All that's missing is the Princess

Burg Vischering

It is Sunday, Nov. 6 and in just over 3 weeks, we fly home again.  Not so much time any more for excursions, but this one today was a relatively easy drive.  It's only an hour to Luedinghausen which is near Muenster -- really like driving from Kingston to Brockville -- but, okay, the resemblance ends there!

"Muensterland" is a large fertile plain and, according to the guidebooks, this region contains more than 100 castles, all linked by bike paths (Bob take note).  It's always surprising to see how many forests are in Germany.  They may not be huge but they are really dense.  

We arrived at Burg Vischering when it opened.  Here are a few views.  Don't miss the drawbridge and the tree that is 250 years old (we know because there was a plaque on it).

Irene should be peeking out of the window.

Now this castle was built by the prince-bishop, Gerhard von der Mark, but in *1271* he gave the castle to his steward, Albert von Wulfheim as a "hereditary fiefdom" and the deed still exists today.  Think about this:  this castle has belonged to the same family ever since.  In 1690 the family decided that the castle didn't quite cut the mustard and moved to Darfeld Castle.  (We didn't see Darfeld Castle, but after looking it up in Wikipedia we understand why they might have moved.  Check out this link.) Burg Vischering then 'fell asleep' for 200 years.  It still belongs to the family, but has been leased by the local city council since 1972.

It isn't possible to go into the central castle, but a small museum, including a children's section, can be visited in the outer building.

Yes this really is Richard

There were nasty scenes of skulls, battles and death carved into the back and ceiling of this bed.  I think that insomnia might have been a problem. Perhaps the beautiful and serene lady in the painting below slept in a different bed.

We headed to Muenster afterwards to see the town and have a coffee.   Several cathedrals ('muensters') were of course present, though we didn't see inside them.

Muenster didn't have a well defined central square the way the Goettingen did and lacked the charm.  But it did have a few memorable views, including this tower and its own magnificent schloss which

was closed but which was preparing for a wedding, complete with red carpet. 

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Some botanical gardens were nearby which we didn't explore, but here is a picture of an old tree that has died and fallen over.  We thought it rather amusing that when an old tree topples, they build a fence around it and put up a plaque!

But you know, sometimes it's the little things that you hardly notice that have a subtle impact on you and leave you pondering about the plight of others. We leave you then, with a picture of a nondescript building that we passed on the way out.  The translation of the sign is: "Municipal Refugee Dormitory".