The Castle Road is a popular German holiday route. It runs from Mannheim to Heilbronn, then via Schwäbisch Hall to Nuremberg, via Coburg and Bayreuth to the Czech Republic and there from Eger via Pilsen to Prague.
background
The Burgenstrasse is one of the oldest German holiday routes. It was founded in 1954 as a tourism association and was one of the few streets that ran in an east-west direction. At that time it ran from Mannheim via Heilbronn to Nuremberg. In the more than 50 years of its existence it has changed. It was extended eastwards to Prague in 1994 and is over 1000 km in length. From the conception it is not designed as a continuous travel route. It is aimed at tourists who, in small groups, are interested in the attractions to the left and right of the road. The focus is on castles and palaces, but the landscape is just as attractive. The numerous traditional markets, the concerts and castle festivals, and the culinary diversity of the regions of Baden, Württemberg, Franconia and Bohemia and the Czech Republic should not be forgotten.
mobility
Map of Castle Road
This describes the route that is usually covered by your own car. It is also possible to travel by train, most places have their own train station. Parallel to the road there is also a long-distance cycle path, the "Castle Road Cycle Path". With a few exceptions, it runs away from the main roads. The waterway is also possible on short sections.
Baden-Württemberg stages
Heidelberg with castle and Königstuhl
The first part of the route goes through the Electoral Palatinate, then further up the Neckar through the Odenwald Neckar Valley. She makes a detour across the Kraichgau and goes back to the Neckar to Heilbronn. Then the path leads over the Hohenlohe plain and through the valleys of Stove and Chasing to the Taubertal. The length of this route is around 300 km.
At the courts of Electoral Palatinate
- 1 Mannheim: The Castle Road has some highlights right at the beginning. The Mannheim Palace, built from 1720 under the rule of Elector Carl Philipp von der Pfalz, is one of the most beautiful European baroque castles. The chessboard-like layout of the city center, the Jesuit church and the water tower also attract numerous visitors every year.
- 2 Schwetzingen: The smaller neighboring town has a castle that is also worth seeing, which was used as a summer residence for the Elector Palatinate for some time. The gardens of the palace gardens, a mixture of French baroque and English landscape gardens, are unique.
- 3 Heidelberg: One of the most popular sights is the world-famous ruins of Heidelberg Castle. The old bridge, the baroque palace of the Palatinate Museum and the Church of the Holy Spirit are also worth a visit. The view of the old town is best enjoyed from the heights of the Philosophenweg on the other side of the Neckar.
Castles in Odenwald Neckar Valley
Hirschhorn, castle and old town
- 4 Neckargemünd: The town counts because of the Mountain fortress Dilsberg to the castle road. Its fortifications and the well tunnels attract the interest of visitors; at the top you have a wonderful view down into the Neckar valley and the winding old town.
- 5 Neckarsteinach: The town is opposite the Dilsberg Fortress, the picturesque townscape is dominated by four castles.
- 6 Staghorn: The townscape is shaped by the Hirschhorn Castle, today there is a hotel within its walls. The old town with its city wall houses a former Carmelite monastery and several half-timbered buildings below the castle.
- 7 Eberbach: Only a ruin remains of the former Stauferburg. A visit is worthwhile for the wonderful view over the Neckar Valley alone. The old town is still largely surrounded by a city wall with corner towers. There are still numerous well-preserved buildings in it.
- Mosbach: The Mosbach Castle, once the residence of Count Palatine Otto I, is less known than the half-timbered buildings in the old town. The most splendid of them is that Palmsche house, opposite is the Renaissance town hall. A visit to the Temple house in the Neckarelz district.
Guttenberg Castle, Neckarmühlbach near Haßmersheim
- 8 Neckarzimmern: The village is dominated by the Hornberg Castle. The knight once lived on it Götz von Berlichingen, even if in some cases less voluntarily. Today you can live like a prince in the castle walls, a castle hotel with stylish guest rooms makes it possible. From the keep, the view over the Neckar valley is breathtaking.
- 9 Gundelsheim: Right at the entrance to the town is the former Teutonic Order Castle Horneck. The way to the Transylvania Museum housed there leads through the picturesque old town, which is still partially surrounded by a city wall.
- 10 Hassmersheim: The place itself doesn't have much to offer in terms of Castle Road. Its small district Neckarmühlbach is however dominated by the Guttenberg Castle, one of the few walls from the Hohenstaufen era that has survived the years undamaged. A museum shows that Life in the knight's castle, the castle's kennel houses the German raptor station.
The route itself can also be tackled well by bike, it corresponds to a stage of the Neckar valley cycle path. The castles are then mostly at a sweaty height.
