A Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within-Inspired Tour of Southern Germany

Throughout the pandemic, one international location in particular haunted my imagination: South Germany. While locked down, I took advantage of my daily exercise allowance of a single socially distanced outing in my local area. However, while I'm lucky to have access to abundant pretty, green spaces, my hometown is also a place where noteworthy sheep regularly make the front-page news. Like everyone else in the world, I craved a change of scenery – so I turned to the immersive worlds of books, films and adventure games to transport me from my somewhat fertiliser-seasoned surroundings.

And, with its majestic forests, fairytale castles and melding of medieval and modern locales, the setting of FMV adventure game Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within gave me the perfect fantasy fuel. Better yet, it was rooted in reality; this was somewhere I might actually go someday – as fellow adventure game fans AdventureGameGeek and IPKISS4LIFE had before me. So, as soon as international travel opened up again and I could arrange the time off in summer 2022, I went, nine-euro unlimited public transport ticket in hand (and, less helpfully, Schattenjäger, the German for 'shadow hunter', echoing in my head).  

Rothenburg ob der Tauber ('Rittersberg')

'The Schattenjägers are of this place, and this place is of them. We believe in the old ways here. It has not changed much over the centuries. We still remember what the rest of the world has forgotten... That life is a battle between the light and the dark. Do you know this?' – Werner Huber

Though Rittersberg, the town that surrounds the Knight/Ritter family's ancestral castle, Schloss Ritter, might not technically exist, it's still possible to visit the place that inspired it. Thankfully, Rothenburg, the extraordinarily well-preserved medieval town in Northern Bavaria that served as its model, is well worth visiting despite the absence of a resident Schattenjäger.

With its colourful half-timbered houses, narrow, cobbled streets and miraculously intact city walls and towers, it's easy to see why it was chosen as the setting of a story interwoven with werewolf lore – it feels like the ideal backdrop for a Grimm folktale. (Apparently the makers of the film The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm had the same idea – as did those of Disney's original Pinnochio, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows* and Shadow of Memories, another strange, story-rich adventure game that holds a special place in my heart.)

L: Siebersturm clocktower and colourful timbered housing (bonus: me!); R: Georgsbrunnen fountain in the marketplace (across the street from the rathaus)

Because of its beauty and historical significance, Rothenburg also had the unfortunate distinction of being revered by Nazis as the quintessential German 'Home Town', representing idealised family life. During World War II, over a third of the town was destroyed by bombs, but you wouldn't know it today. Reconstruction efforts were so faithful to the original buildings that the main reminder of the devastation is commemorative bricks engraved with the names of donors from all over the world in rebuilt parts of the city wall. It's now one of only three towns in Germany with completely intact city walls (which also make for a stunning stroll overlooking the old town's quaint rooftops and otherwise hidden gardens).

GK2 features the southern part of the marketplace in the main square most prominently; though visually accurate, the buildings shown have different uses in reality than in the game. The main difference, though, is probably the town's renown; whereas Rittersberg is a relatively little-known place where people keep their business to themselves ('not so many know about this place. It is perhaps better that way, hmm?'), Rothenburg is a popular tourist destination along the famed Romantic Road.

L: Waffenkammer Rothenburg, a medieval specialty store; R: hand-carved cuckoo clocks in a Christmas decoration store

The town itself is also much larger, encircled as it is by a newer section, and boasts a range of idiosyncratic, tourist-inclined shops; we browsed places for handmade teddy bears, year-round Christmas decorations (for Germans, Christmas is something of a national obsession), intricate cuckoo clocks, schneeballen (deep-fried pastry made with plum schnapps), beer steins and, yes, knight armour and weapons. Appropriately, the town has a strong knight legacy, with various chivalric orders founded there or involved in its construction (including the epically named Knights of the Hinterland).

L: Gasthof Goldener Greifen; R: one of the traditionally decorated dining rooms inside the gasthof

If, like me, you're more used to minimalistic modern hotels, staying a night in a traditional gasthof (inn) is not to be missed. The inn we stayed at, Gasthof Goldener Greifen (or Golden Griffin), was just as much a curiosity as the town itself. Around 650 years old, it was formerly the mayor's residence and fittingly grand. Every room was unique and filled with charming traditional touches, from historical murals to wall-mounted crests and weaponry – not unlike Schloss Ritter itself (though in better repair and, helpfully, with more than a single, lovelorn maid in their employ).

*Though these scenes were inexplicably cut from the finished films.

Marienplatz Square, Munich

'Die Weisswurst ist sehr gut. Wollen Sie etwas?' – The Weisswurst lady

It would be unthinkable to travel to Munich and not visit Marienplatz, the heart of the city. The distinctive square, which dates back to the medieval era, appears largely unchanged since GK2's time (1995), though the shops housed within its arches will undoubtedly have undergone several transitions.

