After our wander through the streets of Cologne we cruised off down the Rhine to Andernach, a small village where Burg Namedy is located. It was built towards the end of the 14th century. It then passed through many hands. From time to time it was renovated with bits being added here and there to improve the lot of the inhabitants. At one stage one of its towers was reduced in height as part of a tax avoidance scheme. Taxes were levied on the height of ones tower; reduce the height, reduce the tax.

Burg Namedy

Burg Namedy backyard

In 1908 Prince Carl-Anton von Hohenzollern and his wife Princess Josephine bought the castle as a residence. Now Josephine was the sister of King Albert 1 of Belgium. Before and after WW2 the Castle fell into disrepair. Prince Godehard, the grandson of old Prince Anton,  inherited the place in 1988. He set about restoration. Being the banker he was he helped pay for all the work by establishing an arts and cultural program based in the castle. Chamber Music festivals, recitals, weddings, banquets and the like all happen here.

Boar’s head

Sitting room

Princess Heide, Godehard’s wife, carries on the show now that Godehard has died. She gave a little speech welcoming us and said how much she and the children loved the place and needed to keep up the cultural program to help pay the way. Our attendance at the dinner helped in this endeavor I’m sure.

Princess Heide meets her guests

It was a pleasant night and during the excellent dinner we were entertained by a classical pianist performance on the grand piano. The 150 of us fitted quite neatly into their dining room.  Homealone was suitably impressed with the recital and couldn’t pick any technical problems with the presentation. Allthego found the wine agreeable.

Homealone played chopsticks for guests as they left after the dinner

Around 10.30 pm we were back to the boat for sleep and the next days trip through the Rhine gorge. Numerous castles to count.