#castle ruins drachenfels

[wishmaker-astra]

Anyways, aside from the Maxie shit: Landed.

Apparently Nebby was using abilities to shield us from the wind, and was in fact going faster than I thought.

This ain't the tower itself, but part of nearby ruins. Yup, sure is ruins.

//Image credit: "Ruin of the castle Drachenfels in Königswinter.", Stephan Mense, CC BY-SA 3.0

[lordbrezel]

Iskierka in the wild

@travellingdragon​ and I took Iskierka on a trip to Drachenfels (”dragons rock”) and its castle ruin.

Here are some of the highlights of this trip:

And as a bonus: Iskierka wearing a gold coin as a hat.

[heterotopian]

The Tale of Two Cities according to Stephi and Heiko - Part 425

It’s summertime and vacations are just around the corner. School will be out in Cologne next week and a lot of people will go on trips. People from Munich and Cologne have some destinations that are more or less typical for every city/region. This week, I will present you two destinations that people from Cologne and surroundings like to travel to.

The first picture shows you the Siebengebirge, which is just about an hour away by car or train from the center of Cologne. There you will fin Burg Drachenfels, an old ruin from a castle up on a hill. You can hike up there, which will take about an hour or you can also go by a small train, which is an adventure in itself. This destination is great for a daily trip when you go with children, but is also pretty cool for a grown-up. The picture shows the sight from up the hill and it’s a marvelous outlook over the Rhine and the valley. You can see the bigger buildings of Cologne as well.

The second and probably even preferred destination is the coastal region of the Netherlands. You need to take a car drive of about 3 hours or more, depending on where you want to go. A lot of people go to the IJsselmeer but I prefer to go the island of Texel. The drive is a little longer but being on an island and being by the North Sea is special to me. The second picture shows the beach on Texel on the side to the North Sea. The weather is always changing and you might have some rainy days even in the summer and sunny days in October. But no matter the weather conditions, it’s always great to get some air from the sea.

Next week Stephi will present you two locations people from Munich like to travel to. Maybe even I have been to one of those places, even though I have never lived in Munich.

Do you guys like to have your vacations closer to home or rather go on worldwide travels?

[dampfloks]

“Neue” Drachenfelsbahn Königswinter

Die Drachenfelsbahn existiert seit 1883. Früher noch unter Dampf (siehe ebenfalls Bilder hier im Blog) wird sie heute mit Strom betrieben. Der Drachenfels ist ein beliebtes Ausflugsziel im Siebengebirge mit Sehenswürdigkeiten die Burgruine Drachenfels, Schloss Drachenburg (erreichbar über die Mittelstation), die Nibelungenhalle (selbstverständlich mit Drachen im Garten) und natürlich die Zahnradbahn. 

"New" Drachenfelsbahn Königswinter

The Drachenfelsbahn has been in existence since 1883 and used to run on steam (see also pictures here in the blog), but is now powered by electricity. The Drachenfels is a popular destination in the Siebengebirge with sights such as the Drachenfels castle ruins, Drachenburg Castle (accessible via the middle station), the Nibelungen Hall (including dragon in the garden) and of course the cogwheel railway.

[goryfluff]

Warning sign at the foot of the path leading up to Schloss Drachenburg and the castle ruins of Burg Drachenfels, both located on the Drachenfels ("Dragon's Rock") between the cities of Königswinter and Bad Honnef.

[stories-from-the-warp]

[ For Skritchitt ]

“ H-Hello — ! Uhm. Yes-yes, forgive me, O Great and puh-powerful almighty one, I come with ne-news from Castle Drachenfels under the permission o-of Mistress Bethanne! “

A small scribe peeps up, fidgeting with her paws nervously. It seems as though she has a nervous stutter..

“ W-We wish to discuss your great knowledge on thu-the Lore of Ruin! “

The scribe's fearful praise had caught the Seer's attention. It was exactly how Skritchitt believed everyone should treat him. Of course, he was skeptical of this self-titled "Mistress", but perhaps she had something he could use---for one purpose or another.

"Yes-yes, go-scurry to your mistress," Skritchitt waved. "Tell-tell her that the Great and Wise Seer Skritchitt will hear her offer-deal."

