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Player News A virtual field trip to Castle Drachenfels

petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
TLDR: When I was recently visiting a friend of mine, I asked him for nice places to go to and he said "There is this place castle Drachenfels", so I of course went for it.

To my suprise, I recently found myself and my bike near the the Drachenfels. I was never playing on Drachenfels myself, but since it's UO, I went to give it a visit. The old thread about the Drachenfels unfortunately has broken image links, so maybe one or another will enjoy the little journey.

The weather was ok (Don't quote me on that you Texas and Florida people) - but rather grey - and we arrived a bit late, so there's plenty of content I couldn't look into. Anyway, we are going to start a couple miles south of Cologne, Germany in Königswinter and hike up to the Nibelungehalle, Castle Drachenburg, the top the Drachenfels and finally to the old Fortress, where they say that dude Siegfried killed a dragon.

So we start at the Rhine river, one of the biggest rivers in Germany, spanning basically the whole country north to south. There is this small town Königswinter, but in the Rhine valley, it's all one big mix of cities bordering each other. It's between Koblenz and Cologne, the 4th largest city in Germany.

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After a short stroll through the city, you eventually arrive at bottom of the hill. From here you can take the old tram, or hike up the hill for about an hour. There is also a museum, with a full small scale model of the hill.

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Since nobody knows for sure, there's also a warning sign before you start the hike uphill. Ya'll been warned!

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Along the way there are small houses and "Weinguts". It's not Sonoma (like I would know anything about Sonoma lol), but apparently they get it to work even with the little sun Europeans are used to. There are way more landmarks, but as it was getting late, we had to wrap things up a bit all the way through the hike. Some people are lucky to have properties and houses there. Not the worst place for that.

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Eventually, you arrive at the Nibelungenhalle, which closed an hour early, so not much to tell here apart from that there is a reptilian expidition inside, which a living alligator ffs. But I didn't get to see that. Germans being german, it also got a house sign. So if you ever want to get rid of your alligator, it's the 107.

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Next stop: Castle Drachenburg. What a sight! As you can tell, there was rain in between.

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Unfortunately, we only had about 50 minutes left at this point, so we went straight for the Castle. There is a huge botnaical garden around it, for sure worth a visit itself. The inner areas are fance af. They asked 7€ per person for it, but it's worth it I'd say. Make sure to bring at least 2 to 3 hours of time. Here are a couple pictures:

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petemage

Babbling Loonie
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
UNLEASHED
There is some hall of fame kind of thing. You might recognize this dude on the upper left. To the right it's Johann Sebastian Bach.

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I read it a couple of times, but I got no idea what he means. Maybe one more try? There are plenty more people (left to right Rubens, Dürer, Rembrandt). Apparently, they redid they thing a couple years ago.

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If you were lucky to be hosted in the honor-guest suite (not the north tower suite), you got this beautiful balcony with a view over the whole river valley. There also two golden deer, but I have no idea what this is about.

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So that concludes the visit to the Drachenburg. But now you are only half done. Let's go to the top of the Drachenfels next. There is a little place to eat and rest and another stunning view over the rhine valley. A german episode of "Germany's next superstar" was hosted here once, and I was told this is something worth reporting. So there is that.

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As we arrived too late, there was no time for a beer here. But that's what you would usually see Germans do if you arrived earlier. Half way between Drachenburg and the hilltop a couple of rocks broke loose a couple of years ago. Germans endore wild nature, as long as it's not too wild, so they spent 2 million euros to secure it. Don't ask me how they did it, but if you still own a donkey, I'm happy to report that the donkey track is perfectly safe to use once again.

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At the very top of the Drachenfels there is an old Fortress. Where the dragon was killed (see above). The myst thickened a bit at this point, which made for a matching atmosphere. No dragons have been seen today. And that cocludes our little trip to the Drachenfels. I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

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tanotan

Journeyman
Stratics Veteran
Stratics Legend
I enjoyed reading your vacation Story and you took awesome photographys.

Btw, the elder golden german Letters say something like that (I translate that old german **** :) )

Drachenburg
You proud castle built in the most beautiful place.
Bring luck to everyone and remain a haven for the German spirit.
Where there has been robbery and wild feuds rage.
Now unfold the peace of its blossoms.
Build 1882 - 1884

In the old german language, it was something like a rhime.

Lang lebe Drachenfels, lang lebe UO. :)
 
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