 |
| The town of Tittmoning, just over the Austrian border. Its castle still casts an anxious gaze towards the Alpine regions to its South |
One branch of the family I was rather fond of hadn’t made it to the family reunion and no one had heard from them in a while, so soon after I took a train to Austria to see how they were faring.
The Trains
For the most part, the trains in Europe are excellent. Clean, fast, ubiquitous and so smooth that people literally use them as their office on the way to work. One Swiss train even had proper tablecloths and real crockery and cutlery in the dining car. Some of the regional trains in Germany had compartments which were set up to easily transport bicycles, wheelchairs scooters and strollers and they were very frequent, if not always on time. I am so jealous that so much of Europe is so easily accessible by train.
 |
| Train - bike holidays are encouraged in Germany with special compartments to accommodate cyclists |
The bad news is that
– Shock! Horror! German trains no longer run on time. So bad has this become, according to one railway
employee, that the still punctual Swiss
will no longer let them in. It also means it’s easy to miss connections. The
ticket machines don’t accept foreign Visa cards- a lot of restaurants and
country shops don’t either or phone payments, so make sure you have other
options or at least some cash. At one point I had to get a teenage girl to buy
my ticket online and pay her back in cash. Very few of the stations are still
manned. Maintenance isn’t what it used to be either. It isn’t uncommon to hear,
“This train has been cancelled due to a breakdown in overhead wiring” or
because of trackwork or because of the huge upgrade going on at Stuttgart’s main station that's been going on since 2010. The locals may know their way round, but visitors don't stand a chance. When I mentioned my frustration to a friend he promptly sent me this, which is exactly what happened to me. Another friend sent the following:
It's all the more shocking because I always considered Germany to be the very model of efficiency, orderliness and punctuality
That whinge aside it was a beautiful day when I reached Austria and the castle at Burghausen on the German side, looked as smug and imposing as ever. First built in around 1025, it is the longest castle in Europe -a claim even recognised by the Guiness Book of Records.
In case you haven’t guessed, I am a castellophile – thanks for
that one Bing Chat AI. I am not a huge fan of cathedrals or museums, but I do
love castles. They are full of stories, history and secrets. However, even as I am admiring their architecture - the three foot thick walls, the soaring towers, battlements and porticullises, I am aware that they were built on the backs of others -by human labour - slaves, serfs and villagers, without the aid of earth moving equipment or steam shovels and usually in very difficult locations. It mustn't be forgotten either, that although some were built as hunting lodges or to show off wealth and power, the vast majority were defensive structures and borne of fear and desperation.
Not being able to contact anyone on the Austrian side by
telephone or internet, I spent the first night in a small castle appropriately called El
Castillo in the hills above Burghausen. Connectivity is not good in this part of Austria because of all the hills
and the weather also plays havoc with the telephone. Consequently there isn’t
nearly as much reliance on electronic communication as there is in Australia
and you’d be hard-pressed to find locals or small businesses using anything
but cash. Indeed, they look at you quite strangely and mutter things about foreigners if you try to do otherwise.
Next morning, there was no breakfast at the hotel. "Sorry, apologised the host,"We just don't have the staff to do breakfast any more." To my delight, just as I was heading out the door in search of something to eat, one of the said cousins was standing on the doorstep, basket in hand, to pick me up for breakfast. My cousin in Stuttgart must have finally gotten through on the landline.
After catching up over a satisfying breakfast of real pretzels, good coffee and rich dark bread, we slipped back over the bridge to again to Tittmoning (pop. 6,000) in Germany to do some serious shopping. Beautiful breads and cheeses, meat and sausages from a real butcher's shop, lovely shop displays, flowers everywhere and then Coffee and Cake in the expansive market square. Tittmoning is one of the lucky or wealthier towns.
 |
| A thick town wall protected the town |
 |
| In the broad Market Square there aren't the usual Fachwerk Häuser you see in Germany |
Tittmoning has a castle too which overlooks the town and and casts an anxious glance towards the southern mountains. Things look quiet now and it has been turned into a museum but it seems to have been very lively in the past. Originally built in the C13th as a summer residence for Austrian Bishops from Salzburg it soon became a border fortress due to repeated raids by Bavarian Dukes. Sometimes it belonged to Salzburg and sometimes to Bavaria. Since it repeatedly fell into the hands of Bavarian robber barons, or neighbouring countries such as Italy, more and more fortifications were added. One of the reasons why, was that it lay on the route of the salt trade which had brought great wealth to Salzburg.
