Keep

Adolphe Pauly: Let us inspect the keep from the outside, which makes a deep impression with its majestic force. It was built on a rock and constructed with slate blocks from the surrounding countryside, the corners having been reinforced with square sandstone blocks. As you have already discovered, half the tower was restored, but thanks to the ‘opus spicatum’ ornaments, that is, the corn-ear ornamentation, you can still recognize the original architectrual style of the 12th century.
 
Victor Hugo: The tower still seems so short, but that may be due to the fact that it’s only about ten metres high - in total contrast to the high, elegant keeps of other castles.
 
Adolphe Pauly: We are now going to go up these stairs which lead to the “Spintgen”, that is the pantry. On our first visit this was full of debris and stones, since the roof had crashed and the tower was in a pretty bad state of decay. The pantry was only exposed in 1989. From here you can see the dungeon, which also existed also in other castles during the Middle Ages. However, at Bourscheid it served as a prison only up to the time that the baking house, which you will see later, was built.
In order to provide some light to the “Spintgen” also when the door was closed, a window was opened up in the wall facing onto the inner courtyard. However, you could not reach the manorial chamber of the lord of the castle, which was situated above it, from the pantry.
 
Victor Hugo: But these wooden stairs were not here at the time.
 
Adolphe Pauly: They were built only in 1990, replacing a stome staircase that had been erected in 1936.
 
Victor Hugo:  I believe that in addition to the pantry, Metternich’s manorial chamber was also situated in the keep.
 
Adolphe Pauly: That’s right. Here Metternich’s room had been situated, which could only be reached via a staircase from the rooms above the kitchen. The stairs were hidden in the so-called stairwell, which was no longer in existence even on our first visit. The previous entrance, which led to the chamber from there, was walled up, as you were already able to see from the kitchen and the winter parlour.
 
Please climb up the stairs to the keep carefully, some of them are very steep and narrow.