Harburg - old town on the Wörnitz River

Wednesday, 25 May 2022 07:11
Written by Portal Editor

We were on our way back from Wassertrüdingen and were driving on the B25 from Nördlingen in the direction of Augsburg when we wanted to go through the tunnel below Harburg Castle again.

Again it was already late afternoon and we had decided to visit the castle complex only with enough time available. Time that was no longer available that day. Without further ado, we drove to the right at the junction in front of the tunnel, but then turned left in the direction of the city.

We crossed the Wörnitz river and followed the road

Just driving through the town made some photo motifs seem so worthwhile that we decided to at least insert a short first tour of the town. The tour of the castle itself will take place at a later date.

Harburg is located in the Swabian district of Donau-Ries directly on or above the Romantic Road between Donauwörth and Nördlingen on the Wörnitz, a river that we had already encountered in Wassertrüdingen and that flows into the nearby Danube. The word Harburg already contains two words that also clearly define how the location of the place is to be understood. The term castle is clear without further explanation, which of course refers to the magnificent castle complex from the 11th century above the city. The interpretation of the word "Har" is interesting. From old documents we know that the name of the town changed slightly between Harburc, Horeburch and Horburc. The term "horo" comes from Old High German and means something like swamp or moor. Harburg is therefore the castle over the swamp. If you look at the course of the Wörnitz, also in the immediate vicinity of the city, the name can easily be explained, too wild and reedy the terrain of the river course seems to be.

After passing through the town, which was very narrow at times, we crossed the Wörnitz and followed the road on the opposite bank back to the old stone bridge, which of course had aroused our particular interest. Well-developed parking spaces directly on the gently sloping shore here also invited us to linger. The first pictures directly from the river bank, which was also used by playing children for fishing, show the whole idyll of the place.

Griestor and Donauwörther Tor

We cross the stone bridge, which is also used as a one-way street by motor vehicles, we can take more photos of the beautiful river meadows and come to the first houses that appear to have grown together with the bridge. Harburg once had five wooden city gates that were closed every evening to protect the citizens. Here at the stone bridge once stood the Brucktor, which unfortunately, like all other gates, was demolished between 1861 and 1863. While it was initially and officially said that the gates were dilapidated and too expensive to maintain or even posed a health risk for the residents, the real reason later turned out to be that the citizens simply no longer liked the gates. The other gates were the Egelseetor, which opened onto the Egelsee, the Nördlinger Tor, which was also called the Deep Gate, the Vesttor, which led up to the fortress, and the Griestor or Donauwörther Tor. Since the city appeared almost completely closed due to the closely connected houses, it was not necessary to build a city wall.

Excellent cycling network makes extensive tours easy

The bridge system and the houses connected to it alone are always worth a visit to Harburg. A wonderful view of the river, the medieval houses in the narrow streets behind it and the castle enthroned above everything provide endless photo motifs with the constantly changing scenery alone due to the movement of the water of the Wörnitz. Unfortunately, too late for this visit, we also discovered the canoe rental right next to the stone bridge. How wonderful must a canoe tour on the Wörnitz be. Further in the city center we meet some cyclists who had cycled along the Wörnitz and now want to stay in Harburg for the night. An excellent cycling network makes extensive tours easy to plan and carry out. We also plan to take bikes with us on our visit tours by next spring at the latest.