Burgs, Castles, Fairy Tales and Chimney Sweeps I

We’ve visited some of the castles that Germany is famous for.  Driving through the countryside, you quite frequently see castles strategically placed on hills.  At night, many of them are lit up, adding mystique and charm.  

View from top of Hardenburg

View from man's garden

There are the medieval castles called “Burg”.  The ones that were built on the hills as fortresses, strategically placed to provide protection.  We toured the one in Bad Dürkheim called Hardenburg.  One of its claims to fame was a large wedding of a count and duchess that united two families in 1580.  It was cool to imagine what life may have been like.  I wondered whether the people who now live in the villages know how cool it is that they live in a town that has a “Burg”.  When we arrived in Bad Dürkheim we saw a parking lot that seemed to indicate it was parking for the Burg.  But there didn’t seem to be an obvious way of how to get up the hill.  There were some stairs that maybe went up, but they seemed to go through someone’s garden.  We thought we’d give it a try…you never know.  Well, clearly, we were wrong.  And when we were coming back down the stairs through the garden, the owner drove up.  I apologized for our mistake and complimented his garden and asked if he could point us in the right direction.  He was very nice and showed us what was probably the shortcut or the secret passageway, which involved going through the other part of his garden, around his house and out his gate.  I had the feeling that he appreciates living there. 

My uncle in Weinheim appreciates living in a town that has two burgs.  One is the Burg Windeck built in the 1100s and destroyed by the French in the 30 Years War.  He clearly enjoyed playing the tour guide.  We drove up the hill to view the Burg but found it closed as most museums are on Mondays.  The other Burg was built much later and was built to commemorate the young men and students who fought in the Franco-Prussian war.   Once a year the student organizations of the area still get together at this Burg to have their remembrance rituals. 

The day we went to Bad Dürkheim we also viewed the cloisters that you could see from the Hardenburg across the hills and forests of the Pfälzer Wald.  One of the coolest things that I thought these cloisters had to offer, was that in 1035 or so a Synod was held here in which it was decided how many Sundays in Advent there should be!  We walked through the ruins and found ourselves at the little restaurant where we had a lovely meal with wild game and wild mushrooms from the area, in creamy sauces served with dumplings and Spätzle.  Very yummy!

Schloß in Rastatt

Pagodenburg

There are also the castles called “Schloß”.  These are a different style of castle.  No more of the medieval era.  I’d say more baroque or rococo, when the Uber-Poshy-Puh moved off the hills into the towns and built their beautiful palaces.  We saw one of these in Rastatt, a town my Oma Schemeit had lived in for a while.  We’d visited her there a few times when we were little and I have very little recollection of the town.  I remember the train station and the Pagodenburg gardens and that the café there was my Oma’s favourite.  So Larry and I had Kaffee and Kuchen there too.  And we walked around the town, which is very nice, and discovered the Schloß.