The Longest Castle in Europe

Sometimes you just need to get out of town. And I must say that every time we do, we are really amazed at the beauty of Bavaria. Today we visited the longest castle in Europe. Now consider that Europe seems to have a castle on nearly every street corner, so that’s saying a lot. Burghausen Castle is located just over 100 KM East of Munich, and is a great day trip combined with Wasserburg (another amazing city with a Sunday market). The castle stretches more than a full kilometer, is divided into six courtyards, and its first buildings date back to 600 AD. Each courtyard had its own fortified gate, moat, wooden drawbridge and history. Nearly all of its wealth came from the lucrative salt trade funneling out of Salzburg. Although the castle, which is built on a narrow hillside overlooking the beautiful town of Burghausen, has had many lives – most of what you see today is part of the fortifications in the late 1400s in fear of attacks from Turkey. Ironically, Turkish is the largest minority in Munich today. You can see views of the castle at night, and a panoramic view across the entire grounds. These particular crests show the Bavarian (left) and the Polish crest in honor of the marriage of Duke Georg the Rich with Hedwig from Poland, which took place in Landshut in 1475.