Because of the rain, we took the "Funicular" cable car up to the top of the mountain.There our guide and docent told us about the origins of the fortress and entertained us with a story about Charlemagne who had conquered the region in the 800s.
Charlemagne is supposed to be sleeping in those hills and will return someday to reclaim his place.
The original structure ws a wooden bailey built by the Archbishop of Salzburg. It has long since been replaced with the round towers you see below sometime in the 15th century.
It is one of the largest fortresses of Europe (820 by 490 feet). Below you can see the wine cellar.
Here the guide tells us about the peasant revolution and seige against the Archbishop and how it was put down in 1525.
We also got to see the kitchen.
and some of the fancier rooms.
The bed room had its own toilet and was beautifully decorated, but the bed disappeared soem time around the time of Napoleon.
We enjoyed the exhibits that all kinds of artifacts and presentations on the music, the armor, the art, the daily life of people in the fortress.
This tile oven is an example of very early passive heating. It would be heated up during the day and then at night it would released the heat stored up, so that people would stay warm all night long.
And then all too soon it was time to go back to the dorms! ;-)
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