Ritterfest in Hirschhorn (Neckar) 6-7 Sept

Hi,

You're asking about "time/location of items" On the website above, re "time": click on "Termine" to give the exact times (Uhrzeit) when the particular event (Veranstaltung) starts/takes place.

As for " location " look under Treffpunkt (rendezvous point, site where it meets), most state "Vereinsheim." (similar to the organisation's HQ, its location). A couple of the events do not take place in the town but rather in the town of Eberbach and Neckargemund.

One more thing ...absolutely not, you aren't crazy to attend, another insight into cultural life, ein Ritterfest. I've been to a Schützenfest a couple of times in Westfalen, nice.

I know Hirschhorn well (called the "Pearl of the Neckar"). I haven't attended the Ritterfest, but I doubt the town's limited parking capacity can handle all the potential visitors. It would probably be easier to park somewhere in Heidelberg or even Mannheim, and take the train from there. The town isn't very big, so the location of the events should be pretty obvious.

Here is the link to the pdf that shows parking options. As already mentioned, this is a small town with limited parking. Therefore, the event organizers recommend to use specially marked event parking ("Parkplatz Veranstaltung") in Ersheim in addition to the small lots in Hirschhorn. If possible, use public transportation.

http://www.hirschhorner-ritter.de/pics/ritterfest-allgemein/stadtplan_parkplaetze.pdf

Reading through the information it looks like there is a small fee associated with visiting the event. And you get a reduced rate if you come in medieval costume ;-)

A Neckar river cruise along the castles from Heidelberg to Neckarsteinach is actually much more "romantic" than a Rhine river cruise. You could combine your day-trip to Hirschhorn from Heidelberg by doing one leg (Heidelberg-Neckargemünd or vv.) by boat (90 minutes) and then take the train from Neckargemünd to Hirschhorn (http://www.rnf-schifffahrt.de/#!linienfahrten_burgenfahrten_en).

The infrastructure in the Neckar river valley was built for interchanges between boat and rail. Also, because the valley is so tight all towns are really small and sit along the river. According to the very poorly done website of this festival (that's what websites must have looked like in Medieval times) it's a short walk to the Freier Platz from the train station. Google Maps doesn't really know Hirschhorn that well, you cannot find place names on it I'm afraid. But again, knowing the area you can really walk to every place within the town in short time (with exception of the castle, which of course comes with a steep walk up the hill).

Thanks, everyone. You've given me some very useful information. The Ritterfest website is, indeed, a little funky. I downloaded the parking map but isn't very high resolution. In any case, it turns out that we will be driving from Bad Wimpfen to Neckargemund on Sunday, overnighting in Neckargemund. We'll drop our bags at the hotel and head back to Hirschhorn via train. I'm glad to know that everything is in reasonable walking distance. After looking at the 2013 program, can anyone tell me what the Sunday program/timeframe might be? Is it just a repeat of Saturday's program? (And no, we won't be packing any medieval costumes for a discounted admission!) Danke!

According to the website the 2014 program is to be published at the end of July.
The 2013 program shows pretty much the same events for Saturday and Sunday. Just slight differences:
* some marching bands participate only on Saturday and not Sunday;
* the ceremonial first tapping of the beer keg is done only on Saturday not on Sunday;
* the evening show starts an hour earlier on Sunday than on Saturday.

Thank you, Beatrix, for that interpretation. To know that similar events occur on Sunday is very helpful. I guess we'll have to miss out on the beer keg tapping although ... it could be fun to witness!

Hi,

Don't miss the opening ceremony (Eröffnung) at 11 am, only on Sat. The procession and the accompanying fanfare of music is the Fanfarenzug, part of the music will be cavalry marches. I liked the couple of times I was at the Schützenfest, but expect to see "blaue Leute" (those people who had one too many staggering around) there beim Ritterfest.