Where is this castle on the banks of the Danube River?I saw this really cool publication which looks like it is a sketch from the front of a publication of The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss. Here it is: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Donauwalzer.jpg Does anyone know the name of the castle/schloss on top of the mountain in the sketch? I'd... | |
I'd say it's Dürnstein Castle - the best known castle in the Wachau region which is approx. 80 - 100 km upstream from Vienna where the river Danube breaks through the granit hills. The Wachau is and was famous for it's beautyful landscape, it's wine and it's apricots.
The castle is a ruin now and certainly was already when the picture was made but we must not forget that it is a work of art not designed to show reality but the mood of the scene and of course of the piece of music as well.
Dürnstein castle became famous because when returning from the Crusade King Richard I of England (Richard the Lionheart) was held captive there by the Austrian Duke Leopold.
Here a few websites with photos from the actual place. Unfortunately I have not found any pictures taken from the same angle as the one from the score book of the waltz. But you will certainly detect the parallels like the castle high over the village directly by the river, the walls leading down from the castle etc.)
http://gps-tour.info/de/touren/detai...
http://sagen.at/texte/sagen/oesterre...
Here you have to scroll down to Dürnstein - it's an old drawing unfortunately quite small
http://manfredhiebl.de/Burgen/main_b...
http://home.pages.at/gheigl/vogelbergsteig.htm
On this website you can see a lot of pics from the region also a few more castles like Aggstein or Hinterhaus
http://landschaftsfotos.at/Radtour%20Wachau%202006_09_02/Radtour_Wachau_2006_09_02.htm
http://pov.at/machherndl/wachau/Wachau_053a.jpg
All websites are German, sorry I chose them because of the pics.
So as said in the beginning I'd say Dürnstein because it's the best known and even it is not exactly how it was it certainly was the godfather of the cover illustration.
Hope it helps.
Unless you find some note of the artist who did the drawing nobody can possibly tell you there are a lot of places which look quite much like it.
Also do not forget at the time Austria was a lot bigger thus the place does not need to be in to days Austria.
Also it is not clear it is a real place at all since this is not a photography but the work of an artist it can also be an imaginary castle.
It's quite real!!
Clearly the town and castle of Dürnstein - as seen in better days. The Schloss Dürnstein is in the foreground, now a hotel. So you have a picture of two castles in close proximity.
The link below gives a birdseye view, but you can see how the buildings line up. The relative high hill is also a perfect fit. Besides, Dürnstein is one of the more famous castles - now only a ruin.
http://austria-lexikon.at/af/Wissens...
Could be loads of places in Austria, but having a quick search on google images and maps, I think it might be Schwallenbach in Austria.
Have a look at the photo's on this site http://travel-pictures-gallery.com/a... the castle is in ruins but the church at the bottom of the hill looks the same, so you never know it might be there.
