Mark Twain wrote in his A Tramp Abroad:
“…Dilsberg is a quaint place. It is most quaintly and picturesquely situated, too. Imagine the beautiful river before you; then a few rods of brilliant green sward on its opposite shore; then a sudden hill--no preparatory gently rising slopes, but a sort of instantaneous hill-- a hill two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet high, as round as a bowl, with the same taper upward that an inverted bowl has, and with about the same relation of height to diameter that distinguishes a bowl of good honest depth--a hill which is thickly clothed with green bushes--a comely, shapely hill, rising abruptly out of the dead level of the surrounding green plains, visible from a great distance down the bends of the river, and with just exactly room on the top of its head for its steepled and turreted and roof-clustered cap of architecture, which same is tightly jammed and compacted within the perfectly round hoop of the ancient village wall…”
The organisers of the conference arranged for us a boat trip to Dilsberg which included a visit to the three of the four medieval castles nested in the area. The itinerary advertised “charming views of Old Town Heidelberg and the Neckar Valley and unforgettable experience of climbing up on the towers of fairy tale castles...” they also said “The road goes slightly uphill but is pretty easy to walk…” Another option was to do a little hike to Dilsberg. And here they warned:” Although there are only 200 meter of altitude difference between the Neckar and Dilsberg it is a pretty steep road…”
Ok, so…great sense of humour they have…The boat journey took about one and a half hour, 30 min of which we spent staying still in two locks along the way. But I agree, the views were fantastic – the hills all covered in deep forests that gave the illusion of green velvet drapery…and when we came close to the Neckarsteinach (the place famous for its four castles), the castles appeared as if out of nowhere, they were old, they were high uphill and therefore looked rather small, like a toy castles, and I thought that a box of tin solders would fit perfectly to the place…
While panting over a “slightly uphill” road leading to the castles, we were wondering what the other option of “steep road to Dilsberg” looks like if they called “easy to walk” the one we were doing?!
Two of the castles are just ruins. But ruins in a romantic sense. You can climb their towers and enjoy the great view of Neckar Valley. In closeness they are not much bigger then from a distance. It was an interesting experience to see the ruins in the light of setting sun…but we did manage to get to the three of them before the dark though. The first one was still occupied by her historical owners and so we were only allowed to wander in the courtyard.
The second one was originally a small, but extremely well fortified castle. It was erected about 1100…there was no light on the stairs inside the towers, but having mobiles with the flashlight helped to get to the top where we’ve been rewarded for the efforts with the breathtaking views…
The third castle I liked the most. Its name is the “Swallow’s Nest”. It is the most recent and smallest, but still most interesting of the four Neckarstein castles. The castle itself stands on a rocky basement and appears to literally grow out of the mountain. And it was of that fairy tale shape that draws pictures of a Princess sitting at the top of the tower and a Dragon creeping ominously at the feet of it…again, we indulged ourselves to the very top for yet another panoramic view of the Valley…do I need to say more if the pictures say it for me?!...
“…Dilsberg is a quaint place. It is most quaintly and picturesquely situated, too. Imagine the beautiful river before you; then a few rods of brilliant green sward on its opposite shore; then a sudden hill--no preparatory gently rising slopes, but a sort of instantaneous hill-- a hill two hundred and fifty or three hundred feet high, as round as a bowl, with the same taper upward that an inverted bowl has, and with about the same relation of height to diameter that distinguishes a bowl of good honest depth--a hill which is thickly clothed with green bushes--a comely, shapely hill, rising abruptly out of the dead level of the surrounding green plains, visible from a great distance down the bends of the river, and with just exactly room on the top of its head for its steepled and turreted and roof-clustered cap of architecture, which same is tightly jammed and compacted within the perfectly round hoop of the ancient village wall…”
The organisers of the conference arranged for us a boat trip to Dilsberg which included a visit to the three of the four medieval castles nested in the area. The itinerary advertised “charming views of Old Town Heidelberg and the Neckar Valley and unforgettable experience of climbing up on the towers of fairy tale castles...” they also said “The road goes slightly uphill but is pretty easy to walk…” Another option was to do a little hike to Dilsberg. And here they warned:” Although there are only 200 meter of altitude difference between the Neckar and Dilsberg it is a pretty steep road…”
Ok, so…great sense of humour they have…The boat journey took about one and a half hour, 30 min of which we spent staying still in two locks along the way. But I agree, the views were fantastic – the hills all covered in deep forests that gave the illusion of green velvet drapery…and when we came close to the Neckarsteinach (the place famous for its four castles), the castles appeared as if out of nowhere, they were old, they were high uphill and therefore looked rather small, like a toy castles, and I thought that a box of tin solders would fit perfectly to the place…
While panting over a “slightly uphill” road leading to the castles, we were wondering what the other option of “steep road to Dilsberg” looks like if they called “easy to walk” the one we were doing?!
Two of the castles are just ruins. But ruins in a romantic sense. You can climb their towers and enjoy the great view of Neckar Valley. In closeness they are not much bigger then from a distance. It was an interesting experience to see the ruins in the light of setting sun…but we did manage to get to the three of them before the dark though. The first one was still occupied by her historical owners and so we were only allowed to wander in the courtyard.
The second one was originally a small, but extremely well fortified castle. It was erected about 1100…there was no light on the stairs inside the towers, but having mobiles with the flashlight helped to get to the top where we’ve been rewarded for the efforts with the breathtaking views…
The third castle I liked the most. Its name is the “Swallow’s Nest”. It is the most recent and smallest, but still most interesting of the four Neckarstein castles. The castle itself stands on a rocky basement and appears to literally grow out of the mountain. And it was of that fairy tale shape that draws pictures of a Princess sitting at the top of the tower and a Dragon creeping ominously at the feet of it…again, we indulged ourselves to the very top for yet another panoramic view of the Valley…do I need to say more if the pictures say it for me?!...
