KALTENBERG KNIGHTS TOURNAMENT
Jousting and Beer at Medieval Castle Fair
Ah,
the romance of damsels and errant knights in shining armor holds a
fascination in modern times
for chivalric
values long past. Visitors
to Europe with a passion for medieval knights jousting on mighty armored
steeds seek out castles to explore the imagined dreams, finding old forgotten
stones with only echoes of former glories. For those who seek a more
living recreation of knightly combat at arms, an industry of dinner performance
shows like “Medieval Times” has spread in the U.S. from Anaheim
to New Jersey. At castles around Europe, in the good weather of summer,
titling, sword and jousting demonstrations entertain and instruct. But
the largest tournament of knights to be found in Europe is to be found
in Bavaria of southern Germany, about 30 miles from Munich.
The Kaltenberg Knights Tournament is held every year in July at the
Kaltenberg Castle attracting almost 120,000 visitors for the 10 days
of the tournament and medieval market. And of the many me actual real
life Prince and Princess. The knights tournament show at Kaltenberg Castle
was begun in 1980 by Prince Luitpold of Bavaria as originally a small
amateur performance, but has grown over the years into a favorite summer
treat in Bavaria, hosted by the prince and his wife Princess Beatrix,
with 10,000 fans cheering the final battle between the villain Black
Knight and the hero Bavarian Knight. Who wins is subject to the vote
of the crowd, like the Roman Coliseum days, but you can pretty much guess
who usually wins.
Aside from battling knights in the stadium, the Kaltenberg Tournament also provides a Medieval Market Fair with costumed performers and purveyors of medieval foods, goods and crafts, presenting a recreation of life in the middle-ages (without the smell) at a real medieval Bavarian castle – not the later revival fantasies of "Mad" Ludwig (see Schloss Neuschwanstein). Though here, the “King of Beers” is the local favorite Kaltenberg King Ludwig Dunkel (dark beer).
Prince Luitpold, a direct descendant of King Ludwig III, the last king of Bavaria manages the family owned Kaltenberg Brewery which makes the tournament’s signature brew. He actually started the tournament because even though he’s royalty and his ancestor Duke Wilhelm IV of the Wittelsbachs established the Bavarian beer purity law in 1600's that “nothing is to be added to beer other than barley, hops and water" with the offender to be severely punished and have his barrel of beer confiscated, his brewery is not allowed to participate in Munich’s Oktoberfest (see Oktoberfest Seats). His brewery is to too far from the city to qualify for the big beer fest, so rather than taking his beer to Munich, he’s managed to get Munich to come to him.
The Kaltenberg Knights Tournament (Ritterturnier) is an experience for the whole family and the operators try to present as authentic an experience of medieval life as they can manage, with an emphasis on the romantic, heroic and mystical side of the time. A new feature is the Jester’s Night taking up one day of the festival when the fighting tournaments are forsaken in for a focus on the magicians, acrobats, fire-eaters, music and period clothes performers that usually make up the medieval market.
The tournament performances are mostly in the evenings with visitors suggested to arrive around 4 in the afternoon (16:00) for the show which begins at 8:30 (20:30), starting with spectacular horse stunts before the knights go at it helm to helm. Festivities with a show parade through the market street to the tournament stadium. The main tournament show lasts two hours and the market stays open to midnight for a last stein of mead for the road. The traffic to Kaltenberg from Munich (A96) during the festival can turn a normal 30-40 minute trip into 2 hours of traffic to get to the free parking, so allow plenty of time if driving. There is an S-Bahn train from Munich Main Train Station (Haubtbahnhof) to the Geltendorf station, then a shuttle bus to the grounds, but takes about the same time.
Tickets to the Kaltenberg Knights Tournament run from €35 to €67 for performance seating. An entrance to the market without a show seat are €23. Tickets to the performances sell out so you’ll need to book in advance. You can reserve tickets before May 13th through the Kaltenberg website. After mid-May tickets are available through ticketing agencies in the region.
If
you can’t make it to
the Kaltenberg during the tournament the brewery operates a
restaurant at the Burg Kaltenberg,
a stop along the “Romantic Road” between the Bavarian medieval
town of Landsberg (see Landsberg am Lech) and Augsburg. The castle itself is fairly
modest as German castles go, a little more a gingerbread manor than fortress.
The Kaltenberg Brewery also operates a restaurant in Vail, Colorado,
the
Kaltenberg
Castle Royal
Bavarian
Brewhouse. You might see some horses in Colorado and have a beer there,
but to see the knights battle, you have to go to Germany. © Bargain
Travel Europe
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Kaltenberg
Rittertournier
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission. Tournament photos courtesy Kaltenberg Rittertournier.
See Also:
HORNBERG
KNIGHTS CASTLE HOTEL
ROTHENBURG ON THE ROMANTIC ROAD
