Follow the Falcon

     Today, we were invited by some good friends to take a castle tour which included a presentation by a falconer.  Back in the day, this castle served as a hunting villa for royalty.  It was built in 1550.  Usually when we visit something in Germany, there are travel hiccups along the way.  Not this time.  When we got out of the car near the castle, there was a guy with a falcon on his arm walking behind our car.  Ah ha.  I figured, follow the falcon.  Sure enough, the falcon led us right to the castle and the place to purchase the tickets.

Since the castle was a hunting villa, the museum inside had hunting artifacts.  It was very prestigious to hunt with a falcon.  This picture shows one of the royalty with a falcon.  We were told one of the little blinder hats with plumes for a falcon from this time period sold for 18,000 Euros.

 

A large (many kilometers) area was fenced off around the castle to serve as a game preserve.  Hunting parties used spears and then guns for hunting.  These spears were used for bears and wild boars.

 

 

Here are some pictures of inside the castle and the views from the castle tower.

The climb to the top of the tower was very steep.  About 1/2 way up there was a pit used as solitary confinement for a prisoner.  This pit was 7 meters deep.  No thanks.

I know you are thinking  "Will there be a falcon on this falcon tour?"  Here you go.

 

 

I'm putting some text here so the blog post does not end akwardly with just a photo.