You may by now be thoroughly bored by castles and such, but I took nearly 1000 photos at Burghausen and Landshut, so you better settle in to suffer through a few more. Next up is a look inside the Palas, the main living quarters of the Ducal family.

Over the centuries, the castle of Burghausen has been built, rebuilt, expanded, added onto and repurposed from fortification to Court of the Wittelsbach duchesses – married, abandoned, widowed, cherished, plain or ambitious, this was their home for a few centuries. Over time, the castle also served as a garrison, a prison, and a hunting lodge. Napoleon checked it out too and found it boring. Owing to wars, fires, changing needs, and changing tastes, very little of the original Medieval structure and its furnishings have been preserved. But where ever possible, the presentation of the rooms in this museum is as true to the period shown as is humanly possible. For example, in the 13th century, the hallway above was twice as wide as it is now. More a hall than a corridor yet its present dimensions still allow for an impression of the character and layout of the duke’s private apartment.

This innocuous looking stick is a 228 cm long “Doppelhaken” a double hook attachment to the barrel of a firearm used to shoot from castle walls or out of arrow slits. The large hook welded to the stick about one third down the length of the barrel could be hooked against a wooden buffer to cushion the tremendous recoil of the large caliber [24 – 28 mm] lead ammo.

The duke’s study is a bright and pleasant room.

I’d give an eye tooth for this gorgeous wardrobe!

In the large dining room, the central pier and support beam are original late Gothic structural features.

Beautiful wood work, from massive to …

… charming and delicate.

To add some warmth to the cold stone walls, many tapestries were hung in the family apartments.

Detail of tapestry in dining room

Views over the castle roofs, from the roof of the Palas.

Stepping back outside into the courtyard, stone walls, nooks, and crannies abound. We were so lucky with this sunny Saturday in an otherwise rainy June!

A faintly visible 16th fresco and a bell to ring the hours of the watch for the garrison.

Finally, we made our way out of the inner keep through the heavily reinforced steel gate and proceed to the Cafe for some badly needed refreshment. 

While relaxing in the café, we observed a somewhat unusual wedding party with a Goth meets Baroque theme. Many of the female guests and the bride were dressed in cheerful black. The Gentlemen had chosen suits or Tracht, many sporting a (hammer or ax or ?) handle dangling on their side, reminiscent of a short sword in the (very) olden days. I suppose they belong to a woodworkers guild, wearing their Sunday best with their insignia.

Back home from the café we parted ways. One of us turning in and taking a nap, the other roaming the castle grounds shooting this and shooting that.

St. Hedwig’s Chapel

The lush gardens to behold everywhere,

were a true joy!

Rare goats to boot!

We never saw the goats, but several sheep were grazing on the steep castle hill.

Mom was giving an interview, it seemed, …

… while her quartet enjoyed the far views over the river Salzach.

After taking some pictures herself, …

… she engaged a neighbourly castle dweller in deep horticultural discourse.

Meanwhile, her brood attempted a brake 🙂

And since this post has been sitting around forever, I better let it go without further ado.