Last year (before I started this blog) we made a visit to Nideggen Castle. We went to the castle not knowing what to expect, the only reason was to leave the house and see something else.
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| The main tower that houses the museum. |
The Castle is located near the western end of the Hürtgenwald, a place that wargamers and history buffs may know. The Battle of Hürtgen Forest was - according to the Wikipedia - 'the longest battle on German ground during World War II and is the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought'. The cities Schmidt and Vossenack played a role in this battle and are not far away. They can be seen from a viewpoint on the ruined tower. The castle itself is mostly a ruin today but with a restaurant and a museum in the reconstructed main tower.
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| The restaurant and a beer garden were once stood the largest hall building ('palas') in the 14th century. In the background the Hürtgen Forest. |
The surprise in the museum was that we were able to see a part of the tin figure collection of the late Joachim-Albrecht Graf Bülow von Dennewitz (1925-2013). Graf Bülow was a known collector of tin figures because in 1977 he made a film about the Battle of Leuthen completely depicted with 10.000 flat tin soldiers. I stumbled about that several times in the past when I was reading old hobby magazines from the 70's and 80's. For a while the "Leuthen Movie" must have been a thing for the tin figure enthusiasts.
The Bülow family is a very old one and on the long list of family members and ancestors we can find more people of historical interest. One of them was General Friedrich Wilhelm von Bülow who fought against Napoleon in the battles of Luckau, Großbeeren and Dennewitz in 1813 and later at Waterloo. The list also contains a lot of people with a military background: a war minister, some generals, U-boat commanders, pilots and also a field marshal. It is difficult to say if these illustrious round of military ancestors and relatives played a role in the choice of the hobby but it is very likely.
In an article by Graf von Bülow, published in "Die Zinnfigur", he says that his passion for collecting tin soldiers began at the age of seven (1932) and continued throughout his life. As a teenager, he was already able to arrange for an entire room in his parents' apartment for his collection. Like most collectors of his generation Graf von Bülow collected flat tin figures because the 'stiff' lead soldiers of the time were not beautiful enough for him. An understandable decision, today we have a lot more options.
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| Part of the Battle of Murten (Switzerland 1476) |
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| A diorama in a box is very typical for what collectors of flat tin figures do with their miniatures. |
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| Some dioramas showing scenes in the life of Charles the Bold. |
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| The museum acquired 'only' the medieval part of the Bülow collection, about 6700 figures. |
The museum is a so called "Burgenmuseum", means the focus is on the history of castles and the Middle Ages.
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| One room shows several models of castles. This one here is under attack during the Thirty Years' War. |
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| How would a Germanic village for my Vagdavercustis project look like? A lot like that. |
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| Do I spot good old Airfix miniatures from the Robin Hood range? (They don't belong to the Bülow collection.) |
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| A chess set made with Prince August moulds. The first time I saw them in the "wild". |
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