Bastions near Bases

By Harold A. Skaarup

For all those Canadian Forces families who have made or will make that "trip across the pond" and were fortunate to have had the extraordinary opportunity to explore the grounds of the great many castles, fortresses and palaces in Europe, you may find this book to be of interest.

Many of us lived and worked within sight of a gr

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gotham Books
• Release date: Apr 6, 2024
• ISBN: 9798887757964

Harold A. Skaarup

Major Hal Skaarup has served with the Canadian Forces for more than 40 years, starting with the 56th Field Squadron, RCE and completing his service as the G2 (Intelligence Officer) at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick in August 2011. He was a member of the Canadian Airborne Regiment, served three tours with the Skyhawks Parachute Demonstration Team, and worked in the Airborne Trials and Evaluation section. He served as an Intelligence Officer overseas in Germany and Colorado, and has been on operational deployments to Cyprus, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. He has been an instructor at the Tactics School at the Combat Training Centre in Gagetown and at the Intelligence Training Schools in Borden and Kingston. He earned a Master's degree in War Studies through the Royal Military College, and has authored a number of books on military history.

Book preview

Dedication

For all those Canadian Forces families who have made or will make that trip across the pond, like my father and mother and our family, and years later, my wife and I with our sons Jonathan and Sean. We were fortunate to have had the extraordinary opportunity to explore the grounds of the great many castles, fortresses and palaces that bear the marks of the long lines of European history from the middle ages to the present day. The medieval and more recent castles and chateaux that stood within a short drive of our overseas homes away from home across the pond that we often visited, still provide wonderful memories from our time overseas during the Cold War era. It is my hope that this book revives many happy memories for those who shared in these adventures and explorations, and that you encourage others to do the same for those that may be lucky enough to follow!

(DND Photo)

Canadair CF-104 Starfighter over Hohenzollern Castle, Germany.

My mother Beatrice Lea (nee Estabrook) and father, WO (Retired) Aage Christensen Skaarup.

My father joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1954 after a visit to the recruiting center in Saint John, New Brunswick. He was serving as a Leading Aircraft Man (LAC) at RCAF Station Trenton, Ontario, when he was posted to 3 (F) Wing, Zweibrücken, Germany, where he served for four years from 1959 to 1963. He and my mother loved history, and they instilled in my brothers Dale and Chris and I, a lifelong interest in travel and exploration. Our parents took us on many visits to explore the numerous medieval castles near our home on Zabernstrasse in Zweibrücken.

We learned there were a considerable number to search and visit. Indeed, there are some 25,000 castles, palaces and manor houses that bear witness to Germany’s history, from splendid, perfectly preserved landmarks to ruined reminders of former glory. In German there are two main words for castle: Burg and Schloss.¹ In English they can be translated in various ways, but generally a Burg is a fortress (a castle designed for defense in battle, also called eine Festung) and a Schloss is a palace – designed more as a residence. However, the difference between the two terms can get somewhat blurred in practice. For instance, Burg Eltz, near the Mosel River, was never built for defensive purposes, but it is called eine Burg rather than ein Schloss. Most of the castles in Germany were designed as royal residences, and most of them are called Schlösser (palaces) in German, even though they are often called castles in English, such as Schloss Neuschwanstein, (Neuschwanstein Castle).

Family picnic inside the ruins of a medieval castle in Germany c1960.

Dad never seemed to tire of taking us to museums, palaces, historic sites and interesting places to explore, as well as visits to folkfests and carnivals. He retired as a Warrant Officer in 1974 while serving at CFB Chatham, New Brunswick. Following in his footsteps, my two brothers and I also joined the Canadian Forces. I had the unique privilege of having two postings to CFB Lahr, Germany, while serving with HQ Canadian Forces Europe (1981-1983) and as an Intelligence Officer with 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (1989-1992). My wife Faye and our sons Jonathan and Sean followed our family tradition of exploration, with one of the results leading to this compilation of the castles we visited near Lahr, Baden Soellingen and Zweibrücken.

My father’s posting to 3 (F) Wing, Zweibrücken in 1959 took place at a time that even now is referred to as the RCAF Golden Years. I can remember to this day our family taking a taxi from the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montréal, Quebec on 10 Jun 1959, to Pier 42 on the St Lawrence River. There, we boarded the Greek Lines passenger ship "Arkadia," along with many other RCAF families making the same journey overseas. We shared fully in my father’s adventures overseas and in the travel opportunities which came with his new job.

