Secret Corners of the Castle

It’s business as usual here, for the most part. I go to class, I sit in the library and do homework. Occasionally, I’ll watch a movie with other people in the castle.

I’ve also joined the chorus group at the castle. At first, I was a little worried, because the last time I was in a chorus was in middle school. I’d never been very good at sight reading music to begin with, and was certain I’d forgotten what little I had known in the time since. However, I found myself surprised by how quickly it came back to me. I don’t fully remember the names of all the symbols, or what note corresponds with which line. But I remember what each symbol is telling me to do, and that’s the important bit.

I’m really enjoying being part of a chorus group again. I’d forgotten how much fun it had been. It’s a little funny to me — I’d stopped taking chorus when I went into high school, because I could either take the chorus elective or the German elective, and now I’m doing chorus in German.

Secret Corners of the Castle

Last Saturday, the castle dormitory had an architect give us a tour of the more secret corners of the main castle. “Secret” is probably a bit of a misnomer.  The parts of the castle we visited aren’t really hidden, but they also aren’t fully open to the public, either.

Underneath

The main room of the cellar.

We first visited the cellar of the castle. The entrance to this one surprised me — we walked behind the castle, and then turned down a path that I hadn’t realized was a path, despite walking past it multiple times.

Inside, there was actually this well that went straight down for 95 meters. It had this huge metal grate covering it and supporting giant lights that shined down into it. Before the architect turned on the lights that pointed down, a couple of us tried to shine the flashlights of our phones into it, to no effect. It took all three industrial lights shining for us to actually see all the way to the bottom. Even then we could just barely see the movement of water.

At one point, the architect had us fill a bucket with water (not from the well, but from the water system installed in the castle later on). He then poured the water into the well, and it was a full 30 seconds before we actually heard the water splash to the bottom.

Above

First BCA student here!

The other place the architect took us to inside the castle was the clock tower. I’m not sure how many stairs it was to get to the very top, but the view was fantastic. According to the other castle residents, I’m the first BCA student to ever go up to the top.

As we walked around the tower, I was able to pick out all the different places in Marburg that I frequently visit. It was a little strange, seeing them from above. When you’re riding the buses and walking to and from everywhere, you kind of get this mental map going. “Oh, PhilFak is right beside the Mensa. Oh, the Rewe is below the church.” But from above, you see it’s not the same, and the way they line up in reality is a little different from the way they line up in your head.

The tower clock!

We also got to see the clock mechanisms. It had its own little room within the tower, where the mechanism worked to keep time. The mechanism was honestly smaller than I expected, not even reaching up to my shoulders. And when I compared it to the size of the clock face of the castle, which you can see from pretty far away, it’s even more impressive.

Night Watchmen

Last Thursday, the international office had another event. It was another sort of tour of the old town of Marburg, but this time at night. Our group met with our tour guide shortly after dark, beside one of the churches. We could hear a chorus and organ music coming from inside. Our tour guide was wearing the full outfit of the night watchmen, and with a sort of halberd with a lantern hanging from it. I didn’t get any clear pictures of him, beyond this short video.

As we went through the city, he told us about the history of Night Watchmen of Marburg, as well as history of the city itself. Much of it I’d heard already while on a tour through Marburg during orientation week. However, since this was a smaller group than during orientation week, it was easier to hear our guide and I caught some things I missed the first time.  Like why there are these giant flies on one of the buildings in the market square (hint: it’s based on a Brothers Grimm fairytale).

At one point, our guide blew the horn he had around his chest. He’d warned us in advance that it would be loud — it was used as an “all is well” signal in the past — but I still wasn’t prepared. After the tour, we all piled into a restaurant for a dinner of breads, meats and cheeses. Everything was paid for by the international office, which was a nice bonus to going on the tour.

What I’ve been listening to this week: The Sermon of Sister Rust by Jack de Quidt. This past week I finished season two of the Friends at the Table podcast, the COUNTER/weight arc. Yes, I cried. Yes, you should listen to it. Since finishing it, I’ve been listening to the soundtrack a lot, but this song is my favorite.