A couple years back I painted the Wertheim castle, in German called “Burg Wertheim”. Unfortunately I never saw it up close, even though I have driven by.

I heard many good things about Wertheim, and was intrigued about this medieval town, so we stopped there on the way from Würzburg to Frankfurt to explore.

We arrived in Wertheim and parked our car at the Schlossgasse Parking garage. We could walked straight up the hill to the castle, not knowing we were so close. Instead the strolled into town, passed by a Glass museum, which was unfortunately closed.

From the grocery store to the specialist shop, and the small boutique to the furniture store – there is shopping to be done in the town of Wertheim

A lively downtown and attractive shopping, and places to sit and relax

Click on PDF City Map here

Wertheim is one of the most popular destinations, between Spessart and Odenwald. This medieval old town with the historic marketplace and its narrow streets offers an attractive atmosphere that invites you to stroll and shop.

I was asking one of the shopkeepers what the best way is to get up to the castle. She recommended taking a little trolley train ride. We sat outside at a Restaurant by the Main River waiting for a ride, eating my favorite spaghetti ice cream

Taking a Trolley train up to Burg Wertheim, one of the largest intact castle ruin in Germany.

Burg Wertheim was first mentioned in 1183, it extended from the upper castle until its destruction in the Thirty Years’ War. It was built in several building periods to a spacious castle complex.

The upper castle was started around 1200, and the Palas in the 13th century. The Palas was followed by another residential building , now a Restaurant, which is very well preserved.

Wertheim was a planned town at the foot of the castle. The construction of the city fortification had begun around 1200 a. D. It enclosed the castle and city with a defense wall.

Impressive is the magnificent view over the old town with the river landscapes of Main and Tauber from the Castle Restaurant

The original settlement was on the other side of the Main river, as you see on the picture above. Until the high Middle Ages the town “Kreuzwertheim” led the name Wertheim, which means” elevated land by the water “.

The site of today’s city Wertheim, at the confluence of the Tauber and Main, was certainly exposed to constant flooding until the Middle Ages.

It was late in the afternoon and we were getting tired, so we descended the steep hill down to the parking garage. From there we drove back to our next destination.