Arkadia postcard, 1959.

The ship’s passage across the North Atlantic to Europe took a week. During the voyage, we took part in lifeboat drills, did some whale-watching, and on a foggy morning had our first sight of the coast of Ireland. These experiences would be very familiar to many servicemen and women who had headed off to the wars in Europe, and for the war brides and survivors who made the return journey in the years that followed.

Military families I have spoken with, confirm they sailed across the pond on the passenger ships Arkadia, Atlantic, Carinthia, Empress of Canada, Empress of England, Empress of France, Empress of Scotland, Homeric, Italia, Ivernia, Oceanos, Samaria, Saxonia, Scythia, and Sylvania.

Many years later during my service in the CF, when it came time for my family and I to do the same rotation, this time, we boarded a Boeing 707 jet.² I’ve had several thousand flights since then, but I still remember that first trip across the Atlantic on the Arcadia.

As part of his job on base, Dad operated the mobile radar station which was set up in the middle of the runways at 3 (F) Wing, which meant he saw a lot of take-offs and landings for Canadair CL-13 Sabres, Avro CF-100 Canucks and Canadair CF-104 Starfighters as well as various aircraft operated by our NATO allies. For four years we lived on the economy in Germany, with lots of camping and castle hunting and exploring much of Europe from Denmark to Spain. We also lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis, 16-29 Oct 1962 (it was the first time I saw Dad come home armed with a pistol), and the raising of the Berlin Wall when construction began on 13 Aug 1961 when I was a ten-year-old boy. The wall stood until 9 Nov 1989, when I was serving on my second tour of duty in Lahr with my own children a generation later.

I remember my father calling us to come over to the radio to listen to John Glenn’s flight into space on 20 February 1962. We learned about the world through his RCAF service in a way that very few CF families will experience in our present time. We also visited the RCAF Headquarters in Metz, and the RCAF Bases at 1 (F) Wing, Marville, and 2 (F) Wing, Grostenquin in France, and 4 (F) Wing, Baden-Soellingen, in Germany.

My father’s younger brother, Craftsman Carl Skaarup, served with the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RCEME) in Werl and Soest, Northern Germany. We visited his family, and Carl took us on a tour of the Möhne Dam, one of the targets taken out during the war by the famous Dam Busters with their Avro Lancaster bombers. During our travels we often passed many German towns still undergoing considerable reconstruction work from bomb damage suffered during the war. The historic palace in downtown Zweibrücken was a complete bombed out wreck. It is now fully restored and is used as a municipal government building.

(Aage Skaarup Photo)

My Mother Beatrice, my brother Dale and I, and the ruins of Schloss Zweibrücken, July 1959.

(Thomas W. Jefferson Photo)

Schloss Zweibrücken, Germany, restored. The interior has a display of the restoration work.

The relics of war were a constant concern.

PMQ patch in Zweibrücken, c1955.

My brother Dale, LAC Aage C. Skaarup, my mother Beatrice and I, with an RCAF VW, the day we left Zweibrücken in June 1963.

The Canadian Forces rotated its servicemen and women on a continuous basis to broaden their horizons and sharpen their military skills, and so it was that on 19 June 1963, we said goodbye to 3 (F) Wing Zweibrücken, and took a military bus to 1 (F) Wing, Marville, France.

(Aage C. Skaarup Photo)

Canadair CC-106 Yukon, RCAF (Serial No. 15922), No. 437 (T) Squadron, RCAF Station Trenton, Ontario, on the tarmac at 1 (F) Wing, RCAF Station Marville, France, 20 June 1963.

The next day we boarded an RCAF Canadair CC-106 Yukon transport and flew back to Canada, landing in Trenton and staying in the Yukon Lodge, as have thousands of other Canadian service families. From here, Dad was posted to Canada’s NORAD HQ at RCAF Station North Bay, Ontario, adding my brother Chris to the family while we were living there. North Bay is the counterpart to the NORAD HQ I worked in, at Colorado Springs for four years from 1999 to 2003. Again, I seemed to be following in his footsteps.

Dad served three years at North Bay and was then posted in the summer of 1966 to Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Gypsumville, a Pinetree Line Radar site in Manitoba. During this time, unification of the Canadian Armed Forces officially took effect on 1 Feb 1968. The RCAF passed into history until its name was restored on 15 August 2011. Dad therefore became a member of the Canadian Forces when it stood up on 1 February 1968. He worked at this radar site on the Pinetree Line until he was posted to CFS Gander, Newfoundland, that same year, where he served another three years. In the summer of 1971, he was posted to CFB Chatham, New Brunswick, where he completed his 20 years of service in 1974, retiring as a Warrant Officer.

