Time to return to my 30 German towns before 30 series…
Jan and I went to Rhodt unter Riedburg in April 2011 on the recommendation of a friend. The village is located in the Südliche Weinstraße (Southern Wine Route) area of Rhineland Palatinate and they’ve been making wine there for more than 1,200 years!
The Rietburg in the place name is a castle (now ruins), which is located on the Blättersberg, a small mountain (some might say hill) just outside the village. Hence, the name of the village literally means Rhodt under the Rietburg.
We were told that the path leading up the mountain through the woods was a nice walk, so after parking the car in the village and grabbing an ice cream (YUM!) we set off to check it out. Our route took is through the fields of grapes. Here, you can see our destination – the top of the mountain – and on the right Villa Ludwigshöhe, which was the summer residence of King Ludwig I of Bavaria.
Part way up the mountain, we spotted these guys, who I just had to take a photo of:
Now that’s the kind of art that appeals to me! It was a nice, sunny day but thankfully not too hot – climbing mountains (or even hills) when it’s boiling is no fun!
I kept stopping to take photos and catch my breath (I was – and am – sooo unfit!), which annoyed Jan slightly. But how could I not when it was all so pretty?
Eventually, we did reach the top though. The remains of the Rietburg castle are now a restaurant, and there is also a platform from where you can see the view.
We decided to eat at the restaurant there, and I tried Saumagen (sow’s stomach) for the first time. Well, it is a speciality of the Pfalz (Palatinate), and you know what they say about when in Rome… It was quite salty but not as bad as it sounds. I’d probably give it about an 8 out of 10.
Behind the castle, there is a wildlife enclosure, so after eating we went to have a look at that. Aren’t the deer pretty?
There was nothing more to see on the mountain, so we took the chairlift down and walked back to the village via the vineyards again.
On the way back through the village, I spotted this. I thought it was rather nice.
And then I had to take a photo of this little street because I loved the blue shutters on the house on the right!
There wasn’t a great deal to do in Rhodt and I can’t imagine it being very interesting on a rainy day, but our friend was right about the Blättersberg being a great place to go for a walk. The food at the restaurant up there was good (and not too expensive) and I also tried some local white wine, which I really enjoyed. The Villa Ludwigshöhe usually has art exhibitions, but was unfortunately closed for a private event when we were there, and they also have a Fest des neuen Weines (New Wine festival) in September of each year. On a sunny day, I would recommend not only climbing the mountain, but also having a look around the village. There are some really pretty buildings! And if you don’t go on a Sunday (as we did) you might even be able to buy a few bottles of the local wine…
Confuzzledom 
Great photos! 🙂
Thank you!
It looks really pretty, I love that metal ‘sign’ on the side of the building and the blue shuttered building too! Not so sure about sow’s stomach though!!
It is pretty. The sow’s stomach isn’t bad as long as you don’t think too much about what you’re actually eating 😉
I have been there, too. In 2010. Doesn’t it just look like the Tuscany? Greetings from Frauke.
Hi!! I didn’t realise you still read this.
I’ve never been anywhere in Tuscany, so I’m not sure what it looks like, but I imagine it’s very green 🙂
I would like to see more of Italy, particularly Florence, and maybe Pisa (at least the tower!). But I also want to see countries I haven’t been to before.
Me neither, Italy, yes, but not Tuscany. But there are those pictures in the collective mind, no? Google it. This part of Germany is even called the German Tuscany, as far as I know. And for the latter part: YES, me too. I would love to visit Italy in general, have not been there since 2010. Despite its lack of clean public toilets..
http://www.zeit.de/2006/42/Pfalz-neu-Kopie
Great article. I hadn’t heard that the Pfalz is called the German Tuscany.. and I live so close to it. I should be ashamed 😉
I do know they have good wine there though 😀
What a lovely article and pictures. They give me a good feel for the area and the town. I have recently been delving into my family history and I found that my 10th great grandfather was born there. He died there in 1578. So lately I’ve been trying to find pictures of the town. Have you ever done any blogs about the old cemeteries? One day I’d like to go there and see if I can find some of my family’s gravestones.
I do like old cemetries, but we didn’t visit one in Rhodt. We went into the old Jewish cemetery in Worms though – I think I mention that in my post about Worms.
It would be fantastic if you did find a family member’s gravestone. It makes things so much more “real”, if you get what I mean.
PS we were recently in Tuscany and this looks very much like it in places.