• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Let there be snark.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

Battle won, war still ongoing.

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

This really is a full service blog.

Infrastructure week. at last.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Photo Blogging / On The Road / On The Road – otmar – Two less well preserved castles (2/2)

On The Road – otmar – Two less well preserved castles (2/2)

by WaterGirl|  June 19, 20205:00 am| 10 Comments

This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging

FacebookTweetEmail

On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.

From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.

Submit Your Photos

Today we have the second of two castles from ottar!  After today, for the next two weeks I hope to have entries from First Timers.  We  have 4 so far, that leaves 6 more to go.   Come on, First Timers, I know you’re out there, with some great photos.  I hope you’ll share them with us.  ~WaterGirl

The following weekend, we also hiked in a park east of Vienna.

This time it was the “Wüste” in Mannersdorf. The name Leithagebirge (“Mountains of the Leitha river”) is a slight exaggeration; this string of hills wouldn’t be called “mountains” by anyone who is used to the Alps.

Anyway, there are archeological marvels in there.

On The Road - otmar - Two less well preserved castles (2/2) 6
The monastery

Translated from the website:

The former monastery of St. Anna was founded by Eleonora of Mantua in 1644 and, after being destroyed by the Turks in 1683, flourished in Maria Theresa’s time.

Since the Discalced Carmelites are a contemplative order, the monastery was closed in the wake of the abolition of Josef II on September 1, 1783.

Parts of the monastery buildings were assigned to a forester; other parts together with the monastery church served as storage rooms for a long time and fell into disrepair.

On The Road - otmar - Two less well preserved castles (2/2) 5
Ruine Scharfeneck

This area of the monastery is fenced in by a stone wall. Hiking up and reaching the first ridge of the hills, we meet Ruine Scharfeneck.

It dates back to the 11th century, played a role in typical medieval feuds for power and possessions in the 14th and 15th century. Its location in the border region between Austria and Hungary made it interesting.

The last real use of the monastery was as a refuge during the second Ottoman siege of Vienna.

On The Road - otmar - Two less well preserved castles (2/2) 4
Ruine Scharfeneck

This castle has been left to itself for quite some time. It’s spooky to visit as it’s just there in the wood. No guardrails, no concrete securing old masonry and certainly no “access for handicapped”.

There is just a sign saying “you really shouldn’t enter”, but I guess that’s only for the village to avoid liability in case something happens.

On The Road - otmar - Two less well preserved castles (2/2) 3
Ruine Scharfeneck

Still more pictures from the outside.

The castle layout is a square with extended corner fortifications and a round tower in the courtyard.

On The Road - otmar - Two less well preserved castles (2/2) 2
Inside Ruine Scharfeneck

Walking inside the courtyard, you can see the remnants of rooms and windows.

On The Road - otmar - Two less well preserved castles (2/2) 1
Inside Ruine Scharfeneck

Some more impressions.

On The Road - otmar - Two less well preserved castles (2/2)
Ruine Scharfeneck

Climbing up the remnants of the central tower (which was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1555) treats you to a view over the pains in the direction of the eastern fringes of the Alps.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « GOP Stupidity Open Thread: Countdown to Trump’s Tulsa Rally
Next Post: COVID-19 Coronavirus Update: Thursday/Friday, June 18-19 »

Reader Interactions

10Comments

  1. 1.

    otmar

    June 19, 2020 at 5:51 am

    Sheesh, there are a lot of typos in my submission. Sorry about that.

    Anyway, my next one will be yet another castle: Festung Hohensalzburg.

  2. 2.

    JPL

    June 19, 2020 at 6:28 am

    It really is spooky.@otmar:  Are you able to get out and about now?

  3. 3.

    J R in WV

    June 19, 2020 at 6:50 am

    Great spooky pics of a great old pile of ruins. Again, Thanks for sharing, Otmar.

    You’re the only way for us to visit central Europe right now, and we’re grateful for this!

    I’ve always liked old ruins. The very mysterious ancient ruins of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and SE Colorado are fascinating. IIRC I’ve submitted some photos of Chaco Canyon and Canyon de Chelly.

  4. 4.

    arrieve

    June 19, 2020 at 9:12 am

    I love old ruins. I’d love to see this by moonlight (well, not me personally, obviously, as I would break my neck tripping over rocks.)

    Thanks for sharing, otmar.

  5. 5.

    otmar

    June 19, 2020 at 10:02 am

    @JPL: I spent the last weekend in Salzburg. Travel restrictions per se have been lifted weeks ago, that was not the problem.

    But for visiting my mother I waited for the results of my antibody test.

    I took the train. On one leg it there were many free seats. On the other, I’d rate that it ran at 40% occupancy.

    Austria is far ahead on the re-opening.

  6. 6.

    otmar

    June 19, 2020 at 10:03 am

    @arrieve: Friends told me that they camped there, including late night bbq on an open fire. Sounded like fun, if you’re into that thing.

  7. 7.

    Miss Bianca

    June 19, 2020 at 10:05 am

    Wow, spooky old ruined castle in the woods! Great photos, Otmar!

  8. 8.

    Redshift

    June 19, 2020 at 12:41 pm

    Cool, I love castles. I’ve visited my share of castles and ruins of castles/monasteries in the UK and Ireland. I didn’t know that the Holy Roman Empire has also had an abolition of monasteries.

  9. 9.

    stinger

    June 19, 2020 at 6:12 pm

    Very cool!

  10. 10.

    KrakenJack

    June 19, 2020 at 8:10 pm

    Great pictures and educational too. “Discalced means: unshod, barefoot”

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • WaterGirl on Thursday Morning Open Thread: Vice-President Harris in Africa (Mar 30, 2023 @ 11:11am)
  • Ksmiami on Thursday Morning Open Thread: Vice-President Harris in Africa (Mar 30, 2023 @ 11:11am)
  • WaterGirl on Thursday Morning Open Thread: Vice-President Harris in Africa (Mar 30, 2023 @ 11:11am)
  • Karen S. on House of Mouse Strikes Back (Mar 30, 2023 @ 11:10am)
  • Kathleen on Thursday Morning Open Thread: Vice-President Harris in Africa (Mar 30, 2023 @ 11:10am)

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Seattle Meetup coming up on April 4!

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Classified Documents: A Primer
State & Local Elections Discussion

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!