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Why
are there secret ancient underground chambers and tunnels connecting old
farmhouses, churches and even cemeteries and forests in Bavaria, Germany?
Nobody knows - even the experts are baffled:
The vaults could not have served a practical purpose, as dwellings or to store food, for example, if only because the tunnels are so inconveniently narrow in places. Besides, some fill up with water in the winter. Also, the lack of evidence of feces indicates that they were not used to house livestock.
There is not a single written record of the construction of an Erdstall dating from the medieval period. "The tunnels were completely hushed up," says Ahlborn.
Archeologists have also been surprised to find that the tunnels are almost completely empty and appear to be swept clean, as if they were abodes for the spirits. One gallery contained an iron plowshare, while heavy millstones were found in three others. Virtually nothing else has turned up in the vaults.
There's one thing they do know: there are hundreds of these secret underground mazes all over Germany and Austria.
Link (Photo: Ben Behnke) - via BLDG BLOG
Ludwig II of Bavaria died under mysterious circumstances 125 years ago. The death was ruled a suicide, but many don’t buy that explanation.
Today, Ludwig remains famous for the castles he built and attempted to build, most notably Neuschwanstein Castle, perched high in the Alpine foothills. The king was a romantic, a friend and suporter of composer Richard Wagner, and he hired theatrical set designers rather than architects to design his castles. More absorbed in his personal world than state affairs, Ludwig spent most of his time on his own projects — emptying his personal coffers — and left his ministers frustrated by his inattention.
What is left is a mystery -and those castles! The Atlantic has a collection of 30 photographs of the king’s life and those gorgeous palaces that still grace the region. Link -via TYWKIWDBI
(Image credit: AP/Christof Stache)
Poor Lulu. When the bovine miscowculated the steepness of the pathway near the German castle of Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, she was stuck down in the valley with moo way back up to the farm. What to do?
Help came in the form of the local mountain rescue who hitched the hapless heifers one by one to the local cable-car used by hikers for a free ride home.
For the mountain rescuers, it was all in day’s work.
‘It happens quite a lot,’ said one, ‘but usually we end up airlifting the cows back home via helicopter.
‘It just so happened this trio ended up stuck near the cable car station so we were able to use the cable car. They were quite cool about it.’
After some fresh grass and a good milking, the cows were settled in their stall for the evening with the high-life behind them for good.
Allan Hall of the Daily Mail got the story and the super-sized pic: Link
Bavarian designer Hildegard Bergbauer usually creates dirndl dresses for women, but she has recently branched out to other species like cats, dogs … and even horses!
She said she was inspired to create the outfits by watching stage shows as a youngster. ‘The animals appeared on stage with little handbags and hats,’ she added.
‘It was a sight that I’ll never forget and an experience that has shaped me. The idea has gone down really well. People think it’s a lot of fun.’
Link | More pics at Oddly Enough blog (Photo: Reuters/Alexandra Beier)
