Marian on the Rhine

Burg Eltz: A 14th century hideaway along the Mosel

The grandson of the count goes to Cambridge

<DIV><li>Mar 5. Up the Rhine, down the Danube. * * * * Mar 12. M's 2nd lecture: the great Tiepolo ceiling in the Residence; Archbishop's Palace in Wurtzburg and the Riemenschneider carved wood Alterpiece in the Church of St James in Rothenburg. The Tiepolo piece is huge; one can see only portions of it from the beautiful marble stairway. Shown are the continents ranked according to their level of civilization--America last, because it had no architecture in the eighteenth century; Europe first, of course. The fresco escaped destruction during the World War 2 bombing </DIV>* * * * Mar 19. Painting along the Rhine & Danube. The landscapes of Altdorfer from the seventeenth century, the first European to paint landscapes without people. Turner, the brilliant English watercolorist of the early 19th century, who travelled extensively along the Rhine, painting and sketching everything that he saw, including the castle Burg Eltz, where we met the grandson of the current count. The castle is noteworthy because it was never sacked and still has furnishings dating from the fourteenth century.An impregnable fortress rising from a rocky outcrop; a treat for the eyes. How every castle should look! * * ** Mar 25. Vienna, Prague. Visit to the castle of the Lobkowitz family outside Prague. The current duke was raised in Boston, but returned to Czechoslovakia about ten years ago when the state returned his castles (8 or 9) and paintings.