Schloss Corvey Officially Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Remember Schloss Corvey, which I visited in May last year? The Benedictine monastery was declared a UNESCO site in June of last year. Last month, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier handed over its official letter of appointment. More information at DW (and yes, I meant to post this weeks ago but I never got around to it. But hey, better late than never!)

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Hohenzollern Crypt

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Let's continue our morbidly fascinating week of royal burial places with a closer look at the Hohenzollern Crypt at Berlin's Cathedral. But first, let's take a moment to admire the Cathedral's wonderful ceiling! Honestly, if you follow me on Instagram , you will know that I have a thing for ceilings but this is one of my favourites yet, just beauftiful! But back to our actual subject... As you may have guessed already by its name, the Hohenzollern Crypt is the final resting place of 93 members of the Hohenzollern dynasty, whose Protestant branch once reigned Brandenburg, Prussia and the whole of the German Empire. The Hohenzollern Crypt lies beneath Berlin's Cathedral. While the current building was consecrated in 1905, other churches have stood in its place before. For almost 400 years, between 1545 and 1915, the various churches were the burial place for members of the Hohenzollern family. Today's crypt also originates from the times of the last rebu...
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Russian Orthodox Church of St Elizabeth in Wiesbaden

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These days the last sovereign ruler of the Duchy of Nassau is most famous - Well, as famous as a historical ruler of Luxembourg can be - for also being the first Grand Duke of Luxembourg from the Weilburg branch of the House of Nassau. Before ascending to the grand ducal throne at the age of 73 after the House of Orange-Nassau had died out in male line, Grand Duke Adolph (1817-1905) had ruled the Duchy of Nassau until it was annexed by Prussia in 1866. Since 1816, the capital of said Duchy of Nassau had been Wiesbaden and so the capital of what is now the German state of Hesse is also the location of a church Duke Adolph built in memory of his first wife, née Grand Duchess Elisabeth Mikhailovna of Russia. Only a year after their wedding in 1844, Duchess Elisabeth died shortly after giving birth to a stillborn daughter. After two years of mourning, Duke Adolph decided to build a church in memory his late wife and stillborn daughter. The Russian Orthodox Church of St Elizabeth, w...
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Vienna Day 5: Artstetten, Melk, and Other Bits

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The fifth day of my Vienna vacation actually led me out of Vienna as I headed west to Schloss Artstetten , home of the Hohenberg family, and Melk Abbey, as well as south to... well, simply read on. And keeping with last night's theme - also the reason why I'm only posting this morning while recovering from the madness that is the Eurovision Song Contest - I'll give out points. So, turns out Austrian traffic jams aren't any more fun than German - or any country's, I suppose - traffic jams. It cost us about one and a half hours. Zero points. And the weather wasn't really great either, very foggy and rain throughout the whole day. At least it wasn't as windy as on some of the days before. Two points. Still, we tried to make the best of it and had a fun day discovering all kinds of different sights. First off was Schloss Artstetten , most famously the home of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, whose murder in Sarajevo in 1914 sparked World...
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