a series of dramatic castles before arriving at the spa town of Baden Baden. From there

it is east past the city of Ulm and then southwards to Fusen and on into the Bavarian Alps and

a series of fantasy castles. At Oberammergau we head east to Lake Chiemsee before heading

further east into the Alps and on to Berchtesgaden and a dramatic house on top of a mountain.

Running roughly along the middle of Lake Constance is the border between Germany, Switzerland

and Austria. In Germany the lake is called the Bodensee and on this island is the ancient

Bavarian town of Lindau.

It was only joined to the mainland in 1853 when the causeway was built, which enabled

trains and carriages to get to the island. This was followed by a new harbour and Bavaria's

only lighthouse.

In its history the town has belonged to both Austria and France, and it was only in 1955

that it was finally returned to Germany by the French.

Every year, since 1951, there is a Nobel Laureate scientific meeting in Landau where prize winners

interact with young researchers from all over the world.

It was only in the middle of the 19th century that Germany, as we know it today, came into

being under the guiding hand of Otto Von Bismark. He unified a series of independent federal

states into one country.

This was also a period which saw German Romanticism become a dominant movement and one of its

most visual symbols are all the castles, rebuilt in a romantic medieval style.

This is Sigmaringen Castle, once home to the princes of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. It has

its roots back in the 11th century though what we see today dates from the 19th century.

It was built to impress and became a meeting point for the rich and powerful nobility of

Europe.

The deep sided valleys with rocky crags gave castle builders an excellent vantage point

to site a fortress, and later in the 19th century rebuild them in a romantic style that

looked back to earlier times.

Perched on this crag is Werenwag Castle. There has been a castle on this site since the 12th

century, but what we see today dates from the 1830's when the Princes of Furstenberg

inherited Werenwag and began remodelling it into this amazing construction. One can only

imagine how hard it must have been for the men who had to build it on this high crag

over the valley.

Since then the castle has suffered a fire in the 1890's and even an earthquake in 1911

when a staircase tower and some of the battlements suffered cracks and falling masonry.

On the other side of the valley is Wildenstein Castle. Begun in the 12th century what we

see today still includes some parts of the original.

A narrow bridge joins the stables and ancillary buildings to the main castle on its rocky

crag.

Castles come in all sorts of styles and sizes in this part of Germany and many are perched

on rocky outcrops with wonderful views.

However, this small castle cannot compare to another 20 miles to the north, which is

one of the great castles of Europe, and one that can be seen from miles around.

Sitting on top of this near 3,000ft mountain is Hohenzollern castle. It was built by Frederick

William IV, king of Prussia starting in 1850, and it took seventeen years to complete.

This is another good example of a German romantic movement castle, built on an enormous scale.

The style incorporates the idealised vision of what a medieval knight's castle should

look like, though it is doubtful it ever really looked like this fairy-tale version.

It was also designed to impress and enhance the reputation of the Prussian Royal Family,

who could trace their roots back to the first castle on the site in the 11th century.

In 1423 Hohenzollern was besieged for a year and totally destroyed. Only written records

tell of its existence.

Thirty years later it was rebuilt and then over the next three centuries was occupied

by various different countries including the Austrians and later the French. By the end

of the 18th century the castle was falling into ruins. Only the chapel of St Michael

remained usable and was incorporated into the third incarnation we see today.

After the castle was rebuilt it was not regularly occupied but rather used as a show place.

It is still privately owned by two lines of the Hohenzollern family.

Today the castle has over 300,000 visitors a year, making it one of the most popular

in Germany.

On a smaller scale but no less impressive is Lichtenstein Castle above the town of Honau.

This romantic neo-gothic castle was built in the 1840's for Duke Wilhelm of Urach, count

of Wurttemberg. The design was inspired by a popular historical novel, Lichtenstein,

published in 1826.

Just as at Hohenzollern this is the third castle on the site with the first two destroyed

in fairly quick succession during the 14th century. After that it fell into disrepair

until it came into the hands of Duke Wilhelm.

Some of the lower rooms are carved out of the rock which supports the building. The

tall tower was added fifty years later at the end of the 19th century.

And the fairy-tale castle still belongs to the Dukes of Urach and is a very popular place

to visit.

Twelve miles away is the town of Tubingen, one of the five classical university towns

in Germany, the other four being Marburg, Gottingen, Freiburg and Heidelberg.

The old castle is now part of the University and the 25,000 students account for nearly

a third of the town's population.

Amongst the eminent students who no doubt walked through these ancient streets was the

astronomer Johannes Kepler at the end of the 16th century, and in the 20th century, Joseph

Ratzinger now Pope Benedict XVI.

To the west and on the edge of the Black Forest is the spa town of Baden Baden. The German

word Baden translates as 'to bath or to bathe'. In early days the town was simply known as

Baden, and the double name only officially came into use in 1931 and was shortened from

Baden in Baden, as the town is in the state of Baden Wurttemberg.

It was way back in the Roman times that the healing power of water was first recognised.

It is thought that the emperor Hadrian founded the town and certainly Emperor Caracalla came

here to ease his arthritic aches.

After the collapse of the Roman empire the town declined and fell into partial ruin for

several centuries. It was only at the end of the 18th century that Baden was rediscovered

as a spa town.

And in the early 19th century the resort attracted the rich and famous including the composers

Berlioz and Brahms and the writer Dostoyevsky, who wrote 'The Gambler' whilst gambling himself

in the casino.

European royalty came to stay in the luxury hotels, including Queen Victoria, Napoleon

III and the German Emperor Wilhelm I.

