March 2016
We had a four-day weekend over Easter, so booked a couple of overnight stays in the town of Hechingen. When we arrived at the train station, we were greeted with this view.
On a hill high above the town, there is a beautiful castle named Burg Hohenzollern. You can see it just above the roof lines in this photo. The town is at the base of the hill, and the hill itself is covered with forest. A typical view as you walk up a path on the hill to the castle is shown next. It was late March, so the trees were bare, which offered another view of the castle. In a month's time or so, the view of the castle will be covered by leaves.
I wouldn't recommend climbing the hill though. It's very high and steep. The walk is much nicer going down. However, we did see some people, including young families (some with baby carriages) hiking up. I wonder if they made it. We took the shuttle bus.
Finally arriving at the castle, the entrance was a spiral with 4 loops.
The spiral took us by several nice views.
When we finally got inside the castle, our first view was of the Gothic chapel (on the right in the photo).
Due to the nice weather, we had a great view from the castle. The two sentries also enjoyed the view.
The castle is still a private residence for two of the noble families who inherited it. Their living quarters must be somewhere on the upper stories, where they would have a view similar to this one.
Most of the current castle was rebuilt in the 1800s according to German Romanticism. But there is still a late-Romanesque chapel from the previous castle built in the 15th century. The inside has the characteristic arches from that time period.
In the entrance to the chapel is a nice statue of St. George.
A visit to the inside of the buildings in the castle is normally permitted only as part of a tour, but today all the rooms where open for people to visit at their leisure. Although there were no tours, there was a person in each room who could explain the significant features, so it was like a tour conducted at your own pace.
We had a four-day weekend over Easter, so booked a couple of overnight stays in the town of Hechingen. When we arrived at the train station, we were greeted with this view.
On a hill high above the town, there is a beautiful castle named Burg Hohenzollern. You can see it just above the roof lines in this photo. The town is at the base of the hill, and the hill itself is covered with forest. A typical view as you walk up a path on the hill to the castle is shown next. It was late March, so the trees were bare, which offered another view of the castle. In a month's time or so, the view of the castle will be covered by leaves.
I wouldn't recommend climbing the hill though. It's very high and steep. The walk is much nicer going down. However, we did see some people, including young families (some with baby carriages) hiking up. I wonder if they made it. We took the shuttle bus.
Finally arriving at the castle, the entrance was a spiral with 4 loops.
When we finally got inside the castle, our first view was of the Gothic chapel (on the right in the photo).
Due to the nice weather, we had a great view from the castle. The two sentries also enjoyed the view.
The castle is still a private residence for two of the noble families who inherited it. Their living quarters must be somewhere on the upper stories, where they would have a view similar to this one.
Most of the current castle was rebuilt in the 1800s according to German Romanticism. But there is still a late-Romanesque chapel from the previous castle built in the 15th century. The inside has the characteristic arches from that time period.
In the entrance to the chapel is a nice statue of St. George.
.
A visit to the inside of the buildings in the castle is normally permitted only as part of a tour, but today all the rooms where open for people to visit at their leisure. Although there were no tours, there was a person in each room who could explain the significant features, so it was like a tour conducted at your own pace.
Pictures were not allowed of the inside of the rooms, but some of the highlights are shown on the castle's Wikipedia site. There is the very impressive Crown of William II, also known as the Hohenzollern Crown, which is the 1888 crown made for William II, German Emperor, in his role as King of Prussia.
We also saw a letter from George Washington thanking Baron von Steuben (who was a Hohenzollern descendant) for being one of his generals in the Revolutionary War. (By the way, Von Steuben Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in September, and there is a parade in New York City ending in a beer festival in Central Park,)
