View from Wartburg Palas at Eisenach and Thuringia

This panoramic view was taken during a series of photos for the “Freie Institut fuer Bauforschung” in Marburg. The aim was to see whether panoramas and virtual tours are useful tools for university lectures and building assessments. I took this picture of the Wartburg Palace jointly with Torben Tenschert.

We made the photo independent of the building assessment. It was taken spontaneously during a break. The balcony is usually hidden behind a curtain on the stage in the hall. It is invisible to the public, too small and forbidden to access. After moving the curtain aside we discovered the metal door, which surprisingly could be opened. I stepped out on the balcony and was astonished by the romantic view. Luckily we had tripod and camera already set up. I carried it to the narrow balcony and took the photos. The panorama shows the landscape of Thueringen close to Eisenach after a heavy thunderstorm. It is not always that foggy. Left of the balustrade you can see the representational art noveau villas of Eisenach, the point on the right is the Burschenschafts monument.

The lit-up room in the rear shows faded through the glass the big festive hall of the Wartburg. The medieval pillar is approximately 700 years old. The palace was built between 1156 and 1162. In 1319 and again mid of the 19th century the building was restored and redecorated by Moritz von Schwind. In the 1950s the systematic research and restoration started.

The Wartburg is one of the most important monuments of German history. It is the place where the German national saint Elisabeth lived (1211-1217), where Martin Luther translated the bible into German, where the famous Burschenschafts meeting of 1817 took place, and it is the location of Wagner’s opera “Tannhaeuser”.

This view was exclusively enjoyed by Elisabeth of Thueringen, Martin Luther, Dukes and famous artists. I am not sure but this photo seems to be the first “democratic view” from the Wartburg Palas balustrade for everybody.

Europe / Germany

Lat: 50° 57' 56.99" N
Long: 10° 18' 23.92" E

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

D200, 10,5 Nikon Fisheye, modified Manfrotto head, PTGui