);
• 1211-1228 - St. Elizabeth of Hungary was sent to be married to Ludiwig IV of Thuringia and resided in the castle but after her husband's death she turned her attention to charitable works and was eventually canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.  (see below for photos)...
• 1521-1522 - Martin Luther, after being excommunicated by the same, was sequestered in the castle and it was there that he translated the New Testament into German; 
• 1817 - several hundred students came together and were the first to call for a unified Germany (which prior to 1806 consisted of over 300 kingdoms, territories, or imperial cities).

Of course I took pictures, and there's more to be seen at the official Wartburg site, including a virtual tour and more historical information.

Do click on any of these to see them better!

First of all, the location.  On this map, the town we live in is circled in red, while Eisenach, the town nearest the castle, is circled in orange:

The region is hilly and forested.

And this is the castle itself.

One of the Ludwigs (sorry, I've forgotten which now, probably not Ludwig the Leaper who founded the castle, though.  Gotta love the name).

And a fantastic tapestry.







Architectural details:

A 15th century oriel window:

And below is one of the frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, which was painted to resemble a tapestry of the event of the Sängerkrieg.  In reality, it's not a tapestry, but is painted directly on the wall. I love that it includes Klingsor of Hungary about whom I can find very little information other than that he was a wizard who predicted St. Elizabeth's birth in addition to his minstrel abilities. He's the guy in yellow who seems to be levitating over the crowd on the left.

I was really awed by the artwork in Elizabeth's chambers - a mosaic created in the early part of the 20th century, it's richly patterned and stunningly colorful.

 (This one is from Wikipedia, as I don't have a wide angle lens.  The rest are mine)

 (that's Klingsor again... quite the intriguing guy)

Again, I definitely recommend clicking on the photos so you can actually see them!

Up soon will be autumn colors and the lovely town of Bad Lagensalza.  How's that for a name that sounds weird in English?
**

I just discovered a cool thing in blogger that didn't used to be there.  Now, when you click on a photo, you get a nifty album that lets you see all the photos (without their captions) in larger format.  Arrow keys let you navigate.  Cool!)