I Slept in A Bavarian Castle

Burg Veldenstein Castle, Neuhaus, Germany

Perhaps my biggest castle related thrill has been sleeping in a Bavarian Castle. Over the weekend I traveled with my German hosts, Gudrun, her husband Uwe, and their four children Simon, Fenja, Daniel and Lea south into Bavaria to Neuhaus, Germany. Here we stayed at Burg Veldenstein.

The castle history reaches all the back into the year 1008, when it was erected as a fortress to protect the border against intruders. Over the years the leadership has changed several times, from the Hohenstaufen to the Bishops of Bamberg, Knight of Epstein to the management of Middle Franconia.

Perhaps the most infamous resident was Hermann Goring and his family who lived in the castle during the period of the Third Reich. During this period an air raid bunker was built under the castle for protection. Rumor has it that Goring hid many Nazi looted treasures in the castle, but I found none of them.

Today the castle is owned by several people and serves as a hotel and restaurant. One of its towers is owned by a friend of my hosts, and we got to sleep in it. Here are some photos of this amazing castle.

German Castles Galore

Burg Sooneck, Niederheimbach, Germany

I did not do a whole lot of research before coming to Germany. As I have said my purpose for this trip is to get out of town for a while and visit some old friends. So there has been a lot of pleasing surprises as I explore and discover what Germany to offer. I am thrilled by the natural beauty here. It is lush and green with thick forests and beautiful tall trees. And I am completely surprised and astounded by the Castles I am seeing. I did not expect castles!

Burg Sooneck, Niederheimbach, Germany

Burg Sooneck, Niederheimbach, Germany

Castles are an unmistakable feature of the Rhine landscape.  In the narrow gorge connecting Bingen and Koblenz, which has a length of only thirty-five miles, there are more castles than in any other river valley in the world. Many are ruins, but some have been restored as hotels and are open for tours. They stand like sentinels on the cliffs above river side villages, and others stand alone surrounded by vineyards. It is like traveling through a fairytale.

Many of their founders were feudal overlords, who built them to protect their lands from marauders. Others were owned by marauding knights themselves.

Over the last several days I have been able to explore several of these castles and they are truly amazing. One can not help but to fantasize about the history of these structures and wonder what life was like in the heyday of these kings and knights.

The Burg Sooneck castle is claimed by many to be one of the most chivalrous castles on the River Rhine. Built in the 11th century, the castle served as a fortress to the legendary “Robber Barons”. I found it to be one of the most photogenic with it’s classic storybook architecture, beautiful gardens, and setting above the river.

Burg Ehrenfels castle ruin on the hill side surrounded by a wine vinyard  above the Rhine River, Bingen, Germany

My imagination was only fueled when we visited the beautiful village of Bacharach and attended a small medieval festival at the in the shadow of a Burg Stahleck.

Burg Stahleck overlooking the town of Bacharach, Rhine valley, Germany

The festival had fully costumed participants with traditional crafts, food, and music. The afternoon culminated with a battle between knights the prize being the victorious first knight’s right to his choice of a village maiden.

I’m in Germany

I’m in Germany!

It has been a while since I have been out of the US traveling. This month I find myself in Europe and I will be traveling for the rest of May. First in Germany then to Barcelona, Spain and finally to Vienna, Austria. Each of these cities are places where I have friends living and I have chosen this May to take time to visit them and explore Europe a bit. Since I am not on assignment, I am taking a slightly different approach to my photography. I am traveling light, well relatively light. Also, because I will be mostly on the schedule of others, I will not always have the luxury of positioning myself for prime lighting. So I am taking a more relaxed approach and shooting a lot of “snap shots” using my Cannon G12 point and shoot camera.

I will endeavor to post images and relate stories of this adventure here as often as I am able. Please fill the post comments with your words and suggestions for me on this journey. If you are receiving this via email post the you will obviously need to visit the actual blog to make comments.

I am staying in Langenlonsheim, a suburb of Frankfurt Germany where my good friend Gudrun lives with her husband Uwe and their 4 children. This is the heart of Germany’s wine making country along the Rhine Valley. Spring is fully sprung here with warm temperatures and flowers all over the place. The rolling hillsides are covered with the grape fields of vineyards.

My first outing, helping me to fight jet-lag, is a bike ride with Gudrun on the bike path from her home along the Nahe River, a tributary of the Rhine to the town of Bingen at it’s confluence with the Rhine River. The Nahe River banks are south facing and hold many of the regions finest vinyards. Most of Germany’s vineyards owe there existence to the Rhine and it’s tributaries.

Germany’s winter and spring have been dry and both these rivers are unusually low for this time of the year. I am thrilled however to see all the lush green and blooming flowers. I just heard it is snowing again at my Colorado home and I am glad to be here enjoying the warmth. Despite the drought the weather has been mostly overcast and hazy.

This is not ideal weather for trying to shoot large vistas. So I try to shoot scenes without a lot of sky when the weather is like this. I also like to focus on small details. Flowers especially look nice under the diffused light of an overcast sky.