The sleepy village of Trendelburg sits around the skirts of a castle-topped outcrop, amid a sumptuous flowing landscape of forests and fields in the region of Hesse, north of Kassel. These days the castle itself, Burg Trendelburg, is a hotel which plays a significant role in the Fairytale Road, as it is from one of its five towers that Rapunzel was meant to have let down her hair for her handsome prince to climb.
Not far away, through the wild boar and deer rich forests of the Reinhardswald, is Sababurg, which also plays a role on the Road, this time as Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, although here the whole place is currently sleeping, pending renovation as a hotel. Its grounds remain popular for walking.
There’s a lot more good walking between the two, in the Urwald section of the giant Reinhardswald forest, a place where you can really suspend your disbelief whilst wandering through a cathedral of beech trees and giant anthropomorphically-shaped oaks, some of which are thought to be between 700 and 1,000 years old.
As for Burg Trendelburg itself, it is a lovely place to stay for anyone with a smidgen of imagination or romanticism.
The thousand-year-old fortification surrounds a courtyard of chestnut trees which is entered across a drawbridge. Its entrance hall has tapestries and metal knights, from where a creaking dark oak staircase leads up to bedrooms with ‘himmelbett’ (heaven bed) four posters and modern bathrooms hidden ingeniously away through pretend cupboards. By virtue of its position each of the bedrooms has a commanding view, especially the tower bedroom where Rapunzel is supposedly hung out.
It’s moderately priced, and particularly popular with overseas visitors.
A place to celebrate
Of course there’s no evidence of the truth of any of the Rapunzel malarkey – it’s a fairy story – but one of the early editions of Grimm’s fairytales had an illustration of a tower castle, and the tourism people were looking for a suitable lookalike when contemplating the creation of the Fairytale Road, over 50 years ago. Hey presto: Trendelburg becomes Rapunzel’s castle. Great marketing.
It certainly capitalizes on it. A large downstairs restaurant – far too big for a 22 bedroom property – has embossed leather armchairs, fleur de lys carpets and swords on the walls, plus an expansive outdoor terrace with commanding views. It’s an obvious choice for celebrations.
So the place that was once known for hiding maidens away in towers, is now a very popular wedding venue.
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