On the Road Again!

Tuesday October 2, 2007

On the last Friday of September, we resumed our Friday Tours with Karina Tillig and our first trip of the season was to Burg Scharfenstein in Erzgebirge.

Karina had planned this particular trip for last May but our intended tour guide had fallen ill and was unable to give us our historical overview.

Burg Scharfenstein sits above the town of Erzgebirge in a deep valley. The area surrounding is described as dunkelwald, or dark forest. The day of our visit was rainy and the valley was shrouded in mist. The leaves are beginning to show distinct signs of autumn.

We began with an uphill climb – why do these always begin with strenuous exercise? – and entered the courtyard of a charming, small castle. It was pouring, so I haven’t many pictures but a description should suffice. The courtyard was circular and paved with smooth cobblestones and it surrounded a tower that was built into a solid rock outcropping. Doors lining the interior walls led to various shops and restaurants as well as the toy museum housed there.

Our first stop was at the top of the castle in the lace-making studio where we all took part in creating multi-colored “friendship” bracelets in the method of Klöppel, which involves interweaving threads attached to 8 wooden spindles. It’s rather simple once you determine the pattern but I can’t imagine the concentration required to complete a piece made completely of one color. Our pieces were riddled with mistakes, but we each took home our project to commemorate the visit. One of the ladies said the lace-making was similar to tatting.

We met our guide, Karl Stülper, for a short tour of the castle and a lesson in it’s history. Amazingly, the castle remained in the ownership of one family for 600 years before a fire in 1921 bankrupted the last owner and he was forced to sell in 1931. Soon after, the castle and its contents fell into the hands of the Russians and little remains of its fixtures and furnishings.

The drive wasn’t too long, though the highway accident we saw on the way in was still causing significant delays when we left a few hours later.

Comment

  1. Sounds like a lot of fun. I am sure you are trying to squeeze in as much outside time as you can!! It looks like you had a great time. Miss you,
    Jamie

    — Jamie · Oct 3, 10:42 PM · #

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