On Our Last Day At The Castle ...

the Baron gave us a tour.  We explored the castle keep, the tunnels, the crypt area and even his private apartment.  The Baron and Baronness have a fun and quirkly sense of humor.

No, this gal isn't real.  But she has the same effect.

Then there were these local wierdos that lived in the tunnel, leading to the crypt.

From this view, you can see some of the world-famous mummies of Sommersdorf.  World-famous you say?  Indeed, some of the mummies are currently on tour in Europe and the United States.  Some years ago, these were discovered in the castle's crypt.  One body was discovered to be that of a Swedish soldier who fought in the Hundred Years War.  Other bodies were members of the von Crailsheim family.

The mystery is how these bodies came to be mummified.  One theory had to do with higher than normal levels of radiation.  But the prevailing theory has to do with the dry air in the tunnels.  Whatever the reason, I doubt that I'll ever come this close again to mummies, save in a museum.

Now for less ghoulish parts of the castle.

The Banquet Hall, once home to the castles' stables.  And what is a castle banquet hall without a suit of armour (this is actually one of many suits in the family's possession).



And no medieval village, such as the von Crailsheim castle once was, is complete without a clock tower.  This tower now houses the local Lutheran pastor and her family.

In the castle's keep, the von Crailsheims have created a playroom for their grand-daughters.  You climb a narrow, spiral staircase to reach each floor.  The furniture--all hand-painted, miniature and charming.

We concluded our tour in the private apartment of the von Crailsheims.  I would have loved to have taken more photos of all the lovely antiques (and I mean antiques), but felt too shy to ask.  But Ken took this shot of the family collection of pipes from the 17th (?) century.