The Gothic Marienplatz tower and city hall 

The game captures the energy of the square well; with its bustling businesses, acoustic street music and grand yet forbidding gothic architecture, GK2's Marienplatz embodies a feeling of opening up and connecting with the modern world while still retaining a sense of the weight of history. It also serves as a hub of activity, from the practical (Gabriel's lawyer's office and the post office) and the cultural (the cuckoo clock shop) to the more... frivolous (the Weisswurst – or white sausage – vendor, who elicits Gabriel's mysterious line 'I already have some wurst'). 

Naturally, the actual square is much more touristy than in the game (and likely more so than in the 90s, too). And, while we sadly weren't offered any wurst by matronly yet enterprising ladies who 'only want to talk about white sausage', we did pay a small fortune for four dates at a fruit stall and scoped out the souvenir magnets (for our mums, of course) at one of the typical tourist tat stalls.

There are also reliably large gatherings for the free 11AM and noon Glockenspiel 'performances'. The Glockenspiel, an iconic mechanical clock with bells and life-sized figures in the new rathaus (city hall) tower, was first constructed to cheer up residents after a plague epidemic in the 17th century. It has been re-enacting stories inspired by the Medieval tournaments held in the square ever since, and it felt fitting that we should be lucky enough to view it after (sort of) emerging from the Covid pandemic. The first performance tells the 16th-century story of the marriage of a local duke followed by a celebratory joust with knights on horseback – unsurprisingly, the Bavarian knight triumphs every time.

L: The Glockenspiel with its life-sized mechanical figures; R: the golden Mariensäule

Another monument in the square that is impossible to ignore is the Mariensäule, or Marian column, a towering golden statue of the Virgin Mary built in the 1600s to celebrate the end of the Swedish occupation during the Thirty Years' War. Gabriel notes that he feels Mary, Bavaria's spiritual protector (or Patrona Bavariae), is 'watching me' (and well she should, given his womanising and wurst-inclined proclivities).

Schloss Neuschwanstein 

'Ludwig withdrew more and more into his fantasy world of epic heroes and absolute monarchy – an ideal he was determined to create in his castles if he could not have it in real life. He wanted only to be alone with his dreams.' – Tour guide

Perhaps the most famous – and certainly the most spectacular – stop on our tour was the fantastical castle dreamt up by the Fairytale King himself, Ludwig II. Its appearance is so dreamlike, in fact, that its soaring towers served as the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle. From its perch on the rugged foothills of the Alps, 925m above sea level, Neuschwanstein commands views of the lushly forested valley and impossibly picturesque village of Hohenschwangau below.

L: The tree-lined mountain path up to the castle; R: the first glimpse of the castle towers

While the castle can be reached by bus or horsedrawn carriage via a mountain road, we trekked up on foot to take in every detail (and to save some precious Geld). While this was predicted to take around 45 minutes, it only took us around 25 at a moderate pace, and we found the path scenic and the incline adequately gentle. If you think the horsedrawn carriage option sounds fancy, Ludwig actually had a fabulously flamboyant peacock-shaped 'flying car' powered by steam planned – sadly this only served as further proof of his insanity to his opponents before he was declared insane and deposed (turns out it wasn't such a bad idea after all). 

Intended as the king's private residence, the castle is a monument to his rich inner world; its rooms are bedecked with countless paintings, frescoes and sculptures of knights, maidens and swans. Ludwig was, as Grace notes, 'really into swans and lilies [which] represented purity and majesty' (an alternate reading of the pervasive swan symbolism favoured by the closeted king is, of course, about as subtle as the homoerotic subtext in GK2). 

View of the castle from a tavern painted in the traditional Bavarian style

The castle, which was built as a Romanticist interpretation of the Middle Ages, also honours composer Richard Wagner, whose operas had profoundly impressed Ludwig. This is apparent from the castle's elaborate decor, which, like Wagner's operas, draws on themes from classical German heroic dramas.

Though they are huge tourist draws today, Ludwig's obsessive castle-building projects ultimately drove him into deep debt. This led to his financial ministers ousting him on grounds of mental illness and his eventual mysterious – and highly convenient – death. The castle remains unfinished to this day, despite some of its unimaginably opulent rooms. These include the Grotto (an artificial dripstone cave with its own waterfall adjoining Ludwig's bedroom), the Throne Hall (a golden churchlike marvel that represents Luwdig's self-image as a mediator between heaven and earth) and the Singers' Hall (a grand gallery-like space adorned with vast murals depicting the Grail saga).

View of the castle and Alps from the road approaching Hohenschwangau village

It's easy to see why the werewolf metaphor fits the king so well; hiding what was at the time seen as a terrible secret (his sexuality) and tormented by a longing to return to his true nature, Ludwig likely felt caged by the expectations of others. As our guide led us through the castle's magnificent rooms, it was hard not to feel moved by the story of the Swan King, who increasingly retreated into a world of legends and fairytales to escape the heavy burden of his responsibilities before his untimely death. 

