Marksburg Castle @ Braubach, Germany(德國布勞巴赫·馬克城堡)-兒歌薈萃-萬維博客-萬維讀者網（電腦版）

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		Marksburg Castle @ Braubach, Germany(德國布勞巴赫·馬克城堡)	2020-06-28 08:12:28

2017-08-19

Marksburg Castle0001.JPG

【Aiden in English】

I suppose it's impossible to travel 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, constructed in 1117, was initially built as a fortress for protection, not as a royal residence. However, having endured many years of war, Marksburg had established numerous defenses, enabling it to escape damage and remain the only medieval castle in the Rhine Valley that was not destroyed or conquered in battle. That does not mean the castle was never lost. The castle was often handed over to the opposing side because of a larger war. Interestingly, this castle is the original, with no restoration or duplication based on current technology. Granted, certain things were cleaned up, and other decorations were added to symbolize items that were once used in the prison, such as a plastic T-bone in the kitchen; however, these were all minor details compared to the overall objective.

Marksburg is situated at the top of a moderately tall mountain in Braubach, near the ancient city of Koblenz. The section we went through today primarily consisted of entire 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 that has never been destroyed. However, it has undergone most phases of castle development, transferring from duke to duke, family to family, and kingdom to empire. Yet, most of the interior remained the same, featuring a main bedroom, kitchen, and dungeon. Surrounding the outside was a three-meter-thick wall, with numerous openings that looked 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 craggy. The walls and stone, as well, were calm 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 caught me off guard whenever I opened a door. Although fashioned nicely, each room showed imperfect architecture and angles, an evident design style. Looking 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 early this year, and the autumn shades were revealing in 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 in a larger picture. With each piece, I feel a bit more knowledgeable about castles, as each piece reveals a bit more of medieval life and adds a bit more context to European history.

【紅霞譯】

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“戰神”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“溪流”鎮峻岭頂峰，距離古城科布倫茨“合流”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。

2002年，萊茵河中上遊河谷被聯合國教科文組織納入《世界遺產名錄》。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

2017: Epicure of the Rhine, Germany(德國萊茵河·美味佳餚)

2017: Rhine—Trechtingshausen to Bingen,DE(德國從隼堡到女先知)

2017: Rhine—Lorch to Niederheimbach, DEU(德國從死亡島到秀頸堡)

2017: Rhine—Kaub to Bacharach, DEU(德國從皇宮城堡到守護者禮拜堂)

2017: Oberwesel—Schonburg & Ochsenturm, DEU(德國美堡與牛塔)

2017: Loreley—Father Rhine, Germany(德國河妖石·萊茵河之父)

2017: Rhine—Bornhofen to St Goar, DEU(德國從鼠堡到貓堡)

2017: Rhine—Spay to Boppard, DEU(德國從雷司令到葡萄種植園)

2017: Rhine—Koblenz to Lahnstein, DEU(德國從德意志之角到防禦重鎮)