Continuing with some posts of pictures that I’ve finally processed – and which are from 2010. The latest set is from Berg Falkenstein, Germany back in May of 2010.

Falkenstein is a town in the Harz district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the northeastern edge of the Harz, approx. 10 km west of Aschersleben. The town was created in 2002 by merging the town Ermsleben with 6 other municipalities. It was named after nearby Falkenstein Castle, about 5 km to the southwest.

The castle here is now abandoned and has been restored for tourist use only. The most basic castle here was built as a defensive fortification sometime around 1120. The present day castle was built between 1500 – 1700 but was designed to protect the majority of the medieval character of the original buildings. It was recently restored and contains a registrar’s office for weddings, a throne room, knight’s hall, a fully functional “old” kitchen, and a delightful underground chapel with a small cabinet organ that still works. Additionally, there is a proper falconry on the grounds which is actually still in use and tourists can see the birds between March and October.

You can see more of the set on my flickr site here.