2017-08-19

【Aiden in English】

        I guess it isn't possible to go through Europe without seeing castles. Like I've said before, castles are a message of power and wealth. Therefore, anyone with power and wealth had a castle. Marksburg Castle built in 1117, was originally a fortress for the protection instead of the royal residence. However, going through many years of war, Marksburg had established many defenses, allowing it to escape damage and be the only medieval castle in the Rhine Valley to not be destroyed or conquered in battle. That does not mean the castle was never lost. In fact, many a time the castle was handed over to the opposing side because of a larger war. It is interesting in the sense that this castle is the original. No restoration or duplication based on 'current technology'. Granted, certain things were cleaned up and other decorations were added to symbolize items once it was used as the prison, such as a plastic T-bone in the kitchen, but these were all minor details to the overall objective.

        Marksburg is situated on the top of a decently tall mountain of Braubach close to the ancient city of Koblenz. The section we went through today was mainly full of valleys around the upper middle Rhine River, each displaying a fortress or castle of some sort every 2.5 km/1.6 miles on average. Fortunately, Marksburg is the only one having never been destroyed. However, it has gone through most phases of castles, transferring from duke to duke, family to family, a kingdom to empire. Yet most of the interior was the same, having a master bedroom, kitchen, and dungeon. Around the outside was a three-meter thick wall, and many openings looking down towards the valley for defense, fresh air, and toilets.

        This castle, to me, was very rugged, unlike other castles. The floors and steps were all chiseled from stone, uneven, and craggily. The walls, stone as well, were cool and chilled. It's not surprising to find things colder. We were, after all, 168 meters/550 feet in the air. But the wind gusts still caught me off guard every time opened a door. Each room, although fashioned nicely, showed imperfect architecture and angles, which, in itself, was a style of design. And when I looked through a window, I was usually met with a spectacular view of the meadow, trees, and car battery recycling chimneys. It appeared that Germany's trees changed color a bit early this year, and the autumn shades were revealing mid-August. No problem with me. From the bottom looking up, the castle was in the perfect scene and position. Beautiful and peaceful, majestic, and innocent... except for the torture chamber.

        The guide led us through most of the castle, demonstrating medieval life perfectly preserved within. From slaughtering pigs to disposing of human waste through a hole in the floor, I saw many shades of the new culture behind the walls of castles. Each castle I go to seems like another puzzle piece fit inside a larger picture. With each piece, I feel a bit more intelligent in castles, each piece showing a bit more of medieval life, and essentially giving a bit more sense to European history.

【红霞译文】

        我觉得到了欧洲不可能对城堡避而不见，正如本人曾经说过，城堡象征着权力与财富，但凡有势有钱的人均有城堡。马克堡最早建于1117年，当初仅仅用作保卫家园而非皇室官邸，由于多年来兵荒马乱，致使马克堡配备上不少防御工事，得以躲过战火浩劫并成为莱茵河谷唯一一座免遭破坏或侵吞的中世纪城堡，但这不等于说马克堡从未失守，事实上随着战势愈演愈烈，它多次落入敌方手中，但最终完璧归赵，简直令人不可思议，至今运用“现代技术”尚未发现任何替代品或仿造物。毕竟马克堡一度成为关押战犯的监狱，因此有些东西难免要被清理，而其它直观装饰也会补充进来，比如厨房的牛扒，不过这些具体细节对整体结构毫无影响。

        马克堡坐落于布劳巴赫镇峻岭顶峰，距离古城科布伦茨不远，今天我们主要游览莱茵河中上游河谷，这里平均每隔2.5公里／1.6英里地段便建设一座堡垒或城堡，而仅有马克堡侥幸生还。随着时代变迁，它反复易主，屡屡成为公爵与公爵、皇室与皇室或者王朝与帝国之间交易的对象，即便如此，马克堡主卧房、厨房、地狱等多数内部结构依旧保持如初，城堡外墙厚度足有三米，上面设有不少窗口以便警戒、通风和解手之用。

        在我看来，马克城堡坚如磐石，与别的城堡各有不同，其地面和台阶全是就地凿出来的，高低不平；墙壁也都由岩石构成，阴森寒冷。这倒没啥奇怪的，毕竟我们站在168米／550英尺山巅之上，因此每当开门的时候，我禁不住打个寒颤。话至城堡建筑，尽管布局别致，但每间屋子极不规整，姑且算作一种设计风格。此时我放眼凝视窗外，草甸、树林、汽车电池回收烟囱构成一幅壮美景观，今年德国好像树叶变黄得有点早，八月中旬秋天的影子已经悄然出现，我并不在乎，倒是从山脚下朝上望去，城堡占尽了天时地利人和，显得俊秀沉静、庄重祥和……除了酷刑室例外。

        导游带我们参观了大部分城堡，无不尽展保存完好的中世纪生活，从杀猪到楼板地面挖个洞眼排泄粪便，透过壁垒森严的城堡，我见识到崭新的文化侧面，每到一座城堡宛如为硬纸板拼图中另一个零片找准了位置，每个零片代表些许城堡精华，每个零片多少反映中世纪生活，渐渐地对欧洲历史有了大概了解。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2014: YMCA Camp─Dodgeball-2(基督教青年会夏令营─躲避球之二)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

Germany(出游德国)

Europe(欧洲掠影)