[weeping-gospels]

[ A scroll written in roughly translated Queekish symbols has been obtained. ]

My dearest Nightshade,

Come find me in the deepest depths of Castle Drachenfels for a surprise I have been accumulating for quite some time now. I am sure you will not be disappointed. There is a cathedral beneath the ruins of the myth. Allow the flickering lights of the candles I have burned for you to guide your way there. Consider taking in the small gifts I have placed along the way as well.

Yours truly,

Bethanne Drozdov.

—

Below a trap door located in the Dhampiress’ section of the surface castle lies a deep descent into the catacombs below, filled to the brim with the remains of those who had gotten lost and perished along the way of no return. Skeletons hung from the crumbling ceilings like arachnids spinning their webs, some even exposing their silk to create homes within the gaping sockets of the deceased. What was lost will never be found — though one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Bones would be located by those who dwelled amongst the living and the undead, refurbished into sharpened weaponry or an added accessory to the eerie atmosphere Drachenfels held. The farther and deeper one unfortunately descended, the more gruesome and revolting it became — as well as the more lethal and hazardous to one’s dwindling essence. With or without shelter from the great outdoors, the dangers of The Fated Place still stood strong — and despite Castle Drachenfels appearing desolately abandoned by first glance, the catacombs hid a much, much deeper and darker truth to it.

A home for the dark shaman. Where chaos festers and death is inevitable, she would be there to soak it all in like a warm bath during winter’s kiss.

The candlelight illuminating the shadowy catacombs gave off the most succulent crimson hue. Flickering wicks gave way to dancing silhouettes of even more death, skulls of various species painting the cracked flooring below — with fresh and decaying tongues still lolling out of ruined, lower jaws. Maggots bloated the more recent organs…others had been deflated and barely decipherable as a tongue in the first place. Another scroll in Queekish dialect had been pinned to the wall by a rusty dagger, this time reading,

Dearest Dusk,

Gander over the skulls. Some human, some ratkin, some elven. I possess the perception of a bat and the agility of a hare as one of the undead. I hear the tainted words of threats against us and I seek the heads of those foolish enough to go through with them. Just as Lord Rasknitt would not approve of such silver tongue, I am sure Clan Vishus would not as well.

These are the remains of those tongues.

Never shall they utter such heinous words again.

Never shall they lay a filthy hand upon our connected alliances.

Finally, upon reaching the end of the catacombs, a large door would give way to a rather beautiful cathedral. Unfitting for how unnerving the rest of the journey was, the cathedral had took nature back and allowed her to blossom ferns, weeds, and vines all throughout it’s open cavity. There was Betty planted upon a dusty desk by the stained glass windows, drinking her usual cup of red wine,

“ I see you have made it, my darling ~ . Did you enjoy the trip? The skulls? The tongues? I made sure to make it all riveting and exciting. “

Kicking aside another skeleton with clothes intact still, her heels clicked down the dirty, carpeted stairwell to meet up with her Stormvermin — dragging another skeleton nonchalantly behind her by the arm. Lifting it’s hand, the undead then yanked off the finger with a loud CRACK, revealing to the black rat the ruby ring still fastened tightly to the phalange.

“ They left goods behind. The clothes are hideous, not my type. But BEHOLD! A ring meant for matrimony! This person was to be or was wedded!

Well, not anymore. Pity.

But YOU should take this! Skaven desire luxurious and shiny things, nyet? ‘Tis not a warpstone…but rubies are rather valuable. Perhaps this person was wealthy — but they are no longer living, so who cares. Finders keepers. You can keep the bones too if you want, “

Handing over the finger, nimble digits brushed aside the crimson locks covering her neck, sharp eyes peering up at Skreech expectantly,

“ Now that I have gifted you a proposal through death, the remains of those who speak ill of us, and ring by my culture…I grant you permission to mark me as by your tradition.

Make sure it never heals and permanently scars — even if I resurrect again. “

@stories-from-the-warp

[morathicain]

This is a free coupon/excuse for you to infodump on the current topic you’re obsessed with. Take some time away from internet discourse and share with us something you find interesting.

Mana! Ahhhhh, thank you! That's so sweet of you =^^=

A topic I'm obsessed with? I'm gonna ignore all my fandoms then and take something I've been obsessed with for so many years: Ruins.