Working for himself on his farm, he restored old bulldozers and tractors and for his 70th birthday, he built and learned to fly his own airplane, a two-seat, single-engine Challenger Ultralight. He sold his aircraft when he reached the age of 85 because the time he was spending in it was beginning to interfere with his time skiing at Crabbe Mountain. Before his passing in 2011 he was still thinking of his proud service with the RCAF.

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¹ Schloss (Schlösser), formerly written Schloß, either a palace or a castle (palats / palæ, kastell, or borg). Most Schlösser were built after the Middle Ages as residences for the nobility, not as true fortresses, although originally, they often were fortified. The usual German term for a true castle is burg, that for a fortress is festung, and the slightly more archaic term veste. However, many castles were called schloss, especially those that were adapted as residences after they lost their defensive significance. Many adaptations considered new tastes arising during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Like a castle, a schloss often is surrounded by a moat; it is then called a Wasserschloss (water castle). Other related structure types include the Stadtschloss (a city palace), the Jagdschloss (a hunting lodge), and the Lustschloss (a pleasure palace or summer residence). (Wikipedia)

² The Canadian Forces operated the Boeing 707 with the designation Boeing CC-137 Husky (707-347C) from 1971 to 1997.

Illustrations

The cover art depicting an RCAF Canadair CL-13 Sabre of No. 434 Squadron passing by the ‘German Gate’ near the RCAF 1 Canadian Air Group HQ in Metz France c1950s, was painted by Peter Robichaud. The photos and illustrations found throughout this book have primarily been gleaned from Wikipedia, and my personal collection. May you enjoy them as much as we do!

(Author’s artwork)

16th century German Knight - Der Ritter, copy of Albrecht Durer‘s knight from his "Ritter, Tod und Teufel" drawing, 1516.

Crossbowmen at the Martyrdom of St Sebastian. Detail of a painting from Upper Bavaria (likely Munich), c1475. Current location: Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Germany.³

(Author’s artwork)

Burg Eltz, Germany.

500 DM paper money illustrating Burg Eltz, Germany.

(Canadian Department of National Defence Photo PC-2144).

Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk. 6 (Serial No. 23757) was one of 390 that served with the RCAF. This Sabre is carrying the camouflage developed for all RCAF European-based operational aircraft. The photo was taken while the aircraft belonged to No. 1 Overseas Ferry Unit (OFU) based at St. Hubert, Quebec, formed in 1953 to ferry Sabres and T-33s across the North Atlantic. The Sabre was produced until 1958 and used primarily by the RCAF until it was replaced with the Canadair CF-104 Starfighter in 1962.

(Author’s Artwork)

Lichtenstein Castle, Germany.

Stamp, Lichtenstein Castle, Germany.

Stamp, Heidelburg Castle, Germany.

(Author’s Artwork)

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany.

(Author’s Artwork)

Haut Koenigsburg Castle, France.

(Author’s Artwork)

Hohenzollern Castle, Germany.

(Author’s Artwork)

Rhine Pfalz Castle, Germany.

(Author’s artwork)

Roder Gate & Markus Tower, Rothenburg, Germany.

Siegecraft II

If you would like to learn more about the how sieges were conducted against many of the fortifications listed in this book, you will find more in Siegecraft II.

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³ A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a prod, mounted horizontally on a main frame called a tiller, which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long gun. Crossbows shoot arrow-like projectiles called bolts or quarrels. A person who shoots crossbow is called a crossbowman or an arbalist (after the arbalest, a European crossbow variant used during the 12th century).

Introduction

When Hildebrand became Pope Gregory VII (1073-1085), he excommunicated the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (1076), whose enemies begin to build castles in Germany at a frenzied pace. Some 10,000 castles were built in Germany in the Middle Ages, while in France the number is estimated at over 20,000 and in Spain some 2,500 castles still survive. Even the small countries have a substantial number of medieval fortifications, with Belgium for instance, boasting more than 900.

Construction of a castle was tightly governed and controlled, with only those nobles who pledged allegiance to the key overlord being permitted to erect them. This same overlord was also entitled to destroy any castle erected without his consent. Unfortunately, this happened more often than not, and in many cases, the ensuing conflict often led to open warfare and insurrection against the overlords. In time, the largest of the landholders established a sovereign central power and imposed its authority with an army. Siegecraft played an important role in this imposition of authority, and therefore the construction of defence works became increasingly sophisticated.

