Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-01-07
GERMANY'S CASTLES
Kaiser Interested in Restora-
ton and Preservation.
OWNS MANY STRONGHOLDS
Heads Archaeological Society, Which
Undertakes Work.
ANCIENT CUSTOMS REVIVED
Meetings at Marksberg Attended
With Ceremony-Condition
Of Fortresses.
ANCIENT CUSTOMS REVIVED
-RY WILLIAM CIIRTIS


Written for The Star and the Chicago Record
Herald.
More than a year ago I received a let
ter from thoughtful reader asking
whether anything had been done by the
German government to restore or preserve
the ancient fortress Of Ehrenbreitstein,
on the Rhine. which Lord Byron describ-
ed in vivid verse.
An inquiry, made as soon as / arrived
in Berlin, opened up a fascinating sub
ject Before I finished I obtained a list
of sixty-two castles, palaces, chateaux.
shooting boxes and other residences of
the Emperor Of Germany, fifty-five Of
and are entailed upon his successor, so
that they cannot be sold.
The inquiry threw a new light upon the
character Of the kaiser also. He has an
intense love of medievalism. is an ardent
admirer Of physical strength and valor.
is full of sentiment and fond of the
glamour of the days of ancient chivairy.
He would have been a great hero had he
lived at the time Of the crusades.
In his childhood and even now the ro-
mances and histories which charm him
most are those which tell of the achieve
ments Of the bold knights who built and
defended the castles on the Rhine. and
the robber barons whose strongholds oc-
cupied crags Of mountain ranges scat
tered over Germany.
Preserver of Ancient Piles.
He has expended a great deal of his
own money and hundreds Of millions of
marks from the public treasures in pro-
tecting and restoring these ancient
strongholds. and took the initiative in
founding a society for the preservation of
historical castles, palaces and other build
ings in Germany. which, according to DIR.
Bodo Ebhardt. secretary Of the organiza-
ton, number nearly 10000.
BY command of the emperor a census
of such edifices has been made. He has
exercised his powerful influence upon the
owners of those which are still in pri-
vate hands to restore them to their orig
nal condition and furnish and equip
them as nearly as possible as they were
in the middle ages.
The emperor not only founded the So
ciety, but has taken an active interest in
is proceedings, and by imperial order
has assigned the ancient castle of Marks
berg, near Wiesbaden. on the Rhine, Tor
its headquarters. Marksberg is the only
one of the Rhenish castles that has never
been destroyed or badly damaged. and it
stands almost perfect today in sublime
position at the top of a rocky promontory
S5 feet above the ancient village OF
Braubach.
Its origin is unknown, but it is suppos-
ed to have been built in the ninth CEN
tury by the Landgrave John. surnamed
The Valiant" and by him dedicated tC
St. Mark. the evangelist. In the year
1850 it fell into the hands of the Fran.
CONAN enperors of Germany. and since
then has changed masters many times.
The PfalzgrafS OF the Rhine succeeded
The Counts of Arnstein in possession
They i'm turn were driven out by other
naughty lords, one after another. until II
passed to the house of Nassau. and from
hem, through the HOhenZollerns, was in.
herited by William Ii.
1t has been a prison as well as feuda
stronghold, and today Is devoted to the
loblest uses it has ever known, as the
headquarters of German archeologists
and the Society for the Preservation oi
-Serman Antiquities. 1t is the most pic
uresque of all the castle-crowned rocks
# the Rhine.
Byron says:
above the frequent feudal towers.
Through green leaves, lift their walls Of gray;
And many a rock which steeply lowers
And noble arch in proud decay"
Castle in Good Order.
It's walls and apartments are nearly
Ill unimpaired. Not a tower or buttress
or rampant has been destroyed or even
reformed throughout the entire structure
It therefore illustrates. better han any
other of the ancient fortresses of Europe
he science of military architecture as
,racticed in the middle ages.
The apartments of ceremony, those in
which the Pfaizgrafs dwelt, the quarters
If the knights. the armory, the stables
he dungeon. the donjon keep, the moats
md drawbr!dges, the gates and arrow
Sits are still perfect In every particular
3eneath the castle, hewn in the living
.ock. are the chamber Of DEATH" with
he manacles. letters. thumb screws. bow
strings and rack. preserved in all their
rightful reality.
To heighten the impression, the custo-
iians OF the place are grixzled and wound
ID veterans OF the army of Nassau.
The tragedies that have transpired. the
tears that have been shed, the sufferings
that have been endured and the anguish
that has torn the hearts Of thc.s. that
have dwelt within those old WAS has
never been told. But many stories have
been handed down and many legends and
traditions enwrap the grand old 10rtre6s.
One Of the most romantic telIq. h0w
Count Palatine Lewis 1.-The Severe" earned
his soubriquet. This famous and p0voe-
ful poten&Rte mayIio6 the PIincQo Narie