We recently had a hint of spring with the weather in the upper 40s and SUN (!!!!), so Andy, Drew, and I went on a Saturday afternoon stroll… at the ruins of a castle built in 1100 and destroyed during the Thirty Years War in the 1600s 
Burgruine Flossenbürg was built around the year 1100 by Count Berengar von Sulzbach. It originally had only a residential tower surrounded by a high curtain wall. At the time it was built, it was one of the most important castles in the Upper Palatinate area.
In the 1200s, the bergfried (the main tower that is used solely for defense) was added, and then in the 1500s, a gate system was added. In 1634 during the Thirty Years’ War, the castle was set on fire by retreating soldiers, and from there, it fell into disrepair.
The castle was built on a granite dome, and many centuries later, quarries were operated there to mine the granite. In fact, WWII Flossenbürg Concentration Camp (where Christian theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed) was just a few kilometers away.
Fun fact that I learned about castles while writing this blog post: courtyards enclosed by a curtain wall are known as baileys… This might explain why I’m so obsessed with castles, hahaha 😉
It is still mind-blowing to me that there is so much history here in Germany. Every time I leave the house, I feel like I’m in an episode of Outlander or Bridgerton or Pride and Prejudice.
I still cannot believe WE LIVE HERE 