The considerable number of castles and fortifications within a day’s drive of the Canadian Forces installations in Cold War Europe gave many of us immense incentive to explore and absorb the tremendous amount of history that surrounded us. May this guide to the castles we found while living there spur you to explore them for yourself and the generations that follow. My parents did this for my brothers Dale, Chris, and I. My wife and I did this for our sons Jonathan and Sean. Now it is your turn to share the experience!

Major (Retired) Harold A. Skaarup, former Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel for 3 Intelligence Company, (Halifax).

Fredericton, New Brunswick

(p.schmelzle Photo)

Steinsburg Castle, Sinzheim, Germany, was first mentioned in the year 1109. In the 13th century the owners of the castle were the Counts of Oettingen. Later the castle became home to the Counts palatine of the Rhein. In 1517 the castle was purchased by the Lords of Venningen.

Engraving of Steinsburg Castle, Sinzheim, Germany, ca. 1350.

Shortly after this purchase, the castle was burnt down during the Peasants’ revolt. The rebellious peasants had to pay 5000 Gulden for the rebuilding of the castle. After heavy damage in 1777 by a lightening strike, the castle was left in disrepair. Since 1973 the castle has been owned by the Sinsheim council, who had large parts of the castle restored. The keep, the moat and the towers may still be viewed today.

Chapter 1

German Castles near RCAF Station 3 (F) Wing Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany

RCAF Station Zweibrücken, also known as 3 Wing or 3 (F) Wing was one of four RCAF wings, consisting of three fighter squadrons each, established in Europe at the beginning of the Cold War. These four wings were part of the RCAF’s No. 1 Canadian Air Division (1 CAD), which was formed as part of Canada’s air defence commitment to NATO during the Cold War.⁴

Three RCAF squadrons flying Canadair CL-13 Sabre fighters were located at 3 (F) Wing Zweibrücken: Nos. 413, 427 and 434. The three squadrons arrived at Zweibrücken in March 1953. No. 413 Squadron was replaced in 1957 by No. 440 Squadron, flying the then new Avro CF-100 Canuck all-weather interceptor. In 1959, Canada adopted a new and controversial nuclear strike role in accordance with NATO‘s doctrine of limited nuclear warfare and began re-equipping with the new Canadair CF-104 Starfighter, that could handle the delivery of nuclear weapons. This aircraft also had a reconnaissance role.

(RCAF Photo via James Craik)

Canadair CF-104 Starfighter (Serial No. 12821), home-based at 3 (F) Wing, Zweibrücken, Germany.

In the fall of 1962, the Sabre squadrons of 1 CAD, including those at 3 (F) Wing, began flying Starfighters. No. 440 Squadron was disbanded in December 1962. No. 430 Squadron moved to Zweibrücken from Grostenquin when 2 (F) Wing closed down in 1964. The RCAF left Zweibrücken on 27 August 1969 as an austerity measure following unification of the Canadian Armed Forces. Its units consolidated at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Lahr and at former 4 (F) Wing, later CFB Baden-Soellingen.

Before leaving, they erected a west coast Indian totem pole as a token of their friendship with the local German citizens. At the top of the pole was the Thunderbird, the First Nations god who watches over all creation. Below it was a double headed sea monster, the warrior’s symbol; the third figure was of a little man who had grown from boyhood to become a warrior, and the fourth figure was that of the same warrior, grown to maturity as a tribal chief.

Upon the departure of the RCAF, control of the station was transferred to the United States Air Force (USAF) Sixteenth Air Force, USAF Europe (USAFE). Upon taking control of Zweibrücken Air Base, the United States Air Force either renovated or enlarged all base facilities. With the end of the Cold War, the USAF presence at Zweibrücken was gradually phased out. On 31 July 1991, Zweibrücken Air Base was closed. The facility was turned over to the German government civil authorities. The former Zweibrücken Air Base has been transformed into the modern Zweibrücken international airport.

Canadians who were posted to Europe after the closure of some of the bases in France and Germany, became part of Canadian Forces Europe (CFE). CFE consisted of two formations in what was then known as West Germany, before the Berlin Wall fell in November 1989. These formations included Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Lahr with 4 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group (4 CMBG) (1957-1993), and No. 1 Canadian Air Division (1 CAD), RCAF, at CFB Base Baden-Soellingen and CFB Lahr. 1 CAD later became No. 1 Canadian Air Group (1 CAG). Both formations were closed in 1993 with the end of the Cold War.

