Neighbours, a photo from Rheinland-Pfalz, West

Photographer's Note

These are the castles Niederburg (lower castle) and Oberburg (upper castle) near the small town Manderscheid in the German low mountain range Eifel. They are only a stone's throw away from another. Both castles are situated on steep rocks and divided by the deep clough of Lieser river (see workshop!). By this situation the former street along this river could be controlled from both sides.

The castle Niederburg was first mentioned in 1133 and it was built by the noblemen of Manderscheid, reeves of the abbey of Echternach in Luxembourg, about 60 kilometers away. The abbey here had big estates - donated by the king. From 1346 to 1348 it was besieged by the elector Balduin of Trier but he failed. Until 1749 the castle was property of the family of the then counts of Manderscheid and it was destroyed by French troops. Since 1899 the ruin is property of the Eifelverein (Eifel-Association), which is conducive to hiking, nature conservation and local culture. This association is occupied with the reconstruction of the castle.

The Oberburg probably was built in the year 973 and it also was property of the abbey of Echternach. In 1147 it was devolved to the arch-monastery of Trier and it remained property of this until it was destroyed by French troups in 1673. Today it's property of the town Manderscheid. It's donjon gives a most impressive panoramic view to the Niederburg and the wonderful valley. You can see it in the workshop.

Using the map view function at the left you can zoom in (please click several times at +) exactly to the spacious ground of the Niederburg. The much more smaller Oberburg you can see north of it.

mvdisco, snunney, saxo042, eska, hrschwartz, jmcl, edal has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

mvdisco (16458) 2007-06-19 23:42

Bonsoir Frank,
Une belle photo de ces Châteaux Neiderburg (en bas) et Oberburg (en haut), une belle composition aux jolies couleurs, un excellent point de vue de ces châteaux qui ont une belle architecture..Mes salutations,
Michel

snunney (67430) 2007-06-20 4:35

Hello Frank,
A nice composition of these two castles perched on their rocks and surrounded by vegetation. Very good tones and definition.

Charo (51174) 2007-06-20 6:25

Hola Frank,
Preciosa foto con esos castillos inmersos entre tanta vegetación.
Estupendo color y definición.
Cordialmente
Charo

saxo042 (31802) 2007-06-20 6:50

Hi Frank,
A good photo with a lot of fine green nuances. We will definitely make the Eifel our next goal in Germany. We have passed many times but never stayed there. A very infomative note as well!
Regards
Gunnar

eska (522) 2007-06-20 8:04

Hi Frank. Excellent note and picture - both complement each other, nice.
Two castle combination must have been very useful at a time they were built. There is quite a few of them around, some have only a small turret (Larochette) across the valley. The secondary castle expanded defenses and control over roads or rivers around. They also give us fantastic points of view!
Greetings from Mississauga
Chris

UnTrained (0) 2007-06-20 8:42

Hallo Frank,
die Gegenüberstellung ist schön, insbesondere die vielen Linien der Mauern der Niederburg. Der Blick wird etwas schwierig durch die Lichtsituation und auch, weil soviel Grün mit im Vordergrund steht. Ist vermutlich schwer, dort überhaupt einen guten Standpunkt für beide zu finden bei all dem Wald. Gute Note!
Lieben Gruss, Ulf (schwül)

jlynx (12569) 2007-06-20 10:24

Guten Tag Frank,
This to me pleases very much. You chose the excellent place to photographing of both castles. Simultaneously you showed them interrelation and the position. I suppose that you had not the easy assignment, but from what the ingeniousness! Nice picture, nicely shown piece of history. Very spacious and interested description superbly supplements the good picture.
Best regards from very hot Poznan,
Jurek

jurek1951 (35765) 2007-06-20 11:51

Hi Frank, good view of that beautiful castle, well captured from a good POV.
good quality, and beautiful colours.

Nicou (97811) 2007-06-20 12:33

Hello,

mangifique château, dans cette merveilleuse verdure d'un très beau vert, le cadrage est tès bien recherché.

Bravo et très belle soirée

Nicou

jasmis (57596) 2007-06-20 14:53

Interesting scenery. Fine castles nearby. And detailed note, as well.
Regards my dear friend.

hrschwartz (742) 2007-06-20 19:04 [Comment]

Show Comment

jmcl (14535) 2007-06-21 21:40

Hi Frank,

Wonderful image .. the two ruined castles feel reclaimed by this vibrant, growing, green. Great point of view .. really well done and beautiful image. Incredible place.

take care,

John

edal (6804) 2007-06-23 0:22

Hi again Frank!
Your view here is another marvelous examle of German historical architecture surrounded by beautiful nature. Showing us some green bushes in fg gives a nice 3d effect of the capture.
Anton

jrj (34841) 2007-06-25 6:10

Interesting Frank to see the placement of this castles in the very greenish setting of today. Well made compo, good use also of the foreground flowers here.

jemaflor (69035) 2007-06-25 6:13

Salut Frank,
Belle composition avec cette photo, le point de vue est intéressant car il donne une impression de châteaux isolés au milieu de cet forêt, bon équilibre dans la photo, merci pour le partage.