The trumpeter town
"The trumpeter of Säckingen" is a work by Joseph Victor von Scheffel
that has made this town on the upper Rhine famous for miles around.
Today you can walk in his footsteps and take a stroll over the longest
covered wooden bridge in Europe.
And you can still meet the famous trumpeter of Säckingen in this town
on the upper Rhine today. Dressed in historic garments, he walks the
streets of Bad Säckingen taking visitors on dramatized guided tours. He
made the place famous, or to be more precise Joseph Victor von Scheffel
did. It was in Säckingen that the poet heard the romantic love story
that inspired him: a boy from middle class family and an aristocratic
girl fell in love. Because this relationship was not befitting of their
social status, they married in a far-off location before subsequently
returning to their home. The story is told in Scheffel's work "The
Trumpeter of Säckingen". It was a bestseller and was turned into a
hugely popular opera. That is why the town is also known as the
trumpeter town. The place where the two protagonists fell in love,
Schloss Schönau, is still standing today. But it is no longer privately
owned by the Schönau family and instead has become a museum. Nowadays,
at the Hochrheinmuseum Schloss Schönau, visitors can enjoy changing
exhibitions in the temporary display space, a range of permanent
exhibitions, the trumpet museum, and the "ScheffelRäume" collection.
In the surrounding park you will find the circular Diebsturm, or
Thieves' Tower. From here there is a view of another landmark. A wooden
construction sits on massive pillars, immersed in the flowing water of
the Rhine River. With a length of over 200 metres, this is the longest
covered wooden bridge in Europe. This national cultural monument is over
400 years old. You can cross the bridge on foot or by bicycle, and it
connects Germany to Switzerland.
The days when you had to pay a toll to cross the bridge have long
since passed. Today visitors wander back and forth between the two
countries and amble through the narrow streets of Bad Säckingen. All at
once, the view opens up to reveal the Münsterplatz: colourful façades
line the square and, in the centre, the towers of the St.
Fridolinmünster rise up over everything. With its abundant cafés and
bars, this is a wonderful place to spend some time. And it's entirely
possible that the trumpeter will come by – on his way to the lovers'
tomb in the cathedral.
