Reply #4: Pfalz and Gutenfels [View All]

Burg Pfalz is one such fortification was built on a sandbar in the Rhine precisely for exacting tolls. Note the boat shaped structure to ensure it withstood high water. It was, in all likelihood not painted so gaily in the 14th century. The barons did not neglect taxing their serfs and peasants. That they protected their towns is more akin to making sure it was they who got to "fleece their sheep."

Pfalz Castle in the middle of the Rhine and Gutenfels Castle in the background, with the town of Kaub in between.



One does need to remember that Americans think a hundred years is a long time while Europeans think 100 miles is a long way. Those who think the castles in Germany seem close together need to remember when they were built they were a couple days apart on horseback, not 15 minutes on the Bundestaße.

As a former infantryman, you certainly must have pondered what warfare must have been like as you "rushed" up the incredibly steep approaches to latest in medieval military architecture while the inhabitants hurled, spears, arrows, excrement, boiling oil and dead animals down upon you.