Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Burg Hohenwerfen


Burg Hohenwerfen is a castle south of the Austrian city of Salzburg. The castle is majestically surrounded by the Berchtesgaden Alps and the Tennengebirge mountain range. The fortification is a "sister" of Hohensalzburg Castle. Both castles are dated from the 11th century.


It was built between 1075 and 1078 during the Investiture Controversy by the order of Archbishop Gebhard of Salzburg as a strategic bulwark atop a 155 meter rock high above the Salzach valley.
In 1931 the fortress, then owned by Archduke Eugen of Austria was severely damaged by a fire and, though largely restored, finally had to be sold to the Salzburg Reichsgau in 1938. After World War II it was used as a training camp by the Austrian Federal Gendarmerie (rural police) until 1987.

Nowadays the bastion, enlarged and renovated several times over the centuries, functions as an adventure castle for its visitors. Among the numerous attractions offered by the fortress are guided tours showing its extensive weapons collection, the historical Salzburg Falconry with the falconry museum as well as a stylish fortress tavern. The historic Falconry Center is a special attraction, offering daily flight demonstrations by various birds of prey.

You might like this, ~A.K.~, the Burg can be seen several times in the background in The Sound of Music, while they are singing Do Re Mi. Neat, huh?


This last picture is the one that made me decide to do a blog post. I took one look at it a literally said in my head, ''Dude epic awesomeness! I wanna own that!''

Have a wonderful day.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It does look familiar in that second picture. I might have noticed it during one of the umpteen times I've watched that movie. :)

The Falconry Center would be really neat to visit. Along with the rest of the castle, of course. :)

~ A.K. ~