Reutte is a nice village about 25 minutes from the castles. We chose the Hotel Moserhof and we had a corner room with a huge deck. The food and service (mostly) were great. However, the bar tender / Maitre'd was about as grouchy as they come. And there was an infestation of flies! No one seemd too upset. It must come with the cows of the area.

The best part of our room was the view. It was impossible to capture all of if, but here's a part. (That's Chuck and Alice waving from the parking lot.)

In the old days, Reutte was a key stronghold on the north-south trade routes. There were fortesses on the peaks and toll houses guarding the narrow passages in between. We decided to go off in search of what remains of these places.

The guard house is being rebuilt. This was the clearest example of why there are so many great old buildings in this part of the world. Someone has an old picture, sees a pile of rocks, and decides to "restore" the place. Oh well, it always seems authentic when it's finished.

This is called the Castle Ehrenberg and it crowned the crag above the toll house. This was our goal and I have to admit it was a tougher climb than I had expected.

from: http://www.bootsnall.com/cgi-bin/gt/travelstories/europe/jul02castle2.shtml

"Ehrenberg, which means mountain of honor, was built in the year 1290 by Count Meinhard II of Tyrol. For centuries, this castle ruled this Tyrolean area, able to repel 16,000 Swedish soldiers in the defense of Catholicism in 1632."

Here's Chuck going through the first of three gates. Seeing how hard it was to go through here, it's easy to see why fortresses like this remained impregnable, as long as the regime itself stayed in business.

From the top, the view over the valley was spectacular. Reutte is in the forground and the hills behind separate Austria from Germany.

Looking at these ruins, with rugged rock hills behind, I was most reminded of Machu Picchu in Peru, probably built about the same time.