Touring the Mainberg Castle Grounds, Germany

On New Year’s Eve, after a very pleasant stay at the Martinshotel in close proximity, we decided to give our London visitor a little taste of one of Germany’s more 20.000 – 25.000 castles. No one knows exactly how many castles there really are in Germany. The estimate for Bavaria, my home state, is 5.000 castles alone.

We arrived at a locked gate, which had to be expected at this time of year. We were still able though to tour the grounds a bit.

Gunter Sachs, a German photographer, author, art collector and industrialist, was born in this castle. Gunter, also known as Gunter Sachs von Opel in his earlier days, was one of Germany’s most famous playboys in his days. He was also married to Brigitte Bardot in the 1960s.

Mainberg Castle, Germany

The castle park used to be a place of fun for some U.S. army soldiers in post-war Germany.

Mainberg Castle grounds

We enjoyed our view overlooking the Main River valley on this overcast morning.

The Main River in Lower Franconia

Last, but not least, for all of you, who remember the nuclear power plant… Luke & Duke are still standing. The plant was in operation from 1982 – 2015, and then it was taken offline as part of the phase out policy for nuclear power in Germany.

This photo was taken from the castle on the hill.

Luke & Duke, the Nukes

Die Franken sind die Sanguiniker unter den Deutschen. – Theodor Heuss

(The Franconians are the sanguine among the Germans)

We will come back again.

U.S. Army Halloween Parties at Mainberg Castle in the 1980s and 1990s

The Mainberg Castle historian, Thomas Horling, is looking for any information, photos, and keepsakes, relating to Halloween parties held by the U.S. Army back in the time of the late 1980s up to early 2000.

If you have anything to share, this would be great.

You can do so here in the comments, or write directly to Mr. Horling at: fv.schloss@mainberg.de

Mainberg Castle near Schweinfurt

Mainberg Castle near Schweinfurt

Some of you might have heard that Germany has been hit by severe flooding in the past few days.

A week ago, we spent the weekend in my hometown area to attend a family reunion, and we were blessed with a day of blue skies and sunshine amid a long stretch of dark and gloomy days.

Here we came down Mainberger Straße on our way to attend our get-together in Hausen/Schonungen. The Main River, on the right hand side of the tracks, has not been affected by the constant rain falls yet. Most of the flooding is happening in the far western part of Germany.

Mainberger Straße Schweinfurt

A hotel, overlooking the Mainberg Castle, is in the works right now. The Martin Family purchased a former farming estate on ‘Grundstrasse’ in Mainberg, and the hotel with Café and ‘Weinstube’ is supposed to be up and running by the summer of 2022.

This is an article in German about the project: https://www.mainpost.de/regional/schweinfurt/mainberg-die-martins-und-ihr-hotel-projekt-art-10486991

Photos of Mainberg Castle Taken During World War II

The following pictures were contributed by Susan Panioli and her sister Lorraine O’Dell, the daughters of Veteran Leroy F. O’Dell, who served with the 313th Infantry and the 79th Division during WWII in France, Germany, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia.

The river you see on the left to the church tower is the Main River.

Mainberg Castle and the village

This is one of Leroy F. O’Dell’s friends (name unknown). It seems they were having some fun by putting a helmet on the statue’s head.

I’m glad Susan P. decided to share her father’s photos with my readers, and the Historical Society of Mainberg Castle.

Spending the Night at a Castle in Franconia – Northern Bavaria

With an out-of-town family member in tow, we visited my hometown area Franconia for a short visit on our four-day weekend in late May. We spent the night at Schloss Zeilitzheim (Zeilitzheim Castle).

We wanted to do something special for my Parisian brother-in-law, so we dragged him off to a castle for the night. We checked into the Zeilitzheim Castle in the afternoon, and got to spend some time there before heading off to visit with my side of the family at a beer garden in another village north of the Main River.

Schlosspark Zeilitzheim

It is a fairly big garden, which needs a lot of tender care. Alexander, the castle owner, is also the gardener. That’s where we found him when we arrived – clipping the hedges.

We enjoyed sitting in the inner courtyard with a bottle of wine in the late evening.

The next morning, a hot one at 27C for June standards, was spent lounging in the park.

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