An ideal plan for vacations this summer is to travel to Germany and follow the Romantic Road from Main to the Alps, the most popular and rich itinerary in the country in terms of its cultural and natural attractions.
The route, created in 1950, covers 460 kilometers between the cities of Wurzburg and Füssen, from the Main to the Alps. The itinerary allows us to discover the most beautifully typical Germany. The route connects 29 cities and towns of the purest medieval character, full of culture and history, natural landscapes of great beauty and a wide gastronomic offer starring traditional cuisine and a hundred-year-old production of wines and craft beers.
But another of the great travel landmarks of this route is its collection of castles and palaces, authentic architectural marvels that seem to have been taken from the pages of a fairy tale.
The first city on the Romantic Road is Wurzburg, the capital of Lower Franconia. It is a beautiful university city – no less than 14 Nobel Prize winners have studied on its campus – which boasts one of the masterpieces of German Baroque: the residence palace, one of the most beautiful and important in Europe and which holds the title of heritage of humanity.
This “miniature” Versailles was built between 1720 and 1744 according to plans by the famous B. Neumann, with whom other famous architects of the time collaborated, such as the Viennese L. von Hildebrandt. The Emperors’ room, with decoration and frescoes by G. B. Tiepolo (the author of the frescoes in the Royal Palace of Madrid) and the Emperor’s room, in an effervescent rococo style, are the most beautiful and impressive spaces. Its gardens, meticulously cared for, are the usual setting for concerts and all kinds of events.
The bucolic town of Bad Mergentheim, another stop on the route, treasures as its most outstanding jewel the castle of the Teutonic Knights, a religious-military order founded in the Middle Ages, and which has a curious connection with Spain. In the 12th century, the city’s Teutonic Knights escorted Princess Isabel Beatriz of Suabia to Castile, who was going to marry King Ferdinand III.
The king offered them to stay with him to fight against the Arabs and, to convince them, he gave them a monastery in Mota del Marqués, in Valladolid, where these religious-soldiers remained for more than three centuries. The castle, which was built in the 12th century and where the knights stayed until the beginning of the 19th century, today houses the Museum of the Teutonic Order, with interesting fixed and temporary exhibitions on the history of the order.
The last name Hohenlohe is widely known. Entrepreneurs, philanthropists, adventurers, regulars in the society pages… For a long time -centuries, even- the surname of this powerful German aristocratic family has been the protagonist of numerous scenes in European history. Of its extensive heritage, the Weikersheim palace stands out above all, located in the town of the same name, a charming town in the first third of the route.
This building, considered the best example of Renaissance architecture in southern Germany, was built around 1600 by the House of Hohenlohe in a Renaissance style; in 1709, Count Carl Ludwig underwent an extensive renovation, which has survived to this day. The sumptuous Hall of the Knights, with its scenes and hunting trophies and its original period coffered ceiling, and the Garden of Earthly Delights of the palace, with about 75 sculptures -among them, the famous “Weikersheim dwarfs”, which represent the courtiers of the time – make the building an essential stopover on the Romantic Road
The Schaezlerpalais is the largest and best preserved private residential and commercial building in Augsburg from the 18th century. Completed in 1770, this rococo palace is a testament to the splendor and opulence of the city, one of the most interesting stops on the Romantic Road.
The castle stands out for its elegant façade and its magnificent interior decoration. Ornate ceilings, exquisite wall paintings and intricate architectural details bear witness to the Rococo style at its finest – pure luxury and refinement. It houses an impressive collection of art, including masterpieces by famous artists such as Tiepolo, Canaletto, and Cranach, and an extensive collection of paintings, sculptures, and antique furniture.
If there is a fairytale castle in the world, it is, without a doubt, Neuschwanstein Castle. Located very close to Füssen, in a bucolic setting in southern Bavaria, this masterpiece of architectural Romanticism is the most prototypical “fairytale castle”. His figure has inspired the most famous castles in film and television -the most famous of all, Disney’s-, and its cultural impact and its status as a symbol of the romantic era make it an emblematic place that attracts travelers from all over the world. the world.
Commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria, it boasts pointed towers and snow-white walls. It competes in beauty with the natural setting in which it is located, on top of a hill, surrounded by a beautiful alpine landscape. The castle is inspired by medieval castles and was designed as a personal refuge for King Ludwig II, the famous “mad king” who, obsessed with the technology of the time -filled it with all kinds of gadgets- and the work of his contemporary Richard Wagner -who rehearsed his works in a grotto built for this purpose-, squandered an immense fortune in what, with the passage of time, would become the most famous castle in the world.
