Germany: Wachsenburg Castle
Thuringia is truly the land of hilltop castles – the entire region is famous for these medieval fortification on top of precipitous cliffs or high hills (one source I found claims there are around 315 castle/fortresses in Thuringia. The area east of the town of Gotha has three castles on top of three adjoining hills within views of each other – collectively known as Drei Gleichen (literally – three hilltop castles). Two of them are really old, 9th century, and mostly ruined, while the third one is spectacular and intact – Wachsenburg Castle. It was originally built in the 10th century and then rebuilt in the 17th and 19th centuries. A spiral road takes you to the castle gates and then continues inside the defensive walls to inner buildings and towers. One of the main buildings is the museum of medieval torture, while the tower houses the museum dedicated to the history of the socialist DDR (basically another form of torture).
