Colourful Fuessen, Bavarian town

Fuessen is a Bavarian town on the German Austrian border.  It has been around since Roman times and has some quaint old buildings and a fortress. It is now mainly the hub for visiting the Bavarian kings' castles, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.

We did what was prescribed for every tourist in town - visit Schwangau to take pictures of the castle.  It turned out to be a rainy morning in Schwangau, but we had our view of the legendary Neuschwanstein Castle, the inspiration for the Walt Disney castle. It was a zoo in Schwangau, made even more so by the rain because we were not only fighting crowds to get on the bus up to see the castle, we were also fighting umbrellas!  See the photo below of umbrellas on St. Mary's bridge, touted as the best site for viewing the castle.

We did not go inside the castle because of the mixed reviews associated with it and we did not want to be tied to a schedule based on the entrance time allotted for viewing.  In any case, photos were not allowed, which would have taken all the fun away from a visit! We were not able to do our planned hike around the lake because of the rain and so we returned to Fuessen.

We had arrived in Fuessen the same time as a Medieval Festival which added much colour to our stay. Fuessen was of course the perfect backdrop for the festival with its castle and cobbled streets. We spent our time at the Festival, trying the "medieval" food that was sold, and enjoying the many people dressed up in medieval garb and camping on the grounds of the castle and commons in Fuessen. Medieval arts and crafts, military demonstrations, were in abundance as were costumed performers. Participants took it all very seriously and loved to be photographed! It turned out to be a fun day!

Neuschwanstein Castle - prescribed for every tourist in the area

The river Lech that runs through Fuessen

Central square in Fuessen

Colourful streets of Fuessen

 

Heilig Geist Spitalkirche with its beautiful rococo facade and ceiling (architect Franz Karl Fischer)

St. Mary's bridge - every tourist in town must visit to see the iconic view of the Neuschwanstein Castle

Waterfall into the Pollat Gorge just below St. Mary's Bridge

Basilica St. Mang

 

Parade through the old town

Medieval Festival

Medieval ferris wheel!

Medieval juggling?

Crowds at the commons

Oven baked "medieval" food

Medieval camping on the Castle grounds

The High Castle and its terraced garden

Stone ruins on the castle grounds

Beautiful castle grounds

All dressed up

Fuessen at night

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