Germany > Hesse > Homberg (Efze)
Homberg (Efze)
N 51°2.207', E 9°24.372'
2024-07-21
https://www.homberg-efze.de
Our rating: 8.40
Overall rating: - Rate this place - 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
A historic town with a well-preserved half-timbered centre and a castle on the mountain above the town. First mentioned in 1231 and named after the castle. During the Middle Ages the town prospered and majestic St Mary's Church was built in 1340. In 1526 it hosted a historic event, the Synod of Homberg. Representatives of the spiritual and secular classes of the Landgrave of Hesse took part in the meeting to discuss the introducing the Protestant faith in the Landgrave. A great supporter of this movement was Landgrave Philip I, who also initiated the meeting. The county eventually became Protestant, as the majority of those present at the synod supported Philip's plan. As of 19 February 2014, the city was officially named Reformation City in honour of this event, which introduced the Reformation in Hesse.
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
At first we went up to the castle and walked around the grounds. Entrance to the castle and the tower is free.
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
It is not known who built the castle and when; it was first mentioned in 1190. Just after the entrance, turn left, there is a well dug between 1605 and 1613 by Landgrave Moritz. It is now filled in, but its original depth was 150 metres and it was one of the deepest castle wells, although not as deep as the well in Regenstein Castle in the Harz Mountains. There is an interesting story connected with the well. In 1636, during the Thirty Years' War, the castle successfully repelled an attack by a 13,000-strong imperial army. However, a woman fell into the well (there were about 3000 refugees in the castle at that time) and the water became unusable. During a new siege, the castle garrison was forced to surrender due to lack of water.
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was severely destroyed, fell into disrepair and has not been rebuilt since. It was partly used as a quarry to rebuild the also heavily damaged town of Homberg.
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
I cannot say that the castle is destroyed that badly, though. At least, quite a lot of things have been preserved, especially the tower.
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
The tower has been restored, you can see this from the historic photos inside, but visually it's hard to tell where the original masonry is and where is the new.
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
After visiting the castle, we went for a walk in the old town, around the Market Square (Marktplatz). On some photos it's not really Germany, but more like France.
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
If you're with kids, be sure to go here 51.035944, 9.403861 , where is a great playground, the path to which is not easy to find and leads through interesting ruins.
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Homberg (Efze) ©Yuriy Buriak
Getting there: parking near the castle 51.037028, 9.406028 , parking in the old town. 51.034333, 9.407250 .
Tags, Germany: castle , historic town Tags, all countries: castle , historic town
- Rate this place -
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Our rating - 8.40
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help
Visitor's rating - 0.00
Location : ------------ 1 - Far beyond the settlements, you must spend minimum a day 2 - Near the small town, you need to walk long distance 3 - Can be reached only by car 4 - A small town with a poor public transport 5 - Outside the settlements, but with excellent transport links 6 - A small town with excellent transport links 7 - Medium-size city 8 - Suburb of the capital or major city, the ability to reach by public transport 9 - Big city 10 - Capital
Impressions : ------------ 1 - No point in visiting 2 - Boring, wasted time 3 - You can visit, if you have a lot of free time and nothing better to do 4 - A lot of things, but not so interesting 5 - It seems to be interesting, but hard way to spoil the impression 6 - There is something interesting, but the rest is not worth the attention 7 - Probably interesting, but for everybody 8 - Very cool, but difficult to see everything and long-distance trails 9 - Very cool, but there are similar facilities in other locations 10 - Very cool, this is not anywhere else
Number of tourists (weekend afternoon) : ------------ 1 - Crowds, impossible to see everything normally 2 - A lot of tourists, a long wait 3 - A lot of tourists, the organization is lame 4 - A lot of tourists, but good organization 5 - There are many tourists, but they are concentrated in one place and you can walk freely 6 - Many tourists everywhere, but the large space is compensated 7 - The average number of tourists. To photograph, you must wait 8 - Tourists are, but they do not interfere 9 - There are few tourists 10 - You are alone
State : ------------ 1 - Only title left 2 - Dull ruins 3 - On restoration 4 - The picturesque ruins 5 - Have not been restored, the state is poor 6 - Partially destroyed, but the rest of the normal state 7 - Have not been restored, good condition 8 - OK, but it is possible to make better 9 - Looks good from the outside, partial repair inside or without repair 10 - In excellent condition, well-groomed area
Picturesque (for the photographer) : ------------ 1 - - 2 - - 3 - Horrible background, normal pictures only from the top 4 - wires and cars do not allow make normal photo 5 - Interfere with foreign objects 6 - In the city, but more or less normal photo can be made 7 - Beautiful, but you can take pictures with just one point 8 - Very nice, but you can only shoot at a certain time 9 - Very nice, but hard to get to the good weather or permanently interfere with tourists 10 - Very nice, but occasionally interferes with the weather or tourists
* - Note: Description of the evaluation is not always appropriate for a particular object, it's just a little help