Stadtprozelten on the Main

River town with a view

Here's a photo I came across today. The rooftops in the photo are in the little village of Stadtprozelten. It's in Germany on the Main (pronounced "mine") River about 40 miles southeast of Frankfurt as the crow flies.

I like all the different levels that can be seen in this photo. In fact, I like the photo so much that I once had it made into a large poster and I hung it in my kitchen for a while so I could enjoy it like a window that looked out onto the Main River of Bavaria.

I got out the German road atlas and checked the name of the town across the river. It is West Mondfeld. There is probably a ferry across the river somewhere near, but it's ten miles or more to the nearest bridge.

Stadtprozelten is built on a narrow strip of land between the Main River and a steep bluff. The highway that leads through the village can be glimpsed below the flower box on the balcony.

We climbed an ancient stairway between two buildings (left) to reach a little lane on the side of the bluff from which I took the photo of the rooftops and river (above). There are some sheds and little barns on one side of the lane, maybe a few houses -- and on the other side are rooftops, sometimes close enough to touch. The lane is much too narrow for automobiles, but you could ride a bicycle on it if you didn't mind occasional stairs.

From the lane, there's a pathway that leads up the bluff to ruins of a big castle named Henneburg at the very top. Henneburg had an underground part that looked like a dungeon, as well as turrets. The ruins were impressive. The residents of the castle once controlled this part of the river, and if a boat wanted to pass, it had to pay a toll.

Many of the photos of Stadtprozelten on Flickr feature the Henneburg ruins. I had little two-year-old Keely with me when I visited there and I didn't climb any of the turrets with her, so I enjoyed the photos of the view from there.

My visit to Stadtprozelten is ancient history. I was there in 1987.