When we travel these days, we often drive or fly. In earlier times, the rivers were the highways. Big and long rivers, like the Rhine River in Germany were important for delivering people and things.
[Is that why Amazon is named after a river in Brazil? I don’t know, do you?]
If you visit, you can stay at the nearby youth hostel or the YMCA hotel in another castle, high up in the village of Kaub. Down at the Rhine riverbank, you take a small ferry across to the island.
This castle is the perfect place for collecting tolls from ships bringing cargo up and down the Rhine River. If you’ve ever seen a modern tollbooth, you’ll agree that this is about the fanciest tollbooth ever!
Source: Shutterstock Royalty-free stock vector ID: 683431282
The first tolls were collected almost 800 years ago in 1257. The castle changed hands several times and new parts were added and reinforced. The Prussians finally stopped charging ships tolls here in 1866. Since 1946, the castle belongs to the state of Rhineland Pfalz in Germany.
Reinforced castle wall 
A dangerous road for barges 
A castle like a ship 
Nose to nose with the Blackfly Kingdom 
A possible reindeer landing strip?
Keep dry when the water’s high 
Queen Ash’s visitors aren’t voluntary 
A courtyard for reindeer 
Inner balconies of castle 
Watch your step! 
Long hallways 
View from Queen Ash’s office
The tall steps keep the castle dry when the Rhine River gets high from too much rain.
The castle has lots of staircases, open walkways for croquet or chase scenes.
Queen Ash’s office (the Kommandant used it first 🙂 gives her a good view of possible “customers”. She doesn’t want to miss a chance to collect a toll from a passing ship.
Winch for chain to hold back ships until they pay 
Where to go when you have to go 
Don’t want to pay? It’s the Water Dungeon for you! 
Water Dungeon Part 2: How long can you balance on this disc hanging from a rope?
A huge baking oven (sorry, my photo is too dark!),
A chain to block the river so ships had to pay their toll,
A privy, and
A water dungeon where you had to balance on round board hanging from a rope.
© Laurel Decher, 2020.
If you like Pfalzgrafenstein castle as much as I do, you might enjoy Prince Nero’s adventures.
It’s a way to spend a little more time in the Blackfly Kingdom.
Happy reading!
Click here for more about the book.
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