Harburg, a town in northern Bavaria

Consciously deciding to take back roads and explore smaller towns we came across the town of Harburg in northern Bavaria. It was an unplanned stop, we were attracted by the 11^th/12^th century castle high on the hill above the town. We visited the castle and while there were told of a free parking place for campervans in the centre of town on the river.

 

It was a beautiful spot, so we spent two nights listening to the water run over the weir, watching the ducks and fish, observing the locals swimming their dogs and horses. It was a very peaceful place to be, we even grew to be soothed by the chime of the church clock every 15min.

                                                                                                                           

Itching for some bike time, Craig went for a ride to explore the local area while Tanya did some chores and spent time soaking in the atmosphere. Tanya had noticed the locals were dressed in their finery heading across the bridge to the town square. 

When Craig returned and had a hasty wash, we joined the towns-people in the square for a town festival. The main square had been blocked to traffic and a stage and beer hall style seating was arranged. On the stage was the town band dressed in traditional Bavarian clothes, they were accompanied by the town choir. 

After some music and songs the reason for the festival was revealed to us; it was a celebration of Harburg’s sister city relationship with Gouville, Mont St Michel in Normandy, France. We sat through many speeches and more traditional Bavarian songs. We enjoyed the local beer and had a dinner of slow cooked pork shoulder, terrine (more like meat loaf) spatzle in a jus, and sauerkraut. All very good!

As we left the festival and made our way back across the bridge we met a local couple and started a conversation about their traditional clothing. They then introduced us to their guest who turned out to be the mayor of Mont St Michel. What followed was a funny conversation held partly in German, partly in French and partly in English. The mayor gave us his business card and wrote his personal mobile number on it and invited us to park our van in his drive way if we are ever in Mont St Michel.

The next day we rode our bikes to the medieval town of Nordlingen some 20klms away. Germany is covered with high quality bike ways that link almost every village. They are perfectly smooth and as wide as a single lane road. It was a great experience to be cycling on these roads through beautiful scenery and away from traffic. 

Nordinlingen is a walled city with four entrance gates and a large cathedral. It coincidently had a street food festival on that day but it was too early for beer. We spent part of the day wandering the streets looking at the old buildings.   

When we returned to Harburg it was time for a beer. So we found a bar with a balcony overlooking the river. We began talking to a local couple on the table beside us, they shared that the building we were in was renovated in the 16th Century to combine the two neighbouring houses. The owner at the time was Jewish and was the financial controller for the Duke who owned the castle. We were told that Jewish people could only live and work in towns if they made an arrangement and paid money to the landholder. Not all landholders were open to this so some towns had a Jewish population and others did not. The Jewish people were not allowed to live anywhere in these towns and were generally crowded together in one street. In the 16th century there were 400 Jewish people living in this particular street in Harburg... A street that today could not accommodate 200 people. 

The couple we met at the bar asked the owner of the guesthouse if we could have a tour of the building including the basement that contained a mikveh. 

We were told that a mikveh is a Jewish spiritual bath. It must be fed by a natural untreated water source, such as groundwater or a spring. This mikveh room had been dug under the building, somewhat like a cellar. In the 16^th Century a Jewish woman had to take a spiritual bath every month but a male only bathed once a year. The mikveh was constructed of brick and lime stone blocks and despite having been constructed 500+ years ago the water was perfectly clear and there was no hint of algae or slime. The owner says he never cleans it; it just stays as we saw it all the time. 

Unfortunately we didn't have a camera or phone to hand, so have included photos of a mikveh from this same time period. 

In all we loved our visit to Harburg and recommend it a place to visit if you're ever close by.