Burghausen, Germany

Burghausen is a town of about 19,000 residents in Upper Bavaria, set along the Salzach River at the Austrian border. Its skyline is dominated by Burghausen Castle, a 1,051-metre complex documented since 1025 that ranks as the longest castle in the world. The town served as the second residence of the Dukes of Lower Bavaria until 1503, and its medieval Old Town stretches in a narrow ribbon beneath the fortress walls. The late-Gothic parish church of Saint James, built around 1250, rises to an 87-metre spire. A Wacker-Chemie petrochemical works reshaped the local economy in 1965, while the town's jazz festival has run annually since 1990.