World's Most Beatiful Castles

[Rayne_Man]

@Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party

Wait, what? Castles needn’t have housed a head of state. Skipton Castle never housed a king, yet it’s unmistakably a castle, and I doubt many British castles ever did house a head of state.

I guess my point is that I only view buildings as castles when they were intended to maintain control of an area, be lived in, yet resist attack from opposing forces. Listing a “castle” built 30 years before the advent of aircraft carriers, and never intended to play the role of a real castle, in a list with castles dating back 1000 years isn’t exactly fair. There’s a certain skill to pulling off designing a building with walls 6 foot thick and making it still look nice.

That goes for Newark Castle. It was built and owned by the Bishop of Lincoln in the 13th century. Its main purpose was to control the point where the Great North Road crosses the River Trent.

[Dangerosa]

@Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party

Wait, what? Castles needn’t have housed a head of state. Skipton Castle never housed a king, yet it’s unmistakably a castle, and I doubt many British castles ever did house a head of state.

I guess my point is that I only view buildings as castles when they were intended to maintain control of an area, be lived in, yet resist attack from opposing forces. Listing a “castle” built 30 years before the advent of aircraft carriers, and never intended to play the role of a real castle, in a list with castles dating back 1000 years isn’t exactly fair. There’s a certain skill to pulling off designing a building with walls 6 foot thick and making it still look nice.

Doesn’t have to be a king - feudal lord. Nobility. That will do. Otherwise, its a fort. Just like a palace isn’t a castle without fortifications…

[Sampiro]

@Argent_Towers

I think Göring actually had some very distant Jewish ancestry, being descended from a German noble family (Eberlin) which had converted from Judaism to Christianity hundreds of years ago.

Wasn’t familiar but wouldn’t be surprised. There were many claims that the Ritter von Epenstein (his godfather who was Jewish by birth, which was all that counted to the Nazis) and Göring’s mother were lovers, and that he was the father of her youngest son, Göring’s brother Albert who was extremely anti-Nazi and only survived being imprisoned or worse due to his brother’s influence.

@Argent Towers

Correct me if I’m wrong on that. He also had several Jewish associates who he shielded from the Nazi persecutions, on the basis of favoritism or possibly bribes. Göring was never really one of the hardcore, ideologically-driven anti-Semitic Nazis like Himmler and Heydrich; he was more of a greedy opportunist who rode along with the Nazi party in order to gain prestige and steal more money for himself.

I think the personal greed more than political ideology" thing is definitely valid and he was certainly not an anti-Semite along the lines of Himmler and Heydrich. About the only thing he bashed the Nazis for at Nuremberg was that the Holocaust served absolutely no strategic purpose and was purely fanaticism (though he insisted Hitler had nothing to do with it, which not only was pure rubbish but I’ve no doubt Göring knew it was rubbish).
The definitive bio of Hermann has yet to be written imho, but I’ve read speculation that Hermann helped his brother Albert more than just getting him out of trouble with the Nazis- that some of his aide to Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis may have come from some under-the-table notes and assistance from his brother (“I can’t be seen doing this but you can” type stuff). Also Göring’s second wife, Emme, was an actress in German theater and film and had many Jewish and left-wing and homosexual and Communist friends (or some combination thereof) who Göring helped for no personal gain; some offered to testify at Nuremberg and he declined. (One of the sadder cases he assisted was the non-Jewish wife of a Jewish theater and film producer who was so hated by the Nazi officials that even Göring was unable to spring him, so per her request Göring actually allowed her to join him in the concentration camp where she was killed.)

Sorry for the hijack.