Nobody knows the legends surrounding Stockenfels Castle as well as Franz Joseph Vohburger. The 82-year-old is castellan of the lonely stone ruins in the Upper Palatinate, which is also known as the “Bierpanscher-Walhalla”.
Franz Joseph Vohburger’s lover hides behind dense bushes and trees on a lonely forest hilltop in the Upper Palatinate. The way to it leads over an earthen path that becomes increasingly steep and gnarly the closer you get. On a Wednesday in April, the 82-year-old makes the arduous journey again; he is here as often as possible. It’s raining, the ground is slippery. Vohburger takes careful steps, very slowly climbing a rudimentary earthen staircase. Then he stands in front of the stone ruins that he once lost his heart to: Stockenfels Castle.