Bad Wimpfen

Frederick Barbarossa built a palace here in the twelfth century on a ridge above the Neckar, and its remains are the most extensive of any Hohenstaufen imperial palace: the Steinhaus, the Blue Tower, the Red Tower and, most striking, the arcade of the palace chapel, a row of paired Romanesque windows with carved capitals standing in the open. The town below the ridge grew as a salt spa and keeps a dense quarter of timber-framed houses. The Blue Tower is climbed for views over the Neckar valley and was staffed by a live-in tower keeper into recent years.

History

The first traces of settlement date from the Neolithic and Bronze Age, on an ancient trade road that forked here, and around 450 B.C. the Celtic Helvetii settled along the Neckar. Around 98 A.D. the Romans built a fort at Wimpfen im Tal on their frontier, and once the frontier moved east under Antoninus Pius the civilian town grew into the centre of the Civitas Alisinensium, walled and covering about 19 hectares, one of the largest Roman towns in today's Baden-Württemberg, with a wooden bridge over the Neckar dated to around 85 A.D. The Alamanni held the area from 260 A.D., it became Frankish around 500, and in the 9th century it passed to the Bishopric of Worms, first recorded as Wimpina in 829 (Wikipedia, Bad Wimpfen).

What's there

• The palace arcade - paired Romanesque windows standing open to the sky.
• The Blue Tower - a climbable keep with valley views.
• The imperial remains - the largest surviving Hohenstaufen palace fabric.
• The timber quarter - framed houses in the lower town.

When to go

April to October; the tower keeps seasonal hours. The old town Christmas market in December is one of the most atmospheric in the region.

Before you go

The palace is fragments and walls rather than a standing building. The tower climb is steep. The town is small, a few hours.

Nearby

Heilbronn lies south; the Neckar valley runs both ways.