Forget Holy Cow — in Vöhl it’s Holy Castle. Oops, this is Germany… Holy Schloss, there are a whole bunch of castles to be found in this Hessian town.
You know, it could very well take years to see the tens of thousands of castles in Germany. However, if you’ve only got time to see a few (and who in their right mind wouldn’t want to see at least one), then the air health resort town of Vöhl is the right place to do it.
I stopped counting when I got to eight castles, so there could very well be more. Still, that’s not a number to sneeze at.
Let’s start our castle tour at the wall, entrance way, and foundation wall of this original 8th century building, the Itterburg. Ehrenburg is also from the 8th century, although it was redone in the 14th — this is the time period of its dungeon, moat, and walls.
The oldest of them all is the Hünselburg, a hilltop fort from Celtic times that lies within the Kellerwald Nature Park and along the 68 km Urwaldsteig trail.
Please, this isn’t even the only scenic route that snakes its way to Vöhl. The Kellerwaldsteig runs along to Burg am Backofen, another castle ruin from the 8th century.
And the Barbarossaweg will take you over to the 14th century Burg Hessenstein, that’s now a hostel & conference center. You can’t miss it — it’s got these red & white shutters that contrast against the dark stones of the castle.
And if you’re totally into the whole scenic route thing, the Eder-Radweg, Oranier-Fahrrad-Route, and the Hessischer Radfernweg R6 also meet up with Vöhl.
Yikes, I got so wrapped up in the castle and scenic route side of the place that I almost left out talking about the Edersee itself — a 12 square kilometer artificial lake that connects by cable car to Schloss Waldeck (a 12th century castle that’s now a museum, and once a women’s prison).
Plus, there’s an old 17th century half-timbered building that used to be the town’s old synagogue; and the Romanesque Lutheran Martin Church from the Middle Ages.
For a bit of outdoor fun, try to find your way out of the Maislabyrinth (Corn Maze) — season permitting, of course.
The castle seeking crowd will love it here in Vöhl, but so will everyone else. I know I’m a fan. ;-)
