Once upon a castle
Stories of romance, betrayal, ransom and murder abound on a luxurious cruise of Europe’s most scenic river.
By Shelly Steig P
Passengers huddled on the top deck of the S.S. Antoinette, bundled in coats, hats and scarves against the late autumn chill. Some wrapped fluffy blankets over their heads and shoulders as the boat steamed through the Upper Middle Rhine Valley on day six of an eight-day river cruise. Despite the preceding gray days, anticipation grew for the crowning hours Uniworld Cruise Director Tony Jenkins called “Castle Mania.”
Through dense fog, geese flew the wrong direction in a haphaz- ard V-formation ahead of the Antoinette, honking loudly in what seemed to be confusion. Jenkins warned that overcast skies had blotted out the landscape just a few weeks earlier along this same stretch, north from Rudesheim am Rhein toward Koblenz. As he keyed the mike to point out the first fortress, the haze shifted. Everyone crossed to the starboard side of the boat to get a bet-
ter view of the first of 23 castles—each with its own story, over a span of nearly 41 miles along the Rhine River. Even the most crumbled ruins elicited a response that made me wonder, why do castles create such enthusiasm? To me, they conjure up stories I heard from the time I was young; about beautiful princesses, their Princes Charming and the persistent happily-ever-afters. The fable of Rheinstein Castle, which we passed about two hours
into mania day, is especially dramatic. The story went like this: The fair maiden Gerda fell in love with the handsome Helmbrecht. He sent his aging uncle Gunzelin to arrange a marriage. Gunzelin betrayed him, falling in love with Gerda and arranging his own betrothal instead. Gerda wept, and a water-nymph tasted her tears. The nymph stirred a hornet’s nest, and the insects swarmed Gunzelin’s horse, which reared and threw him over a cliff. Helmbrecht and Gerda were reunited, and they wed. Mauseturm’s story ends in murder and retribution. Hatto
II, the archbishop of Mainz, purchased and restored the tiny keep in 968. The fable depicts him as a cruel man who lived in abundance while his serfs starved. When the peasants rebelled, he calmed them by promising food to anyone who came to his
2012 Castles along the Rhine route map.
EnCompass March/April 2012 33
Courtesy of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection
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