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Harburg Castle

October 3, 2008

Written November 1

Dear Friends and Families,

 

After our pleasant old village stop in Wolframs-Eschenbach, we continued our trip through the fall colors. However, the weather wasn't cooperating, alternately threatening rain with the real stuff. But, despite the inclement weather, when we saw a sign to Harburg Castle, we veered off the road for a quick stop.

 

Outside, we looked over the castle map while staring up at strong, stone walls, This was a real, fortified castle, not a namby pamby "Schloss" like our neighbor back home. Harburg dominates a high hill with its ramparts and is one of the oldest and largest castle complexes in Southern Germany.

The main entrance was protected with both a turning entrance road and a heavy gate, that looked like it could crash down on uninvited guests.

The inner compound was lined with sturdy towers, still serving the Oettingen-Wallerstein family as they have for almost 300 years.

Outside the walls, the view over the valley was spectacular, even if the weather continued to be cool and gray.

  A couple ofdays later, with the clouds gone, we drove back by Harburg castle. While we were in too much of a hurry to stop, we did manage to get a picture of the castle the way it should be seen: in full sun, with a bright blue background.  

So, we had two of the three necessary European stops under our belt: a Church and a Castle. Now we needed to look for a Square.

 

John and Marianne

 

A pair of Harburg websites:

http://www.ireg.de/historische-staetten/i_e-harb.htm

http://www.burgschenke-harburg.de/

 

 


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