Germany: Lohr am Main

Lohr am Main is a picturesque town often missed by tourists (there are so many other attractions around). The town has a very well preserved historic center, full of churches, a castle, and many half-timbered houses. It was settled in the 8th century and grew into a major trading him and shipbuilding center by the 13th century (given the Main River and surrounding forests). One of the main attractions here is the Schloss Lohr aka Snow White Castle – supposedly the town and the castle served as the inspiration for Brothers Grimm’s Snow White. The similarities are striking – there was a noblewoman named Maria Sophia von Erthal who was born in 1725 in Schloss Lohr. Her father, Philipp Christoph von Erthal, was a prince-elector and widower, mirroring the widowed king in the tale. He married Claudia Elisabeth von Reichenstein in 1727, who became the stepmother (just like in the tale). Her family did have a connection to a local mirror-manufacturing business and she had a giant morror-covered acoustic devise in her room that was basically somehow eavesdropping on other rooms in the house, aka “talking mirror”. There are more similarities as well, the town was full of local miner (like seven dwarfs), there was a massive apple orchard just outside the cattle (like poisoned apple), and the castle’s museum somehow does have a coffin completely made out of glass (like glass coffin). Go figure! Maria Sophia von Erthal did live until the age of 71.