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Castle a Safe Haven for Endangered Birds of Prey

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<i> Gillette is a free-lance writer living in Sunnyvale, Calif</i>

The handler carried the giant vulture into the arena on his arm, protected by a leather gauntlet. The vulture clutched the gauntlet with needlelike talons until, with a wild cry, the man hurled the bird into the air.

Spreading its wings, the bird glided over the valley above green meadows, the winding Neckar River and farmers at work in their hayfields.

For several minutes the vulture soared through the air, then turned back toward the castle. Its handler raised his glove and called harshly. The bird returned, settled on his hand and snapped his beak in anticipation of raw meat.

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Falconry, once the sport of noblemen, declined with the advent of gunpowder. But it is alive and well and is demonstrated twice each day at Guttenberg Castle in West Germany’s Neckar Valley.

Researching Birds of Prey

The castle is Claus Fentzloff’s station for research and breeding of birds of prey. Since 1963 Fentzloff has raised endangered birds of prey and has acclimated them to the wilderness.

The station trains primarily white-tailed eagles. It is ready to release 25 young birds. Over the last 11 years more than 500 birds of prey and owls have been returned to their natural habitat.

From March to November visitors to Guttenberg Castle can watch demonstrations at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., when the birds are allowed to circle the valley to accustom them to the wilderness.

Fentzloff and his assistant work with the birds in the midst of the audience, which sits in a small amphitheater. He works with vultures, eagles and buzzards that seem docile, perched only inches from spectators, tearing at their meat. Some birds even walk unconcernedly around the amphitheater.

A small fee is charged to view the demonstrations and the money is used to finance the raising of the birds. After a show of about 90 minutes the audience is free to visit the castle museum and the hundreds of birds on display.

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Guttenberg Castle was first mentioned about 1300, and since 1449 has belonged to the family of Hans the Rich of Gemmingen.

Martin Luther’s doctrine was preached there and it served as a refuge for persecuted Lutherans. It was one of the few medieval fortresses that was never destroyed.

Old woodcuts, instruments of torture and an impressive diorama of the 1622 Battle of Wimpfen are on display in the castle museum.

Up a spiral staircase is kitchen equipment; old pans, pastry-molds, medieval mortars and pewter and earthenware tankards.

In an adjoining room tin-figure dioramas show the history of the castle, and in the armory are suits of armor and arms that have survived, including harquebuses and rampart guns from the 15th and 16th centuries.

Around the ramparts and turrets of the castle, hundreds of birds are on display. The cages of falcons, buzzards, owls, eagles, vultures and other birds of prey are marked with their scientific names in German and English.

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Groups by special arrangement are treated to a “knight’s meal” according to the ancient ceremony of 1530, with dinner-music on old instruments, lyrics of medieval German love poetry and the jesting typical of that age.

To get to the Neckar Valley I rented a small car. On a golden Indian summer day I drove along the Burgenstrasse, the Castle Road, toward Heilbronn.

The route follows along the river, which cuts a gorge between high wooded hills. Occasional barges and white excursion boats drift past, stark against the bottle-green water.

As the road curved along, rosy sandstone turrets of castles loomed on the hills, round towers and mellow tiled roofs proud against the forested hills.

Hikers clad in traditional soft hats and knee breeches strode along the quiet roadway, and here and there were groups of bicyclists.

Orchards dot the slopes; the air was filled with the winey scent of ripening apples, and terraced vineyards, heavy with grapes, streamed from the hillsides.

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One sees castles around nearly every corner. Some are crumbling, but others have been renovated into modern hotels.

Guttenberg Castle does not offer overnight accommodations, so I spent the night across the river at Hornberg Castle. I was the only American tourist, for the Neckar Valley is relatively unknown to foreign tourists.

Hornberg Castle was the home of Gotz von Berlichingen, Germany’s famous knight with the iron hand. Gotz was immortalized in a play by Goethe and was the inspiration for some of Sir Walter Scott’s chivalric poems.

The rooms at Hornberg offer every amenity, and the stable has been converted into a dining room with panoramic views of the river. The night I was there it was filled with floral arrangements of pink and white rosebuds and baby’s breath.

My dinner was cream of asparagus soup and perfectly poached salmon with a lemon butter sauce. Dessert was vanilla ice cream with hot Swedish lingonberry sauce. The wine was from Hornberg’s own grapes, light and crisp.

There is a small fee for the museum, where visitors can tour the ramparts, see the old chapel, stable, dungeon, galleries and residence of the barons. Life-size dioramas depict Gotz and a neighbor receiving the emperor’s envoy.

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I had lunch at the 1,000-year-old baroque castle of Heinsheim, now a famous hotel and restaurant, and afterward drove past castles that dotted the hillsides, then retraced my steps to Guttenberg Castle where I’d seen the bird show the day before.

A tranquil country road took me to Bad Wimpfen just a few miles farther. I stayed at the Blauer Turm Hotel in the old section of town.

The scene from my window was like a picture from “Grimm’s Fairy Tales.” Old half-timbered buildings, identified by ornate wrought-iron signs, rose above the cobblestones and were decorated with riotous displays of petunias, geraniums, cosmos, fuchsias and daisies.

Tantalizing smells of apple kuchen, coffee and roasting meat wafted from the kitchens of Gasthofs.

In the dining room of the Blauer Turm a smiling dumpling of a waiter, wrapped in a snowy apron, insisted that I try the new wine and onion cake, a specialty in autumn all over West Germany.

From Bad Wimpfen I drove along the Swabian Wine Road, which was lined with vineyards and wine villages with half-timbered houses and wine tasting taverns.

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At nearby Sinsheim the 215,000-square-foot West German Government Museum of Automobile and Transportation Technology’s eight halls contain hundreds of automobiles, steam engines and locomotives, old fire engines, mechanical musical instruments, and presses. Youths from 8 to 80 years can work many of the exhibition pieces.

The distance from Heidelberg to Heilbronn is less than 50 miles, but it is a step back in time. It’s a place of soaring birds, turreted castles, winding rivers, medieval towns and rolling farmland.

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From Heidelberg, by car, take the B-37 Castle Road that winds along the Neckar River. There are also walking tours, as well as bus and bicycle tours.

Accommodations include Hirschhorn Castle in Hirschhorn about 13 miles from Heidelberg. Rates for a double with bath are about $65 to $85 U.S.

At Hornberg Castle at Neckarzimmern, about 36 miles from Heidelberg, rates for a double with bath are about $50-$90 U.S.

In Bad Wimpfen, the Blauer Turm Hotel has a lovely terrace overlooking the valley and an excellent restaurant. Rates for a double with bath run about $50-$77 U.S.

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Heinsheim Castle near Bad Rappenau is about $60-$100 U.S. for a double with bath.

For information on castle tours, write to Gast im Schloss, Vor der Burg, 3526 Trandelburg 1, West Germany.

For general information on travel to West Germany, contact the German National Tourist Office, 444 S. Flower St., Suite 2230, Los Angeles 90017, or call (213) 688-7332.

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