A detour to the Kraichgau
Neckarbischofsheim, Old Castle
- 11 Bad Rappenau: The city is part of the Castle Road through the Heinsheim Castle. The baroque castle is privately owned, it houses a stylish hotel, surrounded by a garden that was laid out in 1800. Ehrenberg Castle, which is not open to the public, is located above Heinsheim, while Bad Rappenau has a moated castle from the 17th century.
- 12 Neckarbischofsheim: The town has only recently been part of the Burgenstrasse association. Therefore, the road makes an unexpected arc right into the heart of the Kraichgau. In Neckarbischofsheim stands in the middle of a 2.6 hectare park Stone house or Old Castle, that's on its edge New lock. The pentagonal tower, the small church of the dead and the city church of St. Salvator are other striking buildings in the city.
- 13 Sinsheim: The Steinsberg Castle on a 333 m high former volcanic cone is a prominent point of the Kraichgau. From its height you have a wide view of the surroundings. The symbol of the city is that Sunnisheim Monastery, unfortunately it is private and therefore not accessible. The Auto & Technology Museum brings the visitor from the time of the castles and palaces back to the modern age.
Through the Heilbronn lowlands
View of Bad Wimpfen
- 14 Bad Wimpfen: The way through the Kraichgau goes back to the Neckar valley. Before that one comes through the Stauferpfalz in Bad Wimpfen. Blue and Red Tower, a number of listed buildings in the old town form an ensemble that is well worth seeing. The knight's monastery church in the valley dates from the Romanesque and early Gothic periods.
- 15 Bad friedrichshall: In the district of Kochendorf is Lehen Castle, a former moated castle, now a stylish hotel in the middle of a small park. They are nearby Andrésche Schlösschen, the Greckenschloss from the Renaissance and the Sebastianskirche from the 11th / 12th centuries. Century. A little outside is the Teutonic Order Castle Hypocrites on a hill above the Jagst.
- 16 Heilbronn: The Deutschhof with Teutonic Minster, Kilian's Church and the Old Town Hall are among the buildings that Heilbronn is the seat of Burgenstrasse Association has to offer. Also worth seeing are the Trappensee castle and the moated castle in the Kirchhausen district. From the Wartberg you have a magnificent view of the city with the Katchen from Heilbronn.
- 17 Weinberg: The ruins of the former Reichsburg Faithful to women lies above the town, where a state wine school testifies to the quality of the vines grown.
From Bad Friedrichshall, the Neckar can also be used as a canoe trail, more information at CANOE BIKE. There are numerous other castles and palaces along the route that are not part of the Castle Road. Nevertheless, they are worth mentioning, e.g. the former Teutonic Order Palace in Neckarsulm, which houses a two-wheeled museum.
On the Hohenlohe level
- 18 Even if the old Hohenlohe residence Öhringen is not on Castle Road, you shouldn't just drive past it. It is also worth making a detour through the valleys of Stove and Chasing close.
South facade of Neuenstein Castle in winter
- 19 Neuenstein: The moated castle in Renaissance style now serves as the Hohenlohe House's central archive and museum.
- 20 Waldenburg: The town lies at the height of the Waldenburg mountains. From the 33 m high Laughter storm you have a good view of the winding old town and the Hohenlohe plain (open in the summer months from May to September from 9:00 a.m., some narrow stairs, not handicapped accessible).
- 21 Schwäbisch Hall: The old salt boiler town is dominated by the former Benedictine monastery Comburg. Well-known is the staircase of the Church of St. Michael, on which theater performances take place every year from June to the end of August. The Hall-Franconian Museum and above all that Hohenloher open air museum in the Wackershofen district clearly show rural life in earlier centuries.
- 22 Langenburg: The Renaissance Langenburg Castle is located on a mountain spur above the Jagst. Together with the baroque garden and the German Auto Museum Schloss Langenburg it attracts numerous visitors. A relatively new attraction is the Forest climbing park Hohenlohe.
- 23 Kirchberg an der Jagst: The residential palace of the Princes of Hohenlohe-Kirchberg with the courtyard garden and the orangery is worth seeing, as is the old upper town, including that Sandel's Museum, the former Latin school in the baroque style.
Bavarian stages
Plönlein with Sieberstor and Kobolzellertor
From the Taubertal the route leads over the Swiss franc amount in Franconian Switzerland to the old imperial city of Bamberg. She goes on through that as well Beer francs designated Upper Franconia via Coburg and Kulmbach to Bayreuth. The total distance of the Bavarian part is around 450 km, then it is around 50 km to the Czech border.
From Rothenburg through Romantic Franconia to Nuremberg
- 24 Rothenburg ob der Tauber: The medieval city center is surrounded by a largely accessible city wall. The town hall with a 60 m high tower, the master drink clock on the market square, the Plönlein and the crime museum are just a selection of the numerous sights.