 |
| The entrance to Tittmoning Castle |
Before the invention of canning in 1809 and refrigeration (1834), salt was essential not just as a condiment, but for the preservation of food. Salting food meant things like meat, fish and sauerkraut would keep over long European winters. As the Age of Exploration took hold between the C15th and the C17th and food needed to keep over long sea voyages, salt became even more important - the "White Gold" as it were, not just for traders, but also for rulers who used it to extract heavy taxes. Wars over salt were fought in several countries - especially in Italy, in the USA and in India, but also in the North Atlantic.
 |
| Ah! If doors could speak |
In German hands since the C17th, some buildings inside the castle walls and many of the facades of the town's buildings are more reminiscent of Italy than Germany - fewer half timbered houses, more archways and curved bell towers - even the colours are sunnier than those of most German towns. Given its proximity it wasn't unusual for a flow of artists, craftspeople and architects to be working in Austria and one of the more famous ones, Santino Solari was in fact contracted by the Catholic Church in Rome to build ecclesiastical buildings and would have brought those ideas with him too.
 |
| Though not elaborate on the outside there is Italianate Architecture inside the Castle. Click here for a glimpse inside |
During the time in which Empress Elisabeth of Austria (the ever popular Sissi) reigned (1854 -1898), Lombardy - Venezia still belonged to Austria, and Sissi herself was very fond of classical Italian design, so no doubt courtiers and others sought to emulate her style.
 |
| This part of the castle is now a folk museum |
Tanning
In the folk museum there are displays of traditional crafts. One of those is devoted to tanning which was apparently a big industry here. Yes, there would be need of leather for shoes and saddles for horsemen, but why was this such a big thing? The answer lies in the clothing traditionally worn by men throughout Southern Germany, Austria and the Alps - The Lederhosen!
I can see there would be advantages in having one pair of pants for life. No looking for something to wear in the morning or having to buy new ones every season for a start! They were also extremely tough and didn't rip at the seams while doing heavy work and they protected you from scratches while hunting. They may even have helped to stop arrows or knives. Who would have guessed that I would get my fill of Lederhosen in a very few days.
I'd just settled in for a couple of quiet days in the country with my cousins, talking over old times and looking through photo albums, when I got a frantic message from my son. He needed paperwork regarding the travel insurance claim. He and his little family had also been at the reunion but had entirely different travel plans which involved going to Paris, Legoland and and a board game convention in Essen. Because I had not only been completely out of commission for days while in hospital, but had no phone credit left and no charger, and the bank had cut off my credit cards due to "attempts by someone in a foreign country trying to access them" he had been left to take up the cudgels on my behalf. As it happened, due to disruption of his own travel plans he expected to be in Munich the very next day.
Munich was only two hours away by train, so I repacked my backpack and headed off. Neither he nor I had any idea that Munich was in the grip of Oktoberfest Fever and I have never seen so many Lederhosen and Dirndl - the female traditional dress, as I did on that day. It was also impossible to get a hostel, but I did manage to catch up with my son and some of the people we'd met at the reunion.
 |
| Even the traffic lights have a sense of humour. These show a same - sex couple. We didn't know it at the time, but son's hotel was in the LGBTI quarter |
Munich is rather a fun place. The arts are especially strong and if you really did want to experience Bratwurst and Beer, this is definitely the place. Heard a lot of Australian accents in the crowds that thronged the streets, and not to be outdone, son and family also dressed the part. Last year the festival attracted 3.2 million visitors about half of whom were foreign tourists.
We then spent half the night poring over which documents I had or didn't have. I had a few screen shots on my phone, but half the paperwork was still in my suitcase in Stuttgart and the other half was still at home. After we'd done our best to submit everything we had by phone it was very late, but it it seemed a shame to be in Munich on its night of nights without at least having a look at what was going on there.
Tired and grateful for all the work which had been done, I stayed to mind the children, while their parents met up with friends and ventured forth to the Wiesen. You can get an idea here. It must have been pretty good. I didn't see anyone again until early morning.
PS If you too are a castellophile, you might enjoy a bit a romp through these pages which tell the stories of of some of Europe's most impressive castles.
Comments