Wilhelm Müller von Königswinter, the Most German Name of All Time

Back in Chicago a few months ago, I came across a work of late-19th century Beethoven fan-fic, a quasi-fictional-quasi-biographical novel based on writings by Beethoven's childhood friend Wegeler, and penned by a man with the Most German Name of All Time: Wilhelm Müller von Königswinter. 

I suppose another of Beethoven's "friends" and devoted postmortem Beethoven-venerators, Franz Ignaz Ritter von Seyfried, is a close runner up. But Königswinter takes the cake.

So when I was chatting with a Liverpudlian coffee vendor in the market square, and when he told me that I really should go to Königswinter over the weekend and climb one of the seven mountains to the mystic ruin of Drachenfels, I couldn't resist seeing the place where Wilhelm was von (or his namesake, at least).

In part because of my recent Harry Potter kick, I pictured Königswinter looking like Hogsmeade and Drachenfels looking like a ruined version of Hogwarts, like the post-apocalyptic Hogwarts-if-Voldemort-won that will probably become a spin-off series if it hasn't already. Unfortunately, neither the town nor the castle (or castles -- there were actually two) lived up to my expectations, but the excursion was fun in a sort of Muggle way.

In some ways, Bonn reminds me of Chicago: if you go far enough East, you run into this:

The Rhine.

Even though you can see across the other side, it reminds me of Chicago because of the endless bike paths that stretch all the way along the river. I hopped on a local ferry to get to Königswinter, which is south of Bonn along the Rhine.

Squinting on the top deck.

Some ladies getting fancy down below. On ferries in Germany, almost everyone buys beverages, like a Biergarten on the Rhine.

Scenic 

And finally we neared the town of Königswinter, with two castles: one  mid-way up the mountain, one on top.

The lower castle, Schloss Drachenburg, was built in the late 19th century as a summer resort for a Neuschwanstein-enamored Duke. It was basically like a Disney-castle and, like all tourist attractions, cost money to even prowl around the grounds -- so I didn't bother with that one. The other castle, Drachenfels, was a ruined fort of some kind, possibly from the Middle Ages or possibly later, about which I could find almost no information because it wasn't the main attraction. It functioned as a playground, as well as scenic outlook. The view from the castle, which sits atop one of the so-called seven mountains, was the main highlight of my excursion.

You can either climb the mountain up to the castles, or take this historic, overpriced and overcrowded train. With a pounding headache from too much sun on the ferry, I opted for the latter. 

The view from the train window became increasingly awesome.

A ruin.

A ruin covered in children.

The amazing view.

River, farms, and towns. You can almost imagine what medieval Germany was like. Fewer white specks, and otherwise the view would probably have been much the same.

I also meandered around the town of Königswinter itself. It's a cute, shall I say cheek-pinchy, ticky-tacky-tourist town, with lots of little narrow alleyways.

Unfortunately, as has been a recurring problem throughout this trip, there was nothing to do in Königswinter that didn't involve eating or shopping. Walking around is of course free, but I got bored after a while and took the ferry back to Bonn. Now I feel just a little bit closer to understanding the real Wilhelm Müller von Königswinter.