Like, I've always been fascinated by history, but especially by ruins and weird historical facts. Which is so much easier to remember than numbers ... c.c

Where I grew up, there was a very famous fortress in ruins and I have very distinct memories of thinking of way too many plots as a kid and also being pissed at my mom bc she wouldn't want to take a 7 year old with her to a Chris de Burgh concert XD

On the fortress Tyrant, we learned that it was a very popular spot bc it's directly next to the Rhine. Mostly for trade and taxes. Both the bishop of Cologne and Trier fought for it and in the end they simply split the fortress in half (it's not so big, so ... have fun, I guess). Each side has a tower and in the tower of Cologne there's still an actual skeleton down in the basement (you can't go there directly, only see down to where prisoners were being lowered to).

In Burg Eltz they told us how portraits were premade and the head-bit would often be left empty. So, artists would go from castle to castle and show people their collection of pre-made-portraits. Then, families could choose which one it should be and that's the reason why sometimes the body doesn't seem to fit the head, especially age-wise. Also, this magnificent fortress (which isn't really a ruin) was never conquered bc it was too far from the river and basically not important enough.

The Drachenfels is one of my earliest memories. It's another ruin above the Rhine and the path to it is littered with little bits about the story of Siegfried and the dragon. There's a small puppet theatre you can put money into for the story and a big stone dragon. Back as a kid it was kinda creepy but also awesome. Now, I love it.

Also, did you know they never really used tar and feathers as a defence bc those were too valuable? It was usually hot water, piss or even old soup!

And in Nürnberg there's also a castle (if I remember correctly) which shits on the way the Nazis had tried to recreate the room. Like nope, completely wrong, total failure! And then they redid it, but still tell people how WRONG the Nazis were. It's glorious!

Or the fortress of a lady and I was told she threw people out the window several times. Funny it happened more than once, but good for her!

So, yeah, I am glad I remembered a few things bc of course my mind suddenly went blank XD

Thank you for asking! <3333333

Ps. the skeletons in the tower are beneath the cut ;)

[dabauzz]

Drachenfels Ruine bei angehender Nacht. 🌃🌛🏰🐉 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖➖ 📰 Folge @dabauzz und check' meine Hompage unter www.dabauzz.de ab! Freue mich jederzeit über konstruktive Kritik 😉👍 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #germany #castle #ruins #deutschland #travel #historical #germanytourism #photography #castles #germanytrip #night #photographysouls #nightlife #beautifulgermany #travelgermany #hikingday #hikeingadventures #siebengebirge #wanderlust #rausundmachen (hier: Siebengebirge) https://www.instagram.com/p/CT29Wt4q0e5/?utm_medium=tumblr

[mrlowkey167]

Drachenfels Ruine 

The ruined castle Burg Drachenfels, on the summit of the hill, was built between 1138 and 1167 by Archbishop Arnold I of Cologne and bears the same name. It was originally intended for the protection of the Cologne region from any assault from the south. Originally it consisted of a bergfried with court, chapel and living quarters for servants. The castle was slighted in 1634, during the Thirty Years' War, by the Protestant Swedes and never rebuilt. As a strategic asset it had outlived its usefulness. Erosion due to the continued quarrying undermined much of the remains and only a small part is left today.

The rock, like the rest of the Siebengebirge, is formed by the remnants of a volcano and has been the site of a trachyte quarry since Roman times, which, amongst others, delivered the building material for the Cologne Cathedral. Of all the hills in the Siebengebirge, it is closest to the river Rhine, which facilitates easy transport by barges, thus making it an excellent place for a quarry. Quarrying ended in 1836, when the Prussian government bought the quarry. In 1922 the first protection measures were put in place and in 1956 the site was declared a national park. 

-----Wikipedia

[lordbrezel]

That's where I live!

Drachenfels my beloved. Great for hikes and the castle ruin on the peak of the mountain is also nice to visit, on nice days you can see so much of the landscape, sometimes even the towers of the cologne dome in the distance.

Fafnir, der Drachen, hütet das Rheingold. Drachenhöhle, Königswinter

[picworth1000words]

The Drachenburg Castle (left) and Drachenfels ruins (right), on the Rhein above Königswinter, Germany.

[heterotopian]

The Tale of Two Cities according to Stephi and Heiko – Part 277

In the times and life of COVID-19 (for those wondering the pandemic is still around), a lot of things have change as we already discussed here. With the upcoming little series in a series, we explore another facet of this development: the way we spend our vacation. People used to travel all over the world and while air traffic is going up again, people rarely leave the country anymore by plane to go on vacation. Instead they chose place within the country and often close by to the city.

