Burg Rheinstein (1st stop on the Rhine River Cruise Tour)

Ann standing at the beginning of the hike to the castle!
Herzl Willkommen means Hearty Welcome!

Saturday, Ann and I took the Rhine River Cruise through Ramstein Tours and Tickets, RTT.  We left the base at 6:30 a.m. and went to Burg Rheinstein for a tour of the castle.  It is very interesting - the tour was hosted by the owner of the castle.  The family bought the castle in 1975, I wonder how much a castle cost???  Our tour guide was the daughter in law of the owner, they have a house built on to the castle, she said it was really awesome living there, her children basically grew up in the castle.  Can you imagine the fun those children had?  I bet they had some really fun adventures.

This Castle is situated high on a rock 270 feet above the Rhine River.  The earliest mention of the castle is 1323.  It was erected in the early 14th century.  In 1344, the castle fell to Mainz.  In 1572, the castle had lost it's importance.  It was never destroyed, but it gradually decayed.  In 1823, it was bought by Prince Friedrich of Prussia for the price of 1000 Talers.

After the climb to the top of the rock, I had cappuccino and Ann had breakfast.

This is called the Burgundergarten, named for the "Burgunder Grape Wine" the type of grape that is being grown in this garden.  These grape vines are over 200 years old.

This basket hanging from the highest tower of the castle is where people were put when they did something wrong.  This gave them the opportunity to think about what they had done.  I would think that only one time in that basket would be all I need to straighten up my act!

This is the chapel, which houses the crypt of Prince Friedrich of Prussia who bought the castle from his cousin in 1823.  He rebuilt the castle between 1825 - 1829.  He died at the castle in 1863 and was buried in the crypt as he wished.

My favorite flower, an Iris, in a beautiful shade of purple that
I have never seen on an Iris before,  on the path up the castle.

Prince Friedrich was the one that named the castle Rheinstein because of it's imposing rock location high above the Rhine River.  He and his family used Rheinstein as their summer residence almost every year, even after they moved to Berlin in 1850.  The last owner of the House of Prussia was Princess  Barbara of Hessen and Rhine, Duchess of Mecklenburg, she sold the castle in 1975 to Mr. Hermann Hecher, a former opera singer.  Due to the initiative of the Hecher family the castle has been preserved from misuse and decay and is once again the center of historic attraction in the Rhine Valley.   Ms. Hecher our guide at the castle said they were having a wedding that night at the castle, and our tour guide from the base said the one of the local high school's had their prom at the castle.