My players have taken an interest in the Rhine Gorge, as presented in Guardians of the Forests, and I intend to make use of the campaign outline from that book.
The sites here are interesting, but when doing research on Pfalz Island, it seem that this wasn't built unil over a century after the 1220s.
Was there, in fact, a structure on the island before the castle, as seen today, was built? I've read some mention of the Pfalz Island that seem to date to the time of Barbarossa.
Anyone know anything more about this?
IIRC at the back of the tribunal book it says that it is an anacronysm, since it is true that it was not built until 100 years or so later. But that the place is so cool that it deserves to be depicted there and be considered as a potential covenant site. Or something like that. I tend to agree
Well, you can remove the current castle and place a Mystic Tower there instead. Has the advantage of being a single block of stone, so it will not get flooded it will be smaller, though.
according to the German Wikipedia the tower was errected in 1327 (maybe 1326). Between 1339 and 1342 the surrounding wall was added. In the following centuries the castle was changed step by step ...
Yes, construction of the real-world castle started at the end of 1326 or the beginning of 1327. There is no record of an earlier construction on the site. As has been said, it was decided to include it in GotF anyway, because it's a very cool place.
The best source of information I've managed to find on the castle is the short book "Burg Pfalzgrafenstein und der Rheinzoll" by Magnus Backes. It's in German but there are plenty of photos, both internal and external, and some detailed floorplans. There is a lot on its history - if there was any historical record of an earlier building, it would surely have been mentioned. However there is a brief treatment of nearby Kaub (and Burg Kaub, built in about 1220) in the 13th century. If there's anything else specific you want to know, I can look it up.
Yes, I am very sceptical about this particular part of the story. It is a legend, and should be treated as such. Probably some parts of the story were later embellished - it sounds more dramatic/romantic if Agnes was confined to an island tower...
Not to take anything away from the cool legend, though. It may be an accurate account of what happened in Mythic Europe!