- 25 Colmberg: The castle is located in the upper Altmühltal on a hill in the Frankenhöhe nature park; it is privately owned as a hotel and restaurant.
- 26 Ansbach: One is waiting in the margravial residence Kaspar Hauser Department on the visitors, mirror cabinet and tile hall are further attractive rooms. The former collegiate church of St. Gumbertus is a landmark of the city.
- 27 Lichtenau: The castle complex of the former moated castle from the 16th and 17th centuries dominates the townscape.
- 28 Wolframs Eschenbach: Today the town hall is in the former Teutonic Order Castle. Also worth seeing the Liebfraumünster and that Wolfram von Eschenbach Museum.
- 29 Abenberg: The castle dates from the 11th and 12th centuries, and the former Marienburg monastery is also worth seeing. The Lace Museum explains the almost extinct craftsmanship.
- 30 Roth: The Ratibor Castle houses the city museum.
Nuremberg Castle, Sinwell Tower
From Nuremberg through the Franconian Switzerland to Bamberg
- 31 Nuremberg: The city is rich in historical sites, the ones that should be mentioned here Imperial Castle, the Main market, the The house of Duerer and the Germanic National Museum.
- 32 Forchheim: The Imperial Palace dates from the 14th century, actually it was a castle of the Bamberg bishops. Well known is the town hall, which is the largest in the run-up to Christmas advent Calendar the world is.
- 33 Ebermannstadt: The Feuerstein Castle was only built in the Second World War and was a laboratory for radio technology; today it serves the archdiocese of Bamberg as a youth center.
- Wiesenttal market, consisting of the places Streitberg and Muggendorf: The 34 Neideck Castle is probably one of the largest castles in the region. Opposite her lies the 35 Streitberg Castle. Also worth seeing Bing cave, a stalactite cave over 300 m long.
- 36 Egloffstein: Above the place Egloffstein in the Trubachtal lies the Egloffstein Castle. Further sights are the castle and the wildlife park Hundshausen.
Rabenstein Castle
- 37 Gößweinstein: Worth seeing is the castle above the town, the pilgrimage museum and the Franconian toy museum.
- 38 Pottenstein: Elisabeth of Thuringia lived on the castle of the same name above the town in 1228. Not far from that Devil's cave, one of the largest German stalactite caves.
- 39 Rabenstein Castle: The castle is above that Maple Valley. It houses a hotel, which also includes a falconry. In the immediate vicinity is the Sophienhöhle and one designed for celebration Celtic village.
Waischenfeld, Steinerner Beutel
- 40 Waischenfeld: Only a few parts of the castle above the city have survived, according to the Stone bags, a mighty tower, and the Oberamtsschloss, today a beautiful castle tavern. There are also the castles Rabeneck over the Wiesenttal and Rabensteinwhich is now used as a hotel.
- 41 Aufseß: The small community has two castles to offer: Unteraufseß, Hans von Aufseß, the founder of the Germanic National Museum, lived here. The nearby Oberaufseß Castle is located in the middle of a park. However, the community is also famous because four breweries can be found within its walls.
- 42 Heiligenstadt: Here is lock Greifenstein, a baroque palace of the counts Schenk von Stauffenberg. The area around Heiligenstadt is also known because of the Easter fountain.
- 43 Memmelsdorf: The community is at the gates of Bamberg. Here is located Seehof Castle, the former summer residence of the Bamberg bishops in rococo style. Today the castle belongs to the Free State of Bavaria and can be visited.
From Bamberg through Upper Franconia to Bayreuth
Bamberg, old court
- 44 Bamberg: The city on the Regnitz is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The imperial cathedral and the Bamberg rider are depicted in countless history books, and the city is also part of the Castle Road because of the Altenburg on one of the seven Bamberg hills and because of the Old court and the New residence.
- 45 Rentweinsdorf: The Rentweinsdorf Castle, a rococo building from the 18th century, is located in a landscaped park and is privately owned.
- 46 Boars: The town still has numerous well-preserved historical buildings such as the town hall and the gray tower. It belongs to the Castle Road primarily because of the picturesque, still inhabited area 47 Eyrichshof Castle, and the 48 Castle ruins Rotenhan.
- Pfarrweisach has numerous half-timbered buildings and Franconian farms. The district belongs to Pfarrweisach 49 Lichtenstein with the castle of the same name. Below the castle, caves and rocks form a labyrinth.
- Maroldsweisach: Above the Weisach lies the 50 ruin Altenstein, once one of the largest Franconian castles. There are other castles in the area in Maroldsweisach, Pfaffendorf, Birkenfeld, Hafenpreppach and Ditterswind.
