Lichtenstein Castle sits a-top a cliff located in the Swabian Alb, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. Its name in English means "light stone." Unfortunately this was not the original castle that had historically stood on the site in 1200 as it was destroyed twice; once in the Reichskriegs war of 1311 and again by the city-state of Reutlingen in 1381. However, in 1802 King Frederick I of Wurttemberg built a hunting lodge at the site. When he passed his nephew Duke Wilheim of Urach obtained this romantic Neo-Gothic design of the castle, as inspired by Wihelm Hauff's novel "Lichtenstein."
It may not be the most extravagant castle let alone the grandest but it was rather quaint in its small size. Nick, unfortunately did not get to do with me as he had work, but I went with our neighbor. I have to say that my favorite part were the keys to get into the castle! They were huge and traditional. I was so excited about the key that I had our tour guide take a picture of me holding it! It was heavy, huge, and new looking but I could imagine that it most likely was rusted looking back in the day.
In the area of the castle were trails and a nice park for the family, and to my excitement an Adventure Park with zip lines and an entire world where you can climb trees like monkeys. I am certainly going back to that!
