Lichtenstein & Hohenzollern Castles & Rottweil

We woke to another nice day.  Is summer nearly here?  Surely!  Either way it’s onward. Today we’ll travel to Rottweil on the edge of the Black Forest, but on the way we’ll suss out the two best castles in this region.  As we left Esslingen, Kath almost immediately spotted this aptly named phallic construction.  Barely worth inclusion but she insisted.

Always have to slow down for bridges and whenever other roads intersect with a main road.  It’s down to 80kmph for bridges, 70kmph where other roads meet a main road, and tunnels can be 70 or 80kmph.

Ok Germany, we’ve seen too much of this now, so it’s not just a one off. City councils need to smarten up their act. There’s long grass, as well as weeds growing nicely at kerb sides, in footpath cracks and against buildings etc.  Rothenburg and Nordlingen were exceptions, but it has astounded us to see so many places kept untidy. This photo was taken whilst driving through Reutlingen.  This is way beyond overgrown!

Muzza just paid for a drink of diesel for Hermann.  After all the driving we’ve done he was only just under half full.  Very economical.

Haaaaa… got you back you bastard!  That’ll teach you to snap me!!  These bloody things are everywhere.  You can drive through towns barely big enough to warrant being on a map, and yup they’ll have two of them!  Carefully painted to blend in.
What’s worse is that it’s rare to see a 50kmph sign at the start of a town.  So you’re coming off 100kmph, sometimes there’s a sign that slows you to 70kmph, then you guess where the 50kmph begins. Tip: It’ll be where the houses start! 🙂  This was how I got trapped on day one. There was no sign advising of the change in speed limit.  I’ll be surprised if I escape without another click.  Bastards!

Ok Kath snapped this poster as we drove by (I think it was in Lichtenstein).  Uumm really, do we need monstrous ‘just born’ posters on the roadside?

Ok… let’s get back to task.  First stop is the very picturesque Schloss Lichtenstein. (pronounced: ‘Leesh-tin-styne’, and not to be confused with the castle in the country Liechtenstein – spelt differently!).  An interesting sign at the start of the trail to the castle. The biggest and most important word/message seems to be re the whereabouts of the toilets. 🙂

Here’s the entrance:

Cutting to the cool photo straight up. Isn’t this magnificent!  Schloss Lichtenstein is built on a steep rock overlooking the Echaz Valley. Built in 1840-42, and inspired by the novel “Lichtenstein”.  Trivia: Lichtenstein, means: light stone.  It is privately owned by the ducal family of Urach, i.e., the Counts and Dukes of Württemberg, but is is open to the public during certain periods of the year. (organised tours only).

We decided to do a tour €7ea. It was in German but they give you an English sheet to read. (The guide was happy to answer our questions anyway). This was well worth it. Very interesting indeed and the rooms are spectacular (with good stories attached). No photos allowed inside). We’re on our way in.

Tour done.  I was asked by another couple to take their photo.  They of course repaid the favour.

Looking down the valley to the town of Lichtenstein.



Hiding under a seat.

Building art (adjacent to the castle).

On to castle number two which is only 40 mins down the road and about 50kms short of Rottweil. There she is. Burg Hohenzollern.

We parked up Hermann and elected to get the shuttle from the car park to the castle. a) It saves time, b) it saves energy – it’s a steady uphill climb, and c) it was now quite warm outside. Easy decision. €3.10ea return for the shuttle. €2 for the car park. €6ea to view the castle from the outside.  We didn’t bother with the tour (I’d read it wasn’t worth it). The main entrance.

The castle was the ancestral home of the Hohenzollern dynasty, ruling over Prussia from the Middle Ages up until the end of the First World War. The owners of the castle today are descendants from the same family tree.  Up and around we go.

This bloke offered little resistance.

We went through here.

And looked out into here.

And across to here.  Zeller Horn (where the green triangle of grass) is at the top (right of centre).  We’ll drive and hike to it next. It is THE place with THE best view of Burg Hohenzollern. Don’t come here and miss doing Zeller Horn!  (Photos further down).

Meantime, Kath bought a lollipop.