High on a hill overlooking Bad Urach is the old castle of Hohenurach, which was used as

a prison during the middle ages. Over the centuries it was feared and hated by the local

people, so that when the prison shut down in the 18th century they climbed the hill

and destroyed it.

The old centre of Bad Urach is full of half-timbered houses.

The same cannot be said of the city of Ulm, thirty miles to the east. A devastating air

raid in 1944 destroyed much of the city, but the glorious church was left barely damaged.

Even the houses around the square in front of the church, where the market is, were wrecked.

The church is large enough to be a cathedral, but as Ulm is not a seat of a bishop it is

known as a Minster. However, it is the tallest church in the world at just under 170 metres.

From the top it is possible to look south on a clear day and see the Alps over seventy

miles away.

Building began in the mid14th century, and was held up several times with work halted

altogether in the 16th. It was only in 1813 that work began again and the church was finally

completed in 1890.

Ten miles to the east is Roggenberg Abbey, which was founded back in the 10th century,

though what we see today dates from the mid18th century.

In 1802 the monastery was closed down during a period of secularisation and the abbot stripped

of his office.

In 1986 in a move that comes full circle the abbey buildings and church have been returned

to a new set of monks who are re-establishing the abbey as a thriving community after a

gap of nearly 200 years.

Our journey now heads south through the Bavarian landscape towards the foothills of the Alps,

the great mountain range that acts as the border with Austria and Switzerland.

And lying close to the border on the north side of the River Lech is the old town of

Fussen.

It was the Romans who founded the town here as it was on a main road through the mountains

to Italy, and they needed a base for soldiers in order to guard the route.

The town's landmark is the castle, which overlooks the town and is one of the area's best preserved

late Gothic buildings.

The town itself is full of medieval houses and the centre remains remarkably untouched.

Fussen has become a popular place to stay when exploring the beautiful mountain landscape,

as well as two remarkable castles.

The first is Hohenschwangau built on the remains of an earlier castle in 1833 by King Maximillian

II of Bavaria and his wife Marie of Prussian. The queen particularly enjoyed walking in

the mountains, and often took her two sons Otto and Ludwig with her.

When Ludwig inherited the throne in 1864 he began planning and building one of the most

remarkable fantasy castles in the world less than a mile away from his childhood home on

the site of another old castle.

This is Neuschwanstein Castle designed as a personal refuge for King Ludwig, who gradually

became more and more reclusive.

He had become obsessed with Richard Wagner's operas, and in a way the castle was to be

an interpretation of his most famous works -- Tannhauser and Lohengrin.

Wagner's music made a lasting impression on the young king and this is part of a letter

he wrote to Wagner in 1868 about his new picturesque castle.

'It is my intention to rebuild the old castle ruin of Hohenschwangau near the Pollat Gorge

in the authentic style of the old German knight's castle, and I must confess to you that I am

looking forward very much to living there one day. You know the revered guest I would

like to accommodate there; the location is one of the most beautiful to be found, holy

and unapproachable, a worthy temple for the divine friend who has brought salvation and

true blessings to the world.'

The cost of the castle was immense and would run to over a hundred million pounds today.

At various times over 300 workmen would be employed and often working at night by the

light of oil lamps.

All the funding came from the king's purse and the money he borrowed. Costs inevitably

escalated and by the end the castle had cost twice the original budget.

One of the reasons for siting the castle here may well have been the view he got from the

bridge his mother had built to span the gorge. She loved walking in this landscape, and it

must have had a powerful effect on young Ludwig.

Sadly he only spent a 172 days in his fantasy castle.

Because Ludwig was finally declared mentally unstable and died aged only 41 in 1886. He

was later to be known, perhaps unkindly, as Mad King Ludwig'. But he left behind one of

the most remarkable fairy-tale castles ever built, and the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's

castle in Disneyland.

As a child Ludwig had enjoyed hunting trips with his father and in a valley not far from

his home he inherited his father's hunting lodge.

With his obsession for grandiose building projects he eventually tore it down and built

the Linderhof Palace, but this time in a more classical French style, which looked back

to his idol Louis XIV, the Sun King of France.

He intended Linderhof, named after the surrounding linden trees, to be like the Royal Palace

of Versailles but this was never realised, as he later obtained an island on a large

lake where his grand plan to match the size of Versailles could be carried out. Later

on in our journey we will see the result.

Linderhof may be the smallest of Ludwig's palaces but it is still an impressive site.

The formal gardens surrounding the house certainly have the feel of the French style of the time.

To the north the sloping ground enabled a cascade to be built, where the flowing water

could fall over thirty marble steps and then drop into the Neptune fountain at the bottom.

At the top is the music pavilion

On the west and east sides are formal colourful parterres, with statues, fountains and covered

walkways.

On the south side a golden fountain could rise up around seventy feet and stands at

the foot of a three stepped terraced garden leading up to a golden topped temple.

In the park, inspired by the English landscape movement, he had garden buildings put up including

a Moorish Kiosk, which he bought in 1876.

Needless to say his extravagance knew no bounds and eventually led to his downfall.

Right at the other end of the valley is one of the most important monasteries in the Alpine

region, and built on the primary trade route between northern Italy and the city of Augsburg

in Germany -- Ettal Abbey.

The Benedictine abbey was first founded back in the 14th century, but what we see today

is from the mid -18th century and built in the Baroque style. This followed a disastrous

fire in 1744 when the abbey church and many of the other buildings were destroyed

This was the beginning of the golden age of Ettal and in this period the 'Knights' Academy'

was established, which developed into a highly successful school.

But all this came to an end with the secularisation of church property in 1803. And it was not