In terms of geography Pliezhausen is just to the north of Reutlingen (8 kilometers to be exact). But, a trip to Pliezhausen should start in Stuttgart. No, I’m not messing with your head, I’m actually quite serious.
All right, how do I make the connection to Pliezhausen to Stuttgart? Besides just being in the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. ;-)
In the Old Castle in Stuttgart is the Württemberg State Museum filled with all sorts of treasures from the Stone Age, Celtic Times, the Romans, the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, right up to modern day.
Now, in this castle museum is a little gold disc known as the Reiterscheibe von Pliezhausen (you don’t have SAY it, just SEE it). So named because it was an artifact found from a grave from the Merovingian Period (5th-8th centuries). So, after you’ve seen it at the Württemberg State Museum, you can come right to Pliezhausen and see the town it came from for yourself.
Pliezhausen’s history actually predates the Merovingians and the Romans (the town is on the Römerstraße Neckar-Alb, though) going all the way back to around 5,000 B.C. I’m sorry to say that nothing remains of that time, however.
What does remain is a 16th century farmhouse (built 1570 to be precise) that’s now Pliezhausen’s Village Museum. There’s also an old Backhaus (bake house) and cottage garden (don’t you just LOVE those?).
Merovingian kings, tyrannical Roman emperors, and medieval lords might be gone in Pliezhausen today. But, the beautiful countryside still remains. Take a bicycle ride (on the Neckar Valley Cycle Route) or a healthy walk through it, and you might feel like you’ve been transported back to a less hectic time; and see the Swabian Alb and the Neckar River from Pliezhausen’s observation tower.
The background is so beautiful you won’t even worry about checking email on your Blackberry while you’re doing it. Better yet, just turn the mobile phone off and get in a game of beach volleyball or a tennis match. If you got a good backhand, you can play on my team. ;-)