- 51 Sesslach: The old town with numerous historical buildings is enclosed by a city wall with three defense towers. The oldest building is the former Geyersburg, after repeated renovations today Geyersberg Castle. The baroque castle Heilgersdorf can only be viewed from the outside.
Veste Coburg
- Bad Colberg-Heldburg: The Thuringian town is home to numerous half-timbered buildings. It is dominated by the one built in the Renaissance style 52 Veste Heldburgwhich was in the border area before German reunification.
- 53 Coburg: The city is visually dominated by the Veste Coburg, also as Franconian crown designated. It is one of the largest German castles. The castles are also worth seeing 54 Callenberg, 55 Ehrenberg and 56 Rosenau.
- 57 Kronach: The one above the city Rosenberg Fortress was never conquered. The old town with the town hall and the parish church as well as numerous historical buildings are also worth a visit.
- 58 Kulmbach: The Hohenzollern Fortress is located above the city Plassenburg, which houses state collections, including a tin figure museum. These are other attractions of the Kulmbacher Land German Steam Locomotive Museum in Neuenmarkt Bavarian Brewery Museum in the Kulmbacher Mönchshof and a Pottery Museum in Thurnau.
- 59 Bayreuth: In Wagnerstadt are with the House Wahnfried and the Festival hall world-famous buildings. The city is counted as part of the Burgenstrasse because of its historical building fabric. The Old lock and the New lock were the residence of the Bayreuth margraves, the margravine had more of a preference for them Hermitage:
From Bayreuth it is approx. 50 km to the border crossing Schirnding to the Czech Republic.
Stages in the Czech Republic
From Eger to Prague
Špalíček (Egerer Stöckl)
Since 1994 the castle road has been after the German border Czech Republic expanded. The border crossing is on the B303 at Schirnding. After approx. 25 km you reach Eger. The castle road continues for around 410 km Carlsbad and Pilsen to their current end point Prague.
- 60 Eger, (Cheb): In the former German imperial city is the imperial castle, Chebsky Hrad from the 12th century. Other sights are the market square with the Špalíček or Egerer Stöckl and the Pachelbel house with the district museum.
- 61 Sokolov, (Falkenau): The Sokolov Castle in the style of the late renaissance houses the district museum of the Karlovy Vary district.
- 62 Lázně Kynžvart: The town Bad Königswart is in the district Eger in the region Carlsbad. The classicist Königswart Castle or Zámek Kynžvart is surrounded by a 300 hectare park.
- 63 Loket: At Carlsbad lies the city Elbow or Loket. The Loket Castle offers in the city museum a beautiful collection of porcelain from the area, a torture chamber and a collection of weapons.
- 64 Bečov: Bečov Castle and Palace are in the Kaiserwald nature reserve between Carlsbad and Marienbad
View of the Hradschin ("castle town"), in the foreground the Vltava.
- 65 Teplá: The pen library of the Tepla Premonstratensian Monastery includes numerous manuscripts and a total of over 100,000 volumes. The monastery also has a hotel
- 66 Švihov u Klatov, (Schwihau): One of the largest Bohemian water castles is the picturesque one Švihov Castle in a circle Pilsen, which served as a film set in the filming of many fairy tales.
- 67 Nezvěstice: In the nearby village Nebílovy (German: Nebilau) is this Baroque Nebílovy Castle.
- 68 Štáhlavy: Here is the classicistic Kozel Castle, it is surrounded by a 40 hectare park.
- 69 Hořovice: The baroque palace Horowitz houses, among other things, a collection of music boxes. In addition to the interior, the castle park is also worth seeing.
- Zdize: Hrad Žebrák (Castle beggars) and 70 Hrad Točník (Totschnik Castle)
- Křivoklát: The castle Křivoklát in the town of the same name (German: Pürglitz) arose under Přemysl Otakar II
- 71 Karlstejn: The Karlstein Castle became under emperor Charles IV built.
- 72 Prague, (Prague): The emblem of the Golden city is the Hradschinwho have favourited Prague Castle. World-famous, too Charles Bridge across the Vltava. The tour ends here.
literature
Typical signage on southern German roads
- : The Castle Route - guide to castles and palaces from Mannheim to Prague. Michael Imhof publishing house, ISBN 978-3-86568-318-2 .
- Cycle guide bikeline bike tour book (Ed.): German Castle Route - Part 1: From Mannheim to Nuremberg. Esterbauer GmbH publishing house, 1:50 000, ISBN 3-85000-107-5 , P. 120.
- : Beer and Castle Road: Visiting brewers and knights. Grebennikov Publishing House, Apr. 2012, ISBN 978-3941784307 ; 176 pages.