Today we will show you two castles, more like palaces, that are not too far away from Munich and Cologne; we are talking about a two respectively one hour drive by car. But then you get to see a wonderful palace as well as some breathtaking nature sights.

The first picture shows Schloss Neuschwanstein that was build in the late 19th century. It is one of the most prominent sightseeing spots in Germany. It’s referred to as a fairytale castle and King Ludwig II had it built according to an idealized perception of a castle from the middle ages.

Burg Drachenfels in the second picture is about an hour drive away form Cologne and was built by the Drachenfels in the late 19th century as well. It was first intended to be a living place but these days it is a museum. Most people today only walk by the palace on their way up to Drachenfels to see the ruins of the old castle and get a view over the Siebengebirge.

Obviously, these places are not only for people on a day trip form the city but for tourists form other countries as well. So, if travel can get back to normal and you are in the vicinity of these places: don’t hesitate and go there. Both places are truly awesome!

[langernameohnebedeutung]

Live your dreams, take hold of a castle, acquire a hoard of gold, become the new dragon of Drachenfels, Siegfried is dead, no one can stop you

I mean, the Drachenfels is a ruin but I’d get to ride that neat little train every day to greet the hordes of tourists in my living room?

[weeping-gospels]

The Keep was beginning to deteriorate.

After years of worn, reconstruction, destruction, and destruction again, the poor building began to offer less and less quality. Despite the fact it served as a powerhouse to fuel not only the invisible barrier to ward off selective company but the same magic that kept up her humanoid facade — the power thinned horrifically from the corroding and was losing it’s touch. Unwanted visitors would show up thinking her abode was free to roam and browse, much to her intense distaste. The skaven sigils were broadcasted to the public for a reason — and by public, only for skaven kind to behold. The barrier existed for this very reason and was doing an awfully dreadful job of being a simple barricade.

Memories were made but now was the time to let out a sigh and consider taking over other settlements. Perhaps a fresh new start was long overdue. Thus, the Dhampir begrudgingly packed up her belongings and set foot toward the one area she had been eyeing up since the day she stumbled upon it —

Castle Drachenfels.

A ruined, gothic castle nestled on the peak of the Grey Mountains between The Empire and Bretonnia, Drachenfels’ ancient castle held a powerful myth that drove away many of the weak hearted. Explorers would come and go but would also never leave without the whispers of the damned, traumatized hearts daring to spill the horrors they had beseeched upon entering haunted catacombs. The castle would eventually become home to lingering Fester clan and Rotblood — all the more dangerously lethal for whatever sorry fuck decided to spend the night there during the frequent thunderstorms. Mangled bodies became a decorative choice and a warning.

A decently sized section spared in one of the cozy nooks became Bethanne’s new home where she’d spend days sprucing up the place to her aesthetic pleasure, dusting the shelves and renovating in order to set up shop and tally up her current orders set to travel the Under Empire’s market via trade. Bottles of enchanted liquid lined the new wooden shelves, bubbling and sizzling, crackling and popping, each giving off an odd and eerie scent even through corked mouths…but the Dhampir was not within the confines of solitude this dreary night.

“ This is your new home-abode? Yes-yes? “

Eyeing her ‘former lord’ through the corner of her evergreen eyes, Betty continued to unpack,

“ Da, this is where I will be residing from now on, my lord. Is it not fitting? I will not have to dawdle on any unwanted visitors this time nor use my energy to create an invisibility spell. “

“ Hm. “

Scratching at his fluffy, ashen beard, Rasknitt absentmindedly ran a claw down one of the elixirs,

“ I suppose. But how does undead thing wish to have customers-guests? You are located-found high-high up mountain. Only some of my slaves come here. Not good-well for profit. Too far-far from Under Empire, concrete bad for digging, not like dry soil-earth in Keep. “

Picking up the amber elixir, the Grey Seer studied the floating contents within. Betty rolled her shoulders and moved to unpack her many journals, placing the worn books on the table,

“ Exactly, you have some of the slaves here. That is more than enough to hold me off. I can simply hand them a cart of my elixirs and trust they will do their job and transport them readily — as always, most of the profit goes directly to you. I have no use for your silly leetle tokens. I only wish to have my name travel amongst the tunnels.

