European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 7, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Maxim Limburg up close medieval German town on the beaten track Limburg s old town a with its Many half timbered houses a is one of the Best preserved in Norm Zeigler travel outdoor writer millions of people View Limburg every year but Only a Small percentage of them see it up close. This medieval City on the Lahn River is Only a Stone s throw from one of Germany s busiest autobahn. A. Anyone who has travelled Highway a-3 Between Frankfurt Cologne has seen the Panorama a the Hillside town the meandering River the. Landmark that Cati Hes the Eye of travellers is a spectacular Castle like Struc Ture that looms against the Western sky. With its Spires thrusting High above the River St. Georg s Cathedral is Limburg s most visually stunning t a a feature As Well As its most important tourist attraction. The 13th Century Church a masterpiece of the late. Romanesque Early gothic clings to the Burberg fortress Mountan up thrust Rock formation that slopes Down to the old town on one Side on the other drops in sheer 100-foot Cliffs to the River.7. The Church s Basic Structure has been altered Little. Since its completion in 1280. But the intervening centuries took their toll in the 1970s, it underwent extensive exterior restoration. Its medieval facade was faithfully recreated officials say the Church now looks much As it did in the Middle Ages. Subsequent Interior restoration work also exposed the original 13th Century frescoes which had been obscured by later artwork. On a recent Winter Day a with its seven towers veiled in Snow a St. Reorg s was More reminiscent of a Disney Castle than a Church. Despite the weather visitors tramped up do Strasse in twos threes to gaze up at the Spires wander around the Cathedral. Among them were americans Vicki Verdin Carol Mcdavit Mcdavit s 2-year-old daughter Luisa. The three had travelled from Wiesbaden at the recommendation of Mcdavit s brother sister a Law. Like most visitors to Limburg they had come to Admire the Cathedral but also to see the City itself. With a population of Only 30,000, Limburg is More an overgrown town than a City. Though it has a solid Industrial base and tourist Economy Limburg today is something of an economic political Backwater dwarfed in size importance by its neighbors a Frankfurt Wiesbaden Mainz Koblenz. It was not always this Way. I the earliest document that mentions Limburg then called lint Urc dates to 910 a.d., but archaeological evidence shows that a settlement existed on the site a much earlier. From about the 5th to the 8th centuries a huge fortress occupied the Heights above the Lahn. The first settlement sprang up on the East Side of the Burberg it was probably not until the 11th Century that the population Center shifted to the West the. Present Day old town. The event that propelled Limburg to regional prominence was the construction of a wooden Bridge continued on Page 11 March 7, 1991 stripes Magazine 7 7