There are statues everywhere (of the various rulers of Prussia).


The inner courtyard.

Kath fires off a few shots (not that she needs a cannon for the task).  😉

The day was warming up so we sat in the shade and had a cold drink.  The responsible  driver had the orange.  😦  JB – you mentioned New World.  Well this beer kind looks like the Warehouse special.

Michael dealing to a dragon.  Judging by the look on his face it wasn’t much of a challenge.

I continue to be impressed at the standard of German knockers.

This reminded me of Florence.  Again… we see what appear to be a couple of bearded ladies from The Life of Brian.  🙂

Waiting for the shuttle.  That guy hasn’t moved an inch!

Back seat for the leg room.  All the other seats are made for people with very short legs. e.g. Kath.

We drove away from the castle and around and through a couple of small towns (the last being Onstmettingen) until we reached a car park beside a hotel called Zollersteighof Berghotel (at Zollersteighof 2, 72461 Albstadt). There’s a gravel trail from the parking lot that you can walk to Zeller Horn in about 20 minutes (it’s a 3.6km return trip). The trail is generally pretty flat. The view of Hohenzollern Castle is stunning!  A signpost on the way.

Through open fields and through the trees (the shade was welcome).

And here is that view. Zooming in below.

Closer.

The obligatory poses.

Muzza strategically keeps the pins tucked away.

Last photo. Full zoom.

On we go to Rottweil.  Ha… a very rare warning sign.

The approach to Rottweil.

We parked up, checked in and went for a look around town. This town well painted up!  We’d end up eating outside of this place later.


Still on the main street: Hockbrucktorstrasse.

Kapellenkirche (14th century).

Still on Hockbrucktorstrasse.

Fountain at the corner of Hockbrucktorstrasse and Hauptstrasse.

Pretty but busy Hockbrucktorstrasse.


We walked up Hauptstrasse. There’s a market going on. All sorts of stuff being sold.  We eye up the cafe behind the fountain, and will return there for a beer shortly.


At the top of Hauptstrasse looking back.

Black Gate.

A couple of Rotties.  I’ll snap the bronze version tomorrow.  Some rottweiler trivia. (Yes there is a connection with the town’s name). They say these dogs travelled with the Romans as they steamrolled their way across Europe. They used them as drover dogs to herd the cattle they brought with them (there weren’t many refrigerated trucks around back in AD73!).  The town (named Rottweil) became an important cattle trading centre and Rottweiler dogs were used to drive cattle to market and protect them from the thieves and wild animals. Eventually the dogs came to be called Rottweiler Metzgerhunds, or butcher dogs (butchers would put money pouches around their necks for safe keeping!).

Black Gate from the other side (in German Schwarzes Tor). Construction of the Black Gate began in 1230, in 1289. Initially it was called Forest Gate because it led to ‘a very dark forest’ (strangely called the Black Forest!). The top two floors were added in the 16th century and housed prisoners of the imperial city (if nothing else, they probably had the best view in town!).

Donna. This restaurant looks colour coded especially for you!!  🙂

Street art.

Street painting.

The top of Black Gate.

More street painting.

Our cafe stop delivered these.  Ahhhh…. yeeeees!

We next headed back to the main street to look for a place to have a feed.

The colours of Rottweil.

Fountain art.

The old and the new.

Street corner art.

Building art.

Kath checks out the menu at this place

Does it have beer?  Yes.  Let’s sit down!  Two beers please!!

The view from my seat.  A ‘boy racer’ drives by. We laugh because his car is a tarted up shiny Audi A4. Not quite the same as what the lads have back home.  I’d only just made the comment to Kath earlier that I hadn’t seen or heard boy racers.  At Rottweil we saw two. The other one was a jazzed up, painted up VW Golf. Gold.

Where did that beer go?  Get me another!

Wow… they’re paying homage to Sammy Whitelock!!

Earlier we passed a dessert joint around the corner, so we decided to sneak back for a look.  Here’s mine. Perfect!

Ok…. that was today.  Two castles and a brief look at Rottweil.  We’ll have another wander in the morning before we sneak into the Black Forest to see if it really is black.
Guten nacht!