Speaking of…you have not forgotten our deal, nyet? “

Side eyeing him once more, the undead’s eyes narrowed.

Sensing her skepticism, the white rat sneered back and waved the bottle in irritancy,

“ Almighty and AMAZING Grey Seer Rasknitt does NOT-NOT FORGET SO EASILY, STUPID CORPSE! OF COURSE I REMEMBERED!

Does corpse thing ALSO remember HER side of deal-bargain? No deal unless Betty thing cough-hacks up HER portion. “

Suspicious but relenting, the red head cautiously picked out a crimson colored journal from the pile and slid it across the table as if distributing a secretive stash. Rasknitt greedily scooped up the book and tossed the amber elixir ( that Betty had to panic and catch before it shattered on the floor ) , flipping through the crumbling pages with the eyes of a hawk,

“ Yes-yes…good….mhmhmhmHAHAHA! YES-YES! HAHAHAHA! GREAT ALMIGHTY RASKNITT WILL SOON-SOON REIGN SUPERIOR OVER ALL CLANS! “

“ D-Da…my lord. Clan Moulder, home to Throt The Unclean and his many experimentations and children. Within those pages are all of the studies I have conducted whilst collaborating with them. You can find the location of Hell Pit, the various types of defense and offensive rats, Rat Ogre types, work scheduling in the day, and as much information as I could get on Throt.

It is a hefty Clan with a lot of strong rats, my lord. I do not advise dwelling unless you are stocking up on slaves and heavier weaponry as well. Perhaps you should look into striking up a meeting with Skryre then…? “

“ BAH. Undead thing talk-squeak too much. Almighty Great Rasknitt does not NEED-WANT advice. Amazing FEARLESS RASKNITT KNOWS WHAT-WHAT HE IS DOING. Do not need undead thing’s help. Clan Moulder won’t know what hit-struck them when The Great Horned One’s most CHERISHED Grey Seer DISINTEGRATE-CHARS THEM ALL TO FRIED PIECES! Then…then the remaining quivering whelps either convert to MY will-rule on their sniveling knees or DIE-DIE WHERE THEY COWER.

BUT! But….Grey Seer Rasknitt will take time to gather best options instead of scurrying-skittering forth unprepared. “

Shutting the book, he then nodded up at Bethanne,

“ As promised, Betty thing. The slaves currently here are under your possession-property. Will scurry back-back to base and send back more slaves and Globadiers. “

“ …Hm. Throw in two Storms. “

“ Eugh. So needy-greedy. CORPSE THING SHOULD BE HAPPY-SATIATED WITH WHAT PITY MARVELOUS RASKNITT OFFERED. “

Unfazed by his pompous bastard attitude by now, Betty poured herself a cup of red wine and swished the liquid in place. One hip cocked and her head tilted upwards, looking down at the rodent with a hiss,

“ I willingly ventured into Moulder base and pretended to be OBSESSED with their obese fucking BLOB of a lord in order to gather as much information as I could for your STUBBY LEETLE RAT PAWS.

Two Stormvermin. I need assistance in carrying down that throne chair in the upper level. “

Stomping his foot, the Grey Seer pointed a claw up at her accusingly,

“ DO NOT-NOT SPEAK-SQUEAK TO YOUR LORD IN SUCH TONGUE, DEAD THING. KNOW YOUR PLACE BEFORE I SCORCH YOU TO BITS-PIECES LIKE THE PATHETIC ABOMINATION YOU ARE! YOU SERVE M E ! ME-ME!! “

“ Too late to that party, grouchy fuck. Grey Seer Heliinx already beat you to that magic trick. Two Stormvermin. “

“ AAAAAGH!! F I N E ! TWO STORMVERMIN TO SHUT YOU UP. UNDEAD THING’S CROAKY VOICE IS CAUSING GREY SEER RASKNITT’S EARS TO BLEED. “

Turning on his heels, the Grey Seer then began to scamper away on all fours toward Deathrattler at the entrance of the building. Betty giggled and cupped her hands over her mouth to shout back,

“ THROW IN A RAT PUP TOO FOR GOOD LUCK! “

Fed up with her voice, the temperamental rat spun around to shoot a bolt of warp lightning at the wall,

“ FUCK YOU! “

“ DO NOT THREATEN ME WITH A GOOD TIME! “