germany: berghausen, the longest castle in the world
after armin's mother had surprised us with her speedy driving, we soon learnt that her prediliction was genetic. and her son wasn't in a beaten up van this time, but a menacing looking late model black audi wagon. also, he was trying to get to this castle before the sun set. its the first time i have travelled in a car at 200kph.
our destination was the burghausen castle, which holds the guiness world record for the longest castle in the world. it extends along its majestic perch on a cliff overlooking the surrounding area for longer than a kilometre.
there has been a settlement in this area since the bronze age, even before the castle was built. you can see why - the location is perfect. it looks out over the salzach river, and is naturally impregnable from 3 sides. the last side is where the entry to the castle is, but there are several gates and moats as you go further and further into the castle.
the castle complex has its own little church.
the thing i loved most about this castle, is that it is no empty relic - people still live in it. as we walked in we passed people going about their regular business, driving, biking or walking home through the castle gates and moats to their little apartments in some ancient wall or section of the castle.
why was this town, and ultimately castle built? back in those days the main product that people were willing to pay a fortune for was, not bmw's or audis, but salt. berghausen was a natural point where salt coming from salzburg (in what is now austria) would be taken off the boat and transported overland. we shall visit salzburg in due course, but for the purpose of our story, the word 'salzburg' means 'salt fortress.'
another good use that the castle is put to nowadays is weddings. and because of one such event, we were unable to walk around inside the last fortress over the last forbidding moat.
so instead we walked back along the line of lovely little apartments built into the city walls. we decided to explore the empty streets of the old town of berghausen which is squeezed into the tiny little space between the castle and the salzach river.
i don't know how they do it. maybe it is a requirement to have existed for a thousand years or so, but old towns in europe have a loveliness and character that very few modern cities possess. every little corner hides another treasure, every doorway seems to have a story.
A highlight of the old town is this area, known as the grüben. Apparently, most of the old houses here used to be craftsmen's shops.
A more recent development is that berghausen has become the host of a fairly large jazz festival annually. maybe one day we will come back and visit it: for now, we had to content ourselves with looking at the bronze plates set in the road to commemorate famous jazz musicians who have played there over the years.
if you look close you can see armin and josephine, sandi and rita trying to hold still for my picture.
next stop: his and hers matching islands!
our destination was the burghausen castle, which holds the guiness world record for the longest castle in the world. it extends along its majestic perch on a cliff overlooking the surrounding area for longer than a kilometre.
there has been a settlement in this area since the bronze age, even before the castle was built. you can see why - the location is perfect. it looks out over the salzach river, and is naturally impregnable from 3 sides. the last side is where the entry to the castle is, but there are several gates and moats as you go further and further into the castle.
the castle complex has its own little church.
the thing i loved most about this castle, is that it is no empty relic - people still live in it. as we walked in we passed people going about their regular business, driving, biking or walking home through the castle gates and moats to their little apartments in some ancient wall or section of the castle.
why was this town, and ultimately castle built? back in those days the main product that people were willing to pay a fortune for was, not bmw's or audis, but salt. berghausen was a natural point where salt coming from salzburg (in what is now austria) would be taken off the boat and transported overland. we shall visit salzburg in due course, but for the purpose of our story, the word 'salzburg' means 'salt fortress.'
another good use that the castle is put to nowadays is weddings. and because of one such event, we were unable to walk around inside the last fortress over the last forbidding moat.
so instead we walked back along the line of lovely little apartments built into the city walls. we decided to explore the empty streets of the old town of berghausen which is squeezed into the tiny little space between the castle and the salzach river.
A highlight of the old town is this area, known as the grüben. Apparently, most of the old houses here used to be craftsmen's shops.
A more recent development is that berghausen has become the host of a fairly large jazz festival annually. maybe one day we will come back and visit it: for now, we had to content ourselves with looking at the bronze plates set in the road to commemorate famous jazz musicians who have played there over the years.
if you look close you can see armin and josephine, sandi and rita trying to hold still for my picture.
next stop: his and hers matching islands!
