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.
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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. |
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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. |
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The inner compound was lined with sturdy towers, still serving the Oettingen-Wallerstein family as they have for almost 300 years. |
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Outside the walls, the view over the valley was spectacular, even if the weather continued to be cool and gray. |
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 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/