The Scenic Route

Page 8

Meet the Aristocrats in

MILTENBERG Enjoy a cuppa with the local royalty in Gamburg Castle

Miltenberg, Germany is a town nestled within a bend in the Main River. As you gaze upon the township, there is a sense of wonder to Miltenberg’s romantic lanes and squares. Viniculture, wine trade, river traffic, fishery, wood and stone industries were the most important trades and crafts in Miltenberg’s past. Urban development did not make it to the fringes of the ancient kingdoms, and so the medieval townscape was preserved and remains today, evidenced by the many halftimbered houses, dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. Some of history’s most momentous figures have passed through Miltenberg, including two Holy Roman Emperors, Napoleon and even Elvis Presley. Gamburg Castle is situated near Miltenberg on the Romantic Road. During the German Peasants' War, the imposing castle was one of the few to remain unscathed thanks to the intervention of the famous knight Gotz von Berlichingen (who is worth googling in his own right to learn about how he coined one of the world’s most famous phrases). Gamburg Castle has been a private property, handed down through aristocratic families since 1546. Its oldest part, the keep, was transformed into a bunker to store the files on communist resistance groups during World War II. The castle is rumoured to be haunted by over 21 ghosts and is connected with ancient tales of a beautiful mermaid, Melusine.

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