Festung Marienberg

On Tuesday, some of my friends and I went to Festung (Fortress) Marienberg, a beautiful castle sitting atop a (rather large) hill, overlooking the entire city, that was once home to Würzburg's prince-bishops. It's kind of like living in a fairy tale, to look up when I'm downtown or across the city when I'm at the Am Hubland campus, and see that castle. We hiked up to Marienberg, through Japanese gardens, forests, and little cottages sheltered under the hill.

A baby doll head with plants growing out of it. I spotted this in one of the cottage gardens on the hike up - kind of demented, no? I don't know if you can tell, but the doll's eyes were also gauged out and filled with dirt.

A pretty cottage.

J found this unique flower in one of his forays into the forest.


Some of the wildlife. Haha, just kidding. It's J on one of his aforementioned forays.

Entering the fortress. The inner keeps are protected by several sets of large stone walls, and the entire fortress is surrounded by a moat. Of course, the moat is dry now.

Passing through more keeps.

Taking a break, in an ancient water trough.

Finally inside! I can see why the Peasants' Rebellion in the 16th century was unsuccessful.
The chapel.

Inside the chapel.
The prince-bishop's orchards.

Class picture!

In a separate post, I'll put up pictures of the gardens and views of the city from this perch.