schloss braunfels

Another really awesome day trip we've taken recently was to Schloss Braunfels!  A schloss is a palace, and this one was built around 1246 A.D. in the town of Braunfels, Germany.  (Ever heard of New Braunfels, Texas?  Well, this is the original Braunfels!)  In the 14th century, fortification walls were built which included defense towers.  The home was badly damaged during the Thirty Years War.  It was subsequently destroyed by fire in 1679 but was quickly rebuilt.  Over the next couple of centuries, Schloss Braunfels was renovated and expanded.  The original family still occupies part of the residence today.

And now, a selfie:

We went into the gift shop to pick up some postcards and to purchase our tickets for the tour.  Tickets were around €8 each.  There were several other people who were also waiting to begin the tour, but Rich and I were actually fortunate enough to be given a private tour as we were the only English-speaking visitors.  

As always, I noticed the bright-colored flowers before we even went inside!

View before entering.

Waiting for the tour to begin.

Our extremely informative tour guide was Marcus.  These are the first photos I took after beginning the tour:

Now at this point, we went inside the palace where there is absolutely no photography allowed (click here if you'd like to see interior photos from their website!).  We saw some beautiful antique furniture and what seemed like a million paintings.  To protect the hardwood floors, they provided us with soft-bottomed slippers that we wore right over our shoes.  We were only able to visit the portion of the home that the family doesn't occupy. 

Courtyard area.

There are faces everywhere in European architecture.  Maybe a blog post just for these in the future?

Now that we'd walked up an appetite (see what I did there?!), we went into town for some more revenge (you're welcome lady) lunch.  Braunfels is a great example of what I assumed ALL German towns would look like before we moved here!  (They don't.)

Schloss Braunfels above the town.

I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we enjoy sharing them with you.  Please let us hear from you!  I have more trips to catch up on, so expect more posts soon!