Most Canadians who lived in Zweibrücken from March 1953 to 27 August 1969, will be familiar with the numerous medieval castles within a short drive of the city. There are many, and the aim of this book is to tell you a bit about them.

Zweibrücken is a town in the Rhineland-Palatinate, on the Schwarzbach River. The name Zweibrücken means two bridges, although older forms of the name include Latin, Geminus Pons and Bipontum, and French Deux-Ponts, all with the same meaning. The town was the capital of the former Imperial State of Palatinate-Zweibrücken owned by the House of Wittelsbach. The ducal castle is now occupied by the high court of the Palatinate (Oberlandesgericht). There is a fine Gothic Protestant church, Alexander’s church, founded in 1493 and rebuilt in 1955.

From the end of the 12th century, Zweibrücken was the seat of the County of Zweibrücken, the counts being descended from Henry I, youngest son of Simon I, Count of Saarbrücken (d. 1182). The line became extinct on the death of Count Eberhard II (1394), who in 1385 had sold half his territory to the Count Palatine of the Rhine and held the other half as his feudal domain. Louis (d. 1489), son of Stephen, founded the line of the Counts Palantine of Zweibrücken (Palatinate-Zweibrücken).

In 1533, the count palatine converted Palatinate-Zweibrücken to the new Protestant faith. In 1559, a member of the line, Duke Wolfgang, founded the earliest grammar school in the town (Herzog-Wolfgang-Gymnasium, which lasted until 1987. When Charles X Gustav, the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Kleeburg, succeeded his cousin, Queen Christina of Sweden, on the Swedish throne, Palatinate-Zweibrücken was in personal union with Sweden, a situation that lasted until 1718.

At the beginning of 1680, King Louis XIV‘s Chambers of Reunion awarded Zweibrücken and other localities to France, but under the 1697 Treaty of Rijswijk, The Duchy of Zweibrucken was restored to the King of Sweden, as Count Palatine of the Rhine. In 1731, Palatinate-Zweibrücken passed to the Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken branch of the counts palatine, from where it came under the sway of Bavaria in 1799. It was occupied by France in 1793 and on 4 November 1797, Zweibrücken became a canton centre in department of Mont Tonnerre. At the Peace of Lunéville in 1801, the French annexation of Zweibrücken was confirmed; on its reunion with Germany in 1814 the greater part of the territory was given to Bavaria, the remainder to Oldenburg and the Kingdom of Prussia. The town of Zweibrücken became part of the Palatine region of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

The last prominent social event before the First World War was the inauguration of the Rosengarten (rose garden) by Princess Hildegard of Bavaria in June 1914. As a consequence of the First World War, Zweibrücken was occupied by French troops between 1918 and 1930. In the course of the Kristallnacht in 1938, Zweibrücken’s synagogue was destroyed. On the outbreak of the Second World War the town was evacuated in 1939-1940, as it lay in the ‘Red Zone’ on the fortified Siegfried Line. Shortly before the end of the war, on 14 March 1945, the town was nearly completely destroyed in an air raid by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), with the loss of more than 200 lives. On 20 March 1945, American ground troops reached Zweibrücken. The town became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate after the war. In 1993, the town underwent a major change.

With the departure of the Americans, the military area became free, which corresponded altogether to a third of the entire urban area. Unemployment increased to approximately 21%, leading to a decrease in demand in the retail trade of approximately 25%. The Zweibrücken City Museum has a permanent exhibition in the former residence of court gardener Ernst August Bernhard Petri, documenting the eventful history of Zweibrücken. In addition, special exhibitions take place regularly, e.g., on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the State Stud.

(Thomas W. Jefferson Photo)

Schloss Zweibrücken (Residenzschloss) is a building in the town of Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. It was built as a ducal palace in 1720-1725. It is the largest and most magnificent secular (i.e., non-religious) building in the Palatinate (Pfalz). It is now the seat of the Palatine Higher Regional Court (Pfälzisches Oberlandesgericht), and of the Zweibrücken law courts (Generalstaatsanwaltschaft). The earliest recorded building near the site was a fortress (Burg Zweibrücken). It was built in the 12th century by the Counts (Grafe) of Zweibrücken because the town was on an important trade route. It sat on the eastern side of an open triangular area, which still exists today, known as the Schlossplatz (Castle place).

