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Germany

Bavaria

Middle Franconia

Landkreis Ansbach

Burgoberbach

Family Crypt and Mummies of Schloss Sommersdorf

Discover

Places to see

Germany

Bavaria

Middle Franconia

Landkreis Ansbach

Burgoberbach

Family Crypt and Mummies of Schloss Sommersdorf

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Location: Burgoberbach, Landkreis Ansbach, Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany

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Best Hikes to Family Crypt and Mummies of Schloss Sommersdorf

4.3

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1. Sommersdorf Moated Castle – Stork's Nest Thann loop from Sommersdorf

10.0km

02:34

40m

Intermediate hike. Good fitness required. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Intermediate

3.0

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2. Sommersdorf Moated Castle loop from Sommersdorf

4.72km

01:14

30m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Easy

5.0

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3. Sommersdorf Moated Castle – Wayside cross near Aub loop from Kolmschneidbach

7.33km

01:52

20m

Easy hike. Great for any fitness level. Easily-accessible paths. Suitable for all skill levels.

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Tips

Rainer & Petra

September 7, 2021

The castle has been owned by the von Crailsheim family for 471 years (as of 2021). As good Christians, the deceased lords and ladies of the castle as well as some guests received their final resting place in their own crypt.

On their search for the spy, the French found, among others, the Swedish Colonel Ritter von Holz, a relative of the Crailsheims, who had rested in full uniform in a heavy oak coffin since the Thirty Years' War. Looters stole his uniform skirt soon after the coffin was closed. Today he only wears his heavy leather riding boots.

When looking at the mummy of Sophie Luise von Kniestätt (deceased 1690), even hardened soldiers may have lost their appetite for a short time. For decades it has been puzzled as to whether Frau von Kniestätt was really dead when she was put in the coffin. Or whether she woke up in the container, but was not heard by anyone in the crypt and died miserably in the dark. Next to her was a child mummy without a head. Really scary.

The Knight of Wood's feet are still in his heavy riding boots.

The good state of preservation of the mummies also gave rise to all sorts of hypotheses (natural radioactivity, a curse?)

At least the explanation for the mummification is simple. The crypt is not in some damp and musty cellar, but in a former battlement of the castle, which was used as a burial place in the 17th century. There is constant air circulation so that the dead dry out quickly.

Two of the Sommersdorfer mummies are currently traveling through the USA in the exhibition "Mummies of the World": (as of August 2021).

Translated by Google •

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Elevation 420 m

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Monday 6 October

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Location: Burgoberbach, Landkreis Ansbach, Middle Franconia, Bavaria, Germany

Family Crypt and Mummies of Schloss Sommersdorf

1. Sommersdorf Moated Castle – Stork's Nest Thann loop from Sommersdorf

2. Sommersdorf Moated Castle loop from Sommersdorf

3. Sommersdorf Moated Castle – Wayside cross near Aub loop from Kolmschneidbach

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