REICHENSTEIN CASTLE
Headless Knight, Sleepy Night
Want
to take a wine tasting tour of German Rhine wines, a bargain romantic
honeymoon hideaway, or darn it, you just like castles where headless
apparitions clank down the halls in the dead of night. The Middle
Rhine which snakes
like a wide ribbon of inland sea lane between Mainz and Cologne (or Köln)
is where they keep some of Germany’s best kept medieval keeps.
There are some 20 of them, some ruins, some preserved, and quaint medieval
towns
as the river winds lazily
toward the North Sea. Around every bend another stone edifice stands
watch over the freight
barges
which
motor,
day and
night, up and down the river past the famous mighty rock called The Loreley
(see Boppard
on the Rhine) where the long golden-haired siren’s
song of legend drew love sick lusty wayward sailors crashing into the
rocky shallows.
Each
castle has its own story in the long history of Germany’s medieval
past and Castle Reichenstein which has been featured on an
episode of the television series "Ghost Hunters" has one
of the most interesting.
Burg Reichenstein is one of the oldest, originally built in the 12th
Century,
and has
perhaps
the most curious history. From the mid 1200's a family of robber
knights would prey on errant merchants carrying goods along the river,
then
retreat
to their fortress on the steep hill above. Eventually defeated in 1282
by their annoyed neighbors and the Hapsburg Prince Rudolf from the next
castle down the river, Burg Rheinstein, (See Castle
Rheinstein) the
father of the clan asked that his 10 sons be spared. Rudolf generously
offered that he would spare all of the sons the father could walk past,
AFTER his head was cut off. According to legend the robber knight’s
will was so strong that as he took his first step and his head was lopped
off, his headless body’s powerful legs strode past nine of his
sons before finally toppling to the ground. This legend is also apparently
accorded to a 17th Century pirate, but what's a legend if it doesn't
get passed around?
REICHENSTEIN HOTEL AND RESTAURANT
Burg
Reichenstein is well preserved, with the interior reconstructed in
the
1800's in a gothic style and has a nice collection of medieval armor
on display throughout its many floors. The castle also has a small
hotel and restaurant within its walls, situated in a former hunter’s
lodge. The hotel is only open on weekends or when a reservation
has been made in advance. The restaurant now only serves events, like
weddings for which the location is quite popular, understandable
with the romance lore and view of the Rhine valley and there is
a beer
garden in the summer (for another Rhine castle hotel see Auf
Schonburg Castle Oberwesel).
The
middle Rhine is reachable from Mainz by car in about 40 minutes
through Bingen if you want to
drive along its winding cliffs and visit a handful of castles.
(see Mainz
Cathedral)
Or take a 40 minute train ride from Frankfurt to Trechtingshausen.
The station
is across from the drive entrance to Burg Reichenstein’s gate.
Take a Rhine boat cruise to view the fortresses from the bargeman’s
point-of-view (see River
Cruises-KD). © Bargain
Travel Europe
Compare travel deals on the Rhine River at TripAdvisor
German
High Speed Train ICE
Booking Center
Web
Info
Burg
Reichenstein
These articles are copyrighted and the sole property of Bargain Travel Europe and WLPV, LLC. and may not be copied or reprinted without permission.
Google Map Middle Rhine-Trechtingshausen
See Also:
More Rhine
Castles:
Rhine
Castle Map
Burg Ehrenfels and Mouse Turm
Burg Sooneck
Castle
Marksburg
Philippsburg
Castle
GERMANY’S
CASTLE ROAD - BURGENSTRASSE
DARMSTADT
FRANKENSTEIN CASTLE RUINS
CASTLE HORNBERG ON THE NECKAR RIVER
GERMAN
DISCOUNT AIRLINE - CONDOR FLUG
WINE TASTING LANIUS-KNAB OBERWESEL
