Geocaching is a hobby that has something for everyone. According to the Geocaching guidelines, a 1 terrain cache needs to be wheelchair accessible. Finding caches that have higher difficulty ratings and a terrain of 1 is sometimes difficult. At the time of this write-up there were only 1,418 4/1 caches in the US and only 43 in Pennsylvania. Here is a puzzle that will take time to solve but should be easy to find.
Eltz Castle (German: Burg Eltz) is a medieval castle nestled in the hills above the Moselle between Koblenz and Trier, Germany. It is still owned by a branch of the House of Eltz who have lived there since the 12th century. Eltz Castle is one of only three castles in the Eifel region which have never been destroyed. Parts of the castle are open for tours seasonally. Official Burg Eltz site.
The castle stands on a 70-metre-high (230 ft) rock spur that is bounded on three sides by the river Elzbach. The surrounding Eltz Forest has been declared a nature reserve by Flora-Fauna-Habitat and Natura 2001. This is a castle divided into several parts, which belong to different families or different branches of a family; this usually occurs when multiple owners of one or more territories jointly build a castle to house themselves.
In about 810 the site was occupied by a simple manor hall with an earthen palisade. Several hundred years later, the House of Eltz began work on the Platteltz, a Romanesque keep, built on the site of the old manor hall. This remains the oldest part of the castle. By 1157 the fortress was an important part of the Holy Roman Empire. It protected the trade routes from the Moselle Valley and the Eifel region. Between 1331–1336, the castle endured the only serious military conflicts in its history during the Eltz Feud.
Started in 1470 by Philipp zu Eltz, the 10-story Greater Rodendorf House, with its late Gothic vaulted ceiling was probably originally a chapel. Construction was completed around 1520. The (so-called) Little Rodendorf house was finished in 1540, also in Late Gothic style with a vaulted "banner-room". In 1472 the House of Rübenach completed the castle wing that has Late Gothic architecture. The buildings include the Rübenach Lower Hall, living room, and the bedchamber with its opulently decorated walls. In 1615 the House of Kempenich house replaced the castle's original hall. Every room in this part of the castle could be heated; in contrast, other castles might only have one or two heated rooms.
In the mid-19th century, Count Karl zu Eltz restored the castle. Between 1845 and 1888, 184,000 marks (equivalent to €2,680,000 in 2021) were spent on extensive construction work that carefully preserved the existing architecture. The castle is still owned by three branches of the Eltz family.
**Burg, Eltz, 3/2024, photo used with the permission of the photographer. Burg Eltz info from Wikipedia.
GC26C – Medieval View, the oldest cache in Germany is located in the nature reserve that surrounds this castle. If you are a premium member, you can follow this link to the cache page.
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BURG ELTZ
