Three Castles

Since our arrival, the weather has been unusually warm and sunny. We do not know how long our good fortune will last, so we are taking advantage of every opportunity to take long cycle trips. Today, we decided to explore another section of the Thüringen Radfernweg Städtekette, this time from Gotha to Erfurt. This ride was high on my list, as it promised a view of the region known locally as Drei Gleichen, where three very old castles are visible along a single ridge line in the heart of the Thüringen Forest. Each castle has a unique history laced with legends that are often tragic, always nostalgic, and occasionally magic.

The literal translation of "Drei Gleichen" is "three of the same", or "three equals". In the case of our three castles, this translation is perhaps a bit misleading. The three castles are architecturally quite different, having been constructed in three different centuries. The oldest is Mühlberg, first mentioned in 703. The second castle, Veste Wachsenburg is believed to have been completed in the year 930. It is the only one of the three that is privately owned, and it has been renovated to included a hotel, restaurant and small museum. The third castle dates to 1039, and is associated with a wonderful fairytale-like legend involving a prince who was captured while on a crusade, and a princess who rescues him. But I digress - it is the name I find interesting: Drei Gleichen. If it doesn't mean "three of the same" then what does it mean?!

Folklore is that on May 31, 1231, a highly unusual weather phenomenon visited the area with "ball lightning" which lit up the three castles so that they shown brilliantly like torches against the night sky. Other versions of the story describe all three castles being simultaneously caught on fire by the ball lightning. Either way, the event was significant enough that the story was retold over hundreds of years, and the name stuck.

Curious about this weather spectacle, I turned to Wikipedia for help (so please consider the source!) and found the following: "Ball lightning is an unexplained phenomenon described as luminescent, spherical objects that vary from pea-sized to several meters in diameter. Though usually associated with thunderstorms, ball lightnings are said to last considerably longer than the split-second flash of a lightning bolt."

Fascinated by this story, I decided it was worth the effort to figure out how we might fit this into our adventures in Germany. A round trip on bikes from Erfurt was out of the question, so we took a train from Erfurt to Gotha. Once outside the station we immediately found ourselves on the (reasonably well marked) Radweg, or bike path. And we were off! We passed through one tiny village after another, each prettier than the last. A church. A park. A square. A block or two along a narrow cobblestone roadway for the baker, butcher, fish market, and flower shop. Each village contained these same simple features, yet each had their own distinct personality. Topfleben. Günthersleben. Wechmar. Here and there we catch a glimpse of the three castles in the distance.

I am glad I took this photo. Can you find the three castles? It turned out to be the only time I captured all three in a single photo frame.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in Mühlberg, then rolled back onto the path and suddenly we were in a giant, completely flat field and the three castles formed a triangle around us. And it occurred to me that those three castles had been looking down on this pasture for over a thousand years. Centuries. The blink of an eye.

We still had a long way to go, but thankfully, it was mostly downhill. Schloßleite. Wanderslebe. Apfelstädt. Komhockheim. Neudietendorf. Fun fact: Neudietendorf is home to the only active Moravian Church in our area. I did not know that at the time we rode through on our bikes. But I was intrigued by the street names and took a picture (below) thus documenting the official corner of Zinzendorf Street and Church Street!