Romantische Strasse - The Romantic Road

As we left Waldeck and journeyed to Kassel, local guide Olie joined us and shared some history about the Grimm Brothers.  The Grimm Brothers wanted to learn about the history and culture of Hessen which motivated them to collect tales from the region.  In the process, they met a woman named Dorothea Viehmann who told them more than 40 of the tales we commonly hear today.  Her father was from France, so her tales had a French background, and this differed from what the brothers were expecting.  As a result, the brothers concluded these tales could happen at any place and at any time.  We still view these tales as universal and timeless to this day.

Upon arriving in Kassel, we toured Lowenburg Castle, known as the Lion's Castle.  This is a fake castle, built in the 1800s to look like a Medieval ruin from the 1400s.  Portions were purposely made to look destroyed.  The Landgrave Wilhelm IX was obsessed with the Medieval period, and wanted to show off his wealth, so every thing within his "castle" needed to look authentic to the Medieval period.  For example, despite his Protestant beliefs, the chapel was constructed to look like a Catholic chapel because the Reformation did not take place until 1526.  Protestant services were still held here. 

Lowenburg Castle

We learned that life in the castle was not as romantic as a fairytale would depict.  The knight's armor was very heavy and cumbersome.  Knights began training at the age of seven as servants.  At 14 they went to military school.  A special knight known as the Black Knight, guarded over the sovereign's deceased body for three days.  Legend has it that the Black Knight followed the leader into the grave because he often was the next to die.  In reality, this probably happened due to illness such as pneumonia which was brought on by guard duty in all elements combined with the weight of the armor on his chest.  Nobody wanted to be the Black Knight.

Princesses didn't have it easy, either.  Their main job was to produce children.  Daughters were to establish ties to other important families...Medieval Social Networking.  Sons could carry on the name and inherited the land so that it stayed within the family.  A woman's life expectancy was 30 years. 10 years less than a man's due to illnesses obtained during childbirth.  This was certainly not a fairytale life.