The Black Forest (Baden-Baden)

'Ludwig took his train or sleigh out at night because he was 'restless.' Sometimes he'd stop and go wandering alone in the woods for hours. Tell me, friends and neighbours, what do you think he did out in the woods at night alone?' – Grace

While we didn't visit the Bavarian National Forest, the location of the Royal Bavarian Hunting Lodge in GK2, we did take a hike in the famed Black Forest, another national park in Southern Germany. The Black Forest is renowned for its gâteaus, wood-carved cuckoo clocks (like the ones in the game's shop in Marienplatz) and lush mountainous woodlands. With its towering evergreen trees and ruined 17th-century forts, you can sense the ancient quality of the woods, too – in fact, it isn't hard to imagine Ludwig sweeping past the trees on one of his mysterious midnight sleigh rides.

L: Signpost on the Baden-Baden panoramaweg (panoramic walk); R: landscape view from a high point on the walk 

We strategically chose Baden-Baden as our base, a chic spa town near the border with France, so we could soak our aching bods in the local thermal waters after a day of intense hiking. Unwisely, we picked a day of ~30° heat (caught out by Europe-wide heatwaves) for our 10km+ expedition. However, with an area of over 2,000 square miles, the forest provided endless dense tree shelter, a drinking fountain of natural spring water for us to replenish our bottles and breathtaking views that made it all worth it.

While we didn't spot any rogue wolves (which, despite being wiped out in Germany in the 19th century, have begun to stage a comeback in recent years), we did glimpse several majestic, Tolkien-worthy eagles soaring casually by the roadside throughout our trip.

Alternativer Wolf- und Bärenpark Schwarzwald, the Alternative Bear and Wolf Sanctuary

'Hey wolf! Come on, boy! Wolfie, come on, come on! Wolfie, wolfie, come on, come on! Get back over here, will you! So it's like that, is it?' – Gabriel

Rather than visit the Hellabrunn Zoo in Munich featured in GK2, we decided to take a day trip to somewhere slightly more unconventional but similarly animal-themed: the Alternative Bear and Wolf Sanctuary in the Black Forest. While some zoos (including Hellabrunn) take part in conservation activities, the sanctuary is committed to rescuing bears, wolves and lynxes from zoos, circuses and captivity to give them a better, wilder life.

Carefree bear statue welcoming visitors to the sanctuary

It was heartbreaking to read all their stories; Agonis the bear, who had been taken from his mother in the wild at only a few weeks old, had been rescued from a restaurant where the owner had chained him up as an 'attraction'. While he was finally learning about life's bear necessities at the sanctuary, he continued to suckle on his paws as a self-soothing behaviour. Visitors were therefore advised not to stop and stare openly at him as he found this triggering (same, Agonis, same).

Gaia the wolf was raised as a dog in Lithuania and taught to follow dog commands. In a shocking, completely unforeseeable twist, she was soon given up to the shelter when her owner discovered that she didn't behave well as a pet as she was not, in fact, a dog.

Jurka, the sanctuary's first and oldest bear, is also the mother of Bruno, the notoriously bloodthirsty, beehive-looting 'Problembär' (problem bear). As the sanctuary points out, though, 'The problem was not with the four-legged friend, but with the two-legged friend'; his problematic behaviour was, unsurprisingly, considered due to interaction with people – a common theme.

L: Jurka, the sanctuary's oldest bear; R: one of a group of wolves rescued from a wildlife entertainment park 

It was incredible, however, to see some of the animals roaming blithely in the sanctuary's large, specially constructed natural habitats. As the animals were fed regularly by sanctuary workers, they weren't in competition for food, so they could live alongside each other amiably. The wolves, who were highly intelligent and vigilant, were so at home they'd sometimes even sneak up on and tease the bears (the phrase 'Don't poke the bear' was, clearly, lost on them).

Interacting with the animals, as Gabriel disastrously attempts to in GK2, was rightly frowned upon. In fact, the sanctuary was something of an anti-zoo; if animals were sleeping or frolicking elsewhere, you simply wouldn't see them (the animals aren't there to entertain you; you're very much a lightly passing visitor through their home) – in fact, this was possibly the happiest I've felt to be occasionally disappointed.

Support the wunderbar work of the Alternative Bear and Wolf Sanctuary here.

Final thoughts

While we didn't visit Burg Rabenstein, the basis for Schloss Ritter, as it was a little out of our way, our tour was filled with countless beautiful, awe-inspiring sights I may never have thought to visit if not for GK2. And, while my elementary German still leaves much to be desired, I'll never tire of pronouncing overlong agglutinated German words like 'Neuschwanstein' as though I know what the hell I'm doing. Alongside my memories of this trip, I'll also always carry with me an enduring sympathy for Ludwig's story and feel haunted by the mystery of his tragic fate (and what exactly Gabriel meant by that Weisswurst line).  

Have you ever travelled to the location of one of your favourite games? If not, which game location would you visit if you could?

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