In 1444, a junior (cadet) branch of the House of Wittelsbach was granted the title of Duke (Herzog) of a new state: Palatine Zweibrücken (Pfalz-Zweibrücken), with its seat in Zweibrücken. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the ducal family modernised and enlarged their dwelling-place. In 1585, they constructed a palace (known as the long building by the water, der lange Bau am Wasser) on the northern side of the Schlossplatz, complete with water-mill and library. In 1677, the ancient and the newer buildings were badly damaged during the Franco-Dutch War (1672-1678).

In the early 18th century, Gustav, Duke of Zweibrücken ordered the construction of a new residence appropriate for his rank and status. The architect was Jonas Erikson Sundahl, whose design was in the modern Late Baroque style - for show and comfort, and not for defence. In 1720-25, this palace was built on the northern side of the Schlossplatz.

The site was marshy, so preliminary work involved driving very many oak piles into the ground to provide a solid foundation. That building has been twice destroyed and twice rebuilt; its second reconstruction is the building which exists today. Christian IV, Duke of Zweibrücken 1735-1775, entertained notable creative artists at his palace, including the leading operatic composer Christoph Willibald von Gluck. Christian’s nephew Maximilian (1756-1825) spent some of his childhood at the palace. On 3 May 1793, during the War of the First Coalition, Zweibrücken was overrun and sacked by French troops. The building was badly damaged.

In 1817, Maximilian, in 1795-99 Duke of Zweibrücken, now King Maximilian I of Bavaria, gave the ruined building to the Catholic community of the town, with the command to convert it into a church. The central part of the building was walled off from its wings and was roofed with slate. On 28 May 1820, it was consecrated as the Maximilianskirche by Johann Jakob Humann, Vicar Apostolic of both Speyer and Mainz. A bell tower was added later. The east wing was turned into a residence for the clergy. The west wing became a royal residence, and later the seat of the Royal Court of Appeals of the Palatinate. In 1867, the Maximilianskirche was deconsecrated and the whole building turned over to the administration of justice. The bell tower was taken down.

On 14 March 1945, in the final stages of the Second World War, Zweibrücken was the target of an Allied bombing raid. The building was gutted, and only its outer walls left standing. By great good fortune, a copy of Sundahl’s original plans was discovered in Nancy, France. Between 1962-1964, the building was rebuilt from those plans, using red sandstone from the northern Palatinate and yellow sandstone from Lorraine. In 1965, the restored building was returned into use as the seat of the Palatine Higher Regional Court and of the Zweibrücken law courts.⁵

(Immanuel Giel Photo)

Schloss Zweibrücken.

Fortresses and Castles have been built in the area over a long period of time. The Römermuseum Schwarzenacker (Schwarzenacker Roman Museum) is an archaeological open-air museum in Schwarzenacker, a district of Homburg, Saarland, Germany, a few km NW of Zweibrücken. The museum was constructed by archaeologist Alfonso Kolling, who also led the archaeological excavations at the site. The current director is Klaus Kell. The Museum shows the remains of a Roman vicus (country town) of approximately 2000 inhabitants which existed from the time of the birth of Christ until its destruction by the Alemanni in 275 A.D. Visitors can view the excavated buildings, grounds, roads and culverts.

In the adjoining 18th century villa and the reconstructed houses of the vicus, important finds from the everyday life of the Roman population are exhibited, found either at the settlement itself or in the surrounding area. At the front steps of the villa stand life-size replicas of Roman equestrian statues which were discovered in 1887 in nearby Breitfurt. The originals stood for many years at the entrance of the Historical Museum of the Palatinate in Speyer, but they were removed and placed in the courtyard of the museum under a canopy, since they were heavily weathered due to environmental factors. The villa has a landscaped garden in the Baroque style, which was created following the excavation of the vicus.

(Gerd Eichmann Photo)

Trifels Castle in the Rhineland-Palatinate, famous as the site where Richard the Lionheart, King of England was imprisoned after he was captured by Duke Leopold V of Austria near Vienna in December 1192 on his return from the Third Crusade.

Castles. There are quite a few castles) in the Rhineland-Palatinate within an hour or two’s drive from Zweibrücken. Although many are in ruins, a few have been restored and some of them have a history that extends back more than 1000 years. Many have been the setting of historical events and the domains of famous personalities; and often remain imposing edifices to this day. These are a few that you may have visited if you were a family member based at RCAF Station Zweibrücken. This list includes buildings described in German as a Burg (castle), Festung (fort or fortress), Schloss (manor house, palace or hunting lodge) and Palais/Palast (palace). After the Middle Ages, many German castles