Cochem Interior

After climbing all the way up the hill, getting through all the gates and passing through the gardens Heinrich finally got to the inner courts of the castle.

 

Inside the castle there were lots of cool things from the times of knights and kings. One of the rooms was called the hunting room. It had deer and elk antlers, a stuffed wild boar, and stuffed birds. The tour guide said that the spear that killed the boar was the one on the wall next to him.

 

There was an unusual ceiling lamp. It was in the shape of a mermaid but had wings made out of deer antlers. There was a spot on the mermaid's stomach. The legend is that if you rub he tummy it will bring you good luck. Heinrich wanted to test this theory and gave the tummy a good rub.

Heinrich really enjoyed the main dining hall. Beautiful carved woods, sculpted fireplace and mantle, and fancy artwork. This is where the Lord of castle would have his big dinners with lots of guests.

An older dining hall was in another part of the castle. This section was a lot more crude and rough. This is where the lower knights would feast. The chairs in this room only had three legs. The three legs were easier to balance on the uneven stone floors. The knight would sit backwards on the stool like it was a wooden horse. The wood arms were not for the back. It was for balancing his arms while he drank big steins of beer.

In another room they had a table with some huge beer steins. The biggest were 5 liters. These were for the monks and that was how much wine they were allowed to drink every day. The smaller mugs were only 3 liters big. These were for the nuns. That's a lot of wine for one person for one day.

All this touring had made Heinrich very hungry. He was invited for dinner in the old chapel that is in the middle of the castle courtyard. The inside of the chapel had some beautiful stain glassed windows. Most of them showed saints and apostles. Heinrich really liked the one that showed Melchisedech. The dinner was very good. It was Saurbratten, tomato soup, bread with garlic bread, and salads with vegetables. The dessert was grapes over cheese chunks with a stick holding them together. Heinrich wanted to get a picture but the camera went dead just before he got the picture with the meal.