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.

【紅霞譯文】

        我覺得到了歐洲不可能對城堡避而不見，正如本人曾經說過，城堡象徵着權力與財富，但凡有勢有錢的人均有城堡。馬克堡最早建於1117年，當初僅僅用作保衛家園而非皇室官邸，由於多年來兵荒馬亂，致使馬克堡配備上不少防禦工事，得以躲過戰火浩劫並成為萊茵河谷唯一一座免遭破壞或侵吞的中世紀城堡，但這不等於說馬克堡從未失守，事實上隨着戰勢愈演愈烈，它多次落入敵方手中，但最終完璧歸趙，簡直令人不可思議，至今運用“現代技術”尚未發現任何替代品或仿造物。畢竟馬克堡一度成為關押戰犯的監獄，因此有些東西難免要被清理，而其它直觀裝飾也會補充進來，比如廚房的牛扒，不過這些具體細節對整體結構毫無影響。

        馬克堡坐落於布勞巴赫鎮峻岭頂峰，距離古城科布倫茨不遠，今天我們主要遊覽萊茵河中上遊河谷，這裡平均每隔2.5公里／1.6英里地段便建設一座堡壘或城堡，而僅有馬克堡僥倖生還。隨着時代變遷，它反覆易主，屢屢成為公爵與公爵、皇室與皇室或者王朝與帝國之間交易的對象，即便如此，馬克堡主臥房、廚房、地獄等多數內部結構依舊保持如初，城堡外牆厚度足有三米，上面設有不少窗口以便警戒、通風和解手之用。

        在我看來，馬克城堡堅如磐石，與別的城堡各有不同，其地面和台階全是就地鑿出來的，高低不平；牆壁也都由岩石構成，陰森寒冷。這倒沒啥奇怪的，畢竟我們站在168米／550英尺山巔之上，因此每當開門的時候，我禁不住打個寒顫。話至城堡建築，儘管布局別致，但每間屋子極不規整，姑且算作一種設計風格。此時我放眼凝視窗外，草甸、樹林、汽車電池回收煙囪構成一幅壯美景觀，今年德國好像樹葉變黃得有點早，八月中旬秋天的影子已經悄然出現，我並不在乎，倒是從山腳下朝上望去，城堡占盡了天時地利人和，顯得俊秀沉靜、莊重祥和……除了酷刑室例外。

        導遊帶我們參觀了大部分城堡，無不盡展保存完好的中世紀生活，從殺豬到樓板地面挖個洞眼排泄糞便，透過壁壘森嚴的城堡，我見識到嶄新的文化側面，每到一座城堡宛如為硬紙板拼圖中另一個零片找准了位置，每個零片代表些許城堡精華，每個零片多少反映中世紀生活，漸漸地對歐洲歷史有了大概了解。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2014: YMCA Camp─Dodgeball-2(基督教青年會夏令營─躲避球之二)

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Germany(出遊德國)

Europe(歐洲掠影)