Marksburg:   interior

To the left is the fireplace for the great hall.  This open fireplace can hold an entire oxen on the spit. 

The dining area is quite simple by our terms, but one of relative luxury for 500 years ago.

As pointed out before, the Marksburg is one of the few castles where you can take photos during the tour.  This is one of the reasons I prefer castles without tours, even if they have fewer objects and artifacts within, for I like to see the nature of the construction and architecture. 

To the right, one of the rustic rooms within the castle.  While many might think it would be fun, even romantic, to live in a castle, it must be pointed out that castles, due to their very construction, tend to be dark and damp within.

One aspect of life we take for granted today in the West is that of personal hygene.  In the day before running hot water, hygene could be a tricky, even dangerous, affair.  Washing during the winter months could quickly lead to illness, since the average person had relatively weak constitutions compared to today.  While many Westerners may be soft mentally, the fact is many homeless in America eat better than a good portion of the population of medieval Europe.

To the left is a sink that drained to the outside.  The sump tube is a simple system that was reasonably effective.

Underscoring the statement made above is the entrance to the lord's chamber.  The door is barely 5 1/2 feet high, indicating that the lord himself was probably 5 foot... at best.  Physical height is indicative of diet and has little to do with racial characteristics. 

The Marksburg's arms display (below) demonstrates this as well.  I have seen some suits of armor that were no more than 4 1/2 feet high... and these were for fighting men of top caliber in those days.  One could imagine how they would have felt had they taken on the soldiers of the modern American or European armies of today!

Click here for the official Marksburg website.