The Castles of the Rhine: Recreating the Middle Ages in Modern Germany

407 Pages·1998·32.355 MB·English

by  Robert R. Taylor

Above Bad Godesberg, Godesburg, about 1840: The ruin of Godesburg,
near Bonn (presented here by J.L. Goetz), was the first to greet early
nineteenth-century tourists bound up the Rhine. Drachenfels (middle
right) loomed further in the distance. By this date, improvements in
engraving and publishing methods had familiarized non-traveling Euro-
peans, too, with the Rhine ruins. The remarkable castle-rebuilding move-
ment was already underway. (Compare this view with Fig. 41.) Courtesy
of Verlag Th. Schafer, Hannover.
W$t Castle* of tfje &fnne
Recreating the Middle Ages in Modern Germany
Robert R. Taylor
Wilfrid Laurier University Press
This book has been published with the help of a grant in aid of publica-
tion from the Canada Council.
We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program for our
publishing activities.
Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data
Taylor, Robert R., 1939-
The castles of the Rhine : recreating the Middle Ages
in modern Germany
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-88920-268-0 (bound)
1. Castles - Germany - Conservation and restoration.
2. Gothic revival (Architecture) - Rhine River Valley.
3. Gothic revival (Architecture) — Germany. 4. Architecture,
Modern - 19th century - Germany. 5. Architecture,
Modern - 20th century - Germany. I. Title.
NA7740.T3 1998 728.8T09434 C97-932432-7
Copyright © 1998
WILFRID LAURIER UNIVERSITY PRESS
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada N2L 3C5
Cover design: Leslie Macredie
Cover illustration: Above Kapellen near Koblenz,
Burg Stolzenfels about 1630
(courtesy of Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege Rheinland-Pfalz)
Printed in Canada
All rights reserved. No part of this work covered by the copyrights
hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means—
graphic, electronic, or mechanical—without the prior written permission
of the publisher. Any request for photocopying, recording, taping or
reproducing in information storage and retrieval systems of any part of
this book shall be directed in writing to the Canadian Reprography Col-
lective, 214 King Street West, Suite 312, Toronto, Ontario M5H 3S6.
For
Robert John Taylor
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
PART ONE
FOUNDATIONS
1. Political and Economic Power on the Middle Rhine 24
2. Romanticism and Nationalism on the Middle Rhine 51
3. Monuments and Documents on the Middle Rhine 69
PART Two
VINDICATING THE OLD REGIME
4. The Holy Alliance in Stone 98
5. Hohenzollern Dreams 112
6. King of the Rhineland 127
7. The Hohenzollerns at the Hunt 149
8. The "Cartridge Prince" and His Consort 165
PART THREE
BUTTRESSING THE STATUS Quo
9. A Justification of Aristocratic Privilege 170
10. The Fulfilment of Bourgeois Ambition 189
vii
viii I Castles of the Rhine
PART FOUR
DEFENDING THE REICH
11. Symbols of German Unity 218
12. Monument to German Glory 229
PART FIVE
SECURING THE PAST FOR THE FUTURE
13. To Entertain, Enlighten, and Exploit the Traveller 250
14. To Study the German Past 264
15. To Teach the Young and the Ignorant 282
PART Six
CONCLUSION
16. "Can Stones Speak?" 304
APPENDICES
1. Glossary of Architectural Terms Used 316
2. Medieval Fantasies 319
3. Hohenzollern Castle Projects Outside the Rhineland 324
Notes 333
Select Bibliography 377
Index 383
LIST OF
ILLUSTRATIONS
Above Bad Godesberg, Godesburg, about 1840 frontispiece
1. Braubach and vicinity about 1605 3
2. The Rhineland in 1700 26
3. The Rhineland occupied by France 1813 27
4. Prussia's Rhine province 28
5. Germany 1871-1918 29
6. The Hohenzollerns in the nineteenth century 30
7. Chronological tables 31
8. Castles of the Middle Rhine (northern section) 70
9. Castles of the Middle Rhine (southern section) 71
10. Burg Ehrenbreitstein in 1636 100
11. From Koblenz, Burg Ehrenbreitstein in 1991 101
12. Koblenz, Fort Alexander in 1980 108
13. Near Trechtingshausen, Voigtsburg (later Burg Rheinstein)
about 1636 116
14. Voigtsburg rebuilt as Burg Rheinstein about 1840 117
15. Above Kapellen near Koblenz, Burg Stolzenfels about 1630 130
16. Schloss Stolzenfels about 1840 131
17. At Stolzenfels in 1980 144
18. Near Niederheimbach, Burg Sooneck about 1840 152
19. Burg Sooneck in 1980 153
20. Near Assmannshausen, 5«rg Ehrenfels in 1980 162
21. Above Oberlahnstein, 5«rg Lahneck in 1675 172
22. Burg Lahneck in 1980 174
23. Schloss Sayn and vicinity about 1850 180
24. At Bad Honningen, Schloss Arenfels in 1991 183
25. Above Trechtingshausen, 5«rg Reichenstein in 1980 186
ix
x I Castles of the Rhine
26. Near Niederbreisig, Schloss Rheineck about 1840 192
27. Above Niederheimbach, Heimburg in 1980 195
28. AtSchonburg in 1980 197
29. At Rudesheim, Boosenburg in 1991 201
30. Burg Gutenfels in 1980 203
31. Above Konigswinter, Schloss Drachenburg about 1890 207
32. At Drachenburg in 1991 211
33. At Drachenburg in 1980 213
34. "Roland's Arch" in 1840 220
35. Above Rhens, the "Royal Throne" in 1991 226
36. Braubach and Marksburg about 1630 230
37. From Braubach, Marksburg in 1980 231
38. Cover of the Cologne-Diisseldorf Steamship Schedule, 1897 251
39. Drachenfels in the 1990s 257
40. Burg Rheinfels in 1991 259
41. Godesburg, about 1896 262
42. Above St. Goarshausen, Burg Katzenelnbogen about 1630 266
43. #«rgKatzin 1980 267
44. Oberlahnstein, Martinsburg in 1980 273
45. From above Kaub, the Pfalz in 1980 275
46. Above Nassau, 5«rg Nassau about 1990 278
47. Bacharach and 5wrgStahleck about 1672 284
48. Burg Stahleck in 1980 286
49. Eltville, castle of the archbishop of Mainz in 1991 290
50. £«rgKloppin 1991 292
51. Above St. Goar, Burg Rheinfels in 1980 296
52. Koblenz, the "Old Castle" (Alte Burg) in 1991 301
53. Above Oberlahnstein, 5«rg Lahneck in 1980 306
54. The German States, France, and Luxemburg in 1815 326