Monday, August 2, 2010
Visit the Eppstein Castle
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Castle Museum
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Read Alexandre Dumas's Gothic Novel "Castle Eppstein"
Just finished reading Alexandre Dumas's Castle Eppstein--enjoyed the descriptions of dark forests and howling winds on this gusty day in Eppstein. Dumas was one of the first Romantics and published The Count of Monte Cristo, The Three Musketeers, and Castle Eppstein all in 1844. A couple years ago I attended the open-air production of The Three Musketeers against the backdrop of Eppstein Castle, not realizing that Dumas had actually used the romantic ruins for one of his tales--Le Chateau d'Eppstein.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Hike to Eppstein's Kaisertempel
Monday, July 6, 2009
Have a Meal Overlooking Eppstein
Sept. 2016//Restaurant has closed, hope it reopens next year!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Have a Drink at Eppstein's Bahnhof
Bergpark Villa Anna
Frankfurt Activity: See a Show at Frankfurt University
The Chaincourt Theatre Company of the English department at Frankfurt University puts on at least one production a semester.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Eppo the Knight
Eppstein-Vockenhausen
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Walk to the "Pionier-Tempel"
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Excursion: Day on the Rhine
Friday, June 12, 2009
Go Greek at Kalispera
- Kalispera (Tel. 06198/ 1238) has a friendly atmosphere and is run by one of Eppstein's own families.
Go to St. Jakobus for a Church Service
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Relax in a medieval terraced garden
The first mention of Eppstein Castle's Altangarten was in 1630. The original terraced garden was not merely decorative. Its yields were part of the payment given officials of the Hessian revenue office, which had its seat at the castle.
The Eppstein Castle Society (Burgverein) has tried to remain true to the garden's original purpose and planted apricot trees, grapevines, and healing plants.
According to an article in the Frankfurter Rundschau, the Society was inspired in their historic restoration by Albert Magnus, who in a 13th century manuscript sketched the ideal medieval garden: beds of herbs, fruit trees, flowers, and a bench, which invites its visitor to bide a while.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Bike to Eppstein-Ehlhalten
A few years ago a bike path was constructed between the Eppstein "Stadtteile" (districts) of Vockenhausen and Ehlhalten. Today we took advantage of the nice weather and biked to the village of Ehlhalten, founded in the 11th century by a religious order, to look at their church, built in 1732 on the site of an older medieval chapel.
Castle Activity
Monday, May 4, 2009
Take the Train to the City and Beyond
Friday, May 1, 2009
Goethe House in Frankfurt
Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832) is, of course, one of Germany's most famous writers. Whenever we have visitors from out of town, we like to prepare Goethe's favorite meal Grüne Soße (green sauce). A fitting follow-up activity is going into Frankfurt and visiting his place of birth am Großer Hirschgraben.
Only the first four stairs inside the house are from the original house; the rest was destroyed during the War. Those stone stairs are interesting though because Germans have the expression that if people are very rich, they are "steinreich" (stone rich), and that is because only the very rich could afford such stairs in the home; the rest had wooden staircases.
Other than that, we appreciated the house's "Frankfurter Schrank," the large cupboard in which the 100+ sets of linens were kept in those days when wash day was only a few times a year. And I found the high writing desk inspiring, where Goethe began Faust.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Frankfurt Excursion: Städel Museum
Sunday, April 26, 2009
May 1 Bike Race Through Eppstein
Take a Scenic Walk Around Villa Anna
Neufville Tower
The Neufville Tower is the perfect Eppstein destination for a short hike (15-20 minutes), which can be taken even with young children. Walk up the narrow paved road behind the train station. Stay on the paved road rather than going to your right towards Villa Anna or to your left on the Panorama Path. A small café in the tower serves lattes and cake on the weekends and holidays from April to September (1-6 p.m.).
Frankfurt: Night of the Museums
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Day in Frankfurt: Alte Oper
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Tour the Old Town
Every Easter Monday, Dr. Picard, Eppstein's archivist, conducts a walking tour of old Eppstein-- from the train station to the castle ruins. Today I took the tour for my third time. In particular, I enjoy hearing about turn-of-the-century Eppstein as a tourist destination. It seems once Eppstein got on the train line, vacationers would come by train from the Rhineland to spend the week in the spa town ("Luftkurort") with its romantic castle ruins. In 1900, as many as 3000 tourists would make the trip out to Eppstein on a beautiful day such as today.