 (foreground: Wine estate Leimbrock, background: Holiday Wikne Estate Sauer-Platz) |
Today 630 people live in Burgen. Many of the families make at least part of their living following the old Mosel tradition of wine production. Which explains why the village owes much of its character to the wine cellars and the fine houses of the estates. Along the Frohnbach stream, that runs through the middle of the village, there are many quiet corners and lovingly restored old stone and half-timbered houses to be discovered.
The protestant church boasts a Romanesque tower from the 11th century and a hall from the 18th century. There is a stone pulpit from 1682 with impressive relief ornamentation.
The church is a listed building.
The building dates from 1845 and houses two grain millstones driven by an overshot waterwheel.
The machinery has survived the 35 years since it was last used around 1970 intact and is in the process of being restored by the present owners.
Visiting times:
by appointment (Tel.: 06534-93120, e-Mail: kontakt@webmillers.de),
On Whitsunday and Monday the mill will take part in European Mill Open Day
Entrance free.
The stream "Frohnbach" flows naturally through Burgen from one end to the other. Although they have become rare elswhere, trout can often be seen in the clear pools under the lime trees in the village. And Burgen possesses with no less than 19 by far the most bridges in the region - large ones and small, built of stone or wood or wrought iron ...
Why such a small catholic church in a village right in the middle of the diocese of the Archbishop of Trier? Interestingly Burgen and five neighbouring villages never belonged to the diocese and under the Arms of the counts of Veldenz formed a protestant enclave for many years.
A catholic church dedicated to the holy St. Markus existed in Burgen from 1086. The current building dates from 1908 and is a wonderful example of sacred architecture from the early 20th century. After being renovated in the latter half of the 1970s the chapel was dedicated to father Maximilian Kolbe, who went to his death in the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War in place of a young family man. (Remains of father Kolbe are walled into the altar.)
The impressive fresco in the choir is a work of the Silesian painter Alfred Gottwald (1893-1971), perhaps the only really great church painter of the 20th century. The frescos were restored during the renovation by the Mrziglod brothers from Tholey.
Four centuries of typical regional architecture with lots of half-timber and slate stone determine the face of Burgen. Some courtyards are still paved with the traditional cobblestones ("Mosel-Wacken"). There is a wealth of country cottage gardens and richly carved oak doors from the 19th century.
Burgener Hasenläufer
One of the three Vineyards of Burgen. It is the only hill in Europe whose slopes are clothed in vineyards on all sides to the very top.
A walk along its crest is a rich experience, even in winter.
Dating from 1912. A good example of a successful marriage of old and new architecture in a village setting.
Many festivals take place within its walls including the yearly Christmas basar and the popular amateur theatre performances of the Burgener Bühnchen.
Nobody knows where it came from, but for about 30 years it has grown in the garden of the Hasenmühle, a genuine Sequoiadendron giganteum, which you can normally only see in the Sequoia National Park in Californien.
The sequoia in Burgen is by no means the only one on the Moselle - the result of the collecting energy of the local gardeners during the last hundred years. But we are proud of our unusual import all the same.
The clear pools in the stream, the wide grassy slopes on the plateau above the village, the cool, scented shaddows of the surrounding forest - the former valley of the Moselle provides a wide variety of animals and plants with an ideal habitat. A wonderful experience for our guests.
The patient ornithologist can observe a kingfisher or a dipper along the stream north of the village. There are badger sets quite near the village. And in the Autumn you can sometimes hear the foxes and stags as they compete loadly for mates.
