Tea at Trianon: Castles of the Black Forest

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, January 8, 2022

Castles of the Black Forest

From Visit European Castles:

The Black Forest or Schwarzwald in German is a large forested hill range in the Southwest of Germany. The Black Forest borders the Rhine Valley and it is close to Switzerland and France. You can find many castles and castle ruins in the Black Forest in Germany. And most of these historic castles can be visited.

In this post you will find the best Medieval, Baroque and Gothic Castles in the Black Forest. I will share the history of these historic buildings and you will find visitor information so you can start planning your trip. At the end of the post you’ll find a map with the castles in Germany’s Black Forest. To make the planning of your trip to one of these 23 castles in Schwarwald even easier. (Read more.)