MILTENBERG

Miltenberg, Germany is a town nestled within a bend in the Main River. As you gaze upon the township, there is a sense of wonder to Miltenberg’s romantic lanes and squares.

Viniculture, wine trade, river traffic, fishery, wood and stone industries were the most important trades and crafts in Miltenberg’s past. Urban development did not make it to the fringes of the ancient kingdoms, and so the medieval townscape was preserved and remains today, evidenced by the many halftimbered houses, dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

Some of history’s most momentous figures have passed through Miltenberg, including two Holy Roman Emperors, Napoleon and even Elvis Presley.

Gamburg Castle is situated near Miltenberg on the Romantic Road. During the German Peasants' War, the imposing castle was one of the few to remain unscathed thanks to the intervention of the famous knight Gotz von Berlichingen (who is worth googling in his own right to learn about how he coined one of the world’s most famous phrases).

Gamburg Castle has been a private property, handed down through aristocratic families since 1546. Its oldest part, the keep, was transformed into a bunker to store the files on communist resistance groups during World War II. The castle is rumoured to be haunted by over 21 ghosts and is connected with ancient tales of a beautiful mermaid, Melusine.

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Today, Baron and Baroness von Mallinckrodt, the current owners of Gamburg Castle, preserve and maintain Gamburg Castle’s heritage and legacy.

The noble family, von Mallinckrodt descend from the Saxon knight Ludwig de Mesekenwerke. In 1346 the family took the name of their residence Mallinckrodt Castle, near the city of Dortmund. In the 15th century, members of the family held important positions within the crusader state of the Teutonic Order along the Baltic Sea. By the 16th century, a branch of the family had made its way into the ruling circles of Dortmund. In 1803, as Napoleon's troops entered Germany, Dortmund lost its free city status.

The Mallinckrodts became established industrialists and publishers and in the 1830s, some family members relocated to Missouri to become American pioneers.

In 1980, aged 75, Hans Georg von Mallinckrodt Sr., bought Gamburg Castle. During the very extensive and much needed restoration, his son, Hans Georg Jr., discovered the lavishly decorated Romanesque double arches and the oldest secular mural paintings north of the Alps. He also restored the baroque park, laid out on a terrace as an integral part of the castle and as such almost unique in Germany. His wife Nicole, née Princess of Moukbirian Khorkhoruni, was born in Paris after her family fled the Armenian Genocide. Today, both of them, as well as their son Goswin, support the preservation, study and vital continuity of Gamburg Castle, which has been opened to the public since 2009.

Scenic guests have the chance to meet the Baron and Baroness as a Scenic Freechoice activity on selected river cruise itineraries.

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