Tag: Germany

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Braunfels, Germany – Altstadt and Castle

An hour’s drive by car north of Frankfurt above the Taunus mountains you will find a small, quaint and often overlooked little town called Braunfels.

Panorama of Braunfels below – Braunfels Castle – Braunfels, Germany

Braunfels

The town of Braunfels in the Lahm valley in Hessen and on the famous German Timber-Frame Tourist Road. All of the houses in the Altstadt are of this type construction and most are fairly old, sixteenth and seventeenth century.

The Altstadt lays to the east of the castle by the same name. Since it was built on the side of the same hill as the castle, some of the roads are pretty steep. Most are paved with cobbles and there are several signs, mostly if not exclusively in German, reminding visitors that the stones are uneven, slippery when wet, and the town and castle are not liable for any injuries, so watch you step when you visit.

The castle may be reached through the town via the Schloßstrasse, or on the other side of the hill via the Burgweg (this is where we parked).

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Kratzsteine

If you ever wondered why old towns such as Braunfels had these many corner stones, or Kratzsteine; the following sign explains it. The interesting thing here is, that although these are very common throughout older German cities and towns, you will not find many examples in Braunfels; making one wonder why someone posted a sign above an example of one, when there are so few throughout the town.

The above can be translated loosely in English as the following.

The medieval cities had very narrow alleys, which were only meant for pedestrians and mule drawn carts. When horse drawn carriages came, they had difficulties trying to make the turns without slowing down. The hubs of the wheels or the side of the wagons would damage the buildings. In order to prevent this damage and the high cost of repairs, the home owners had to come up with something. They decided on giant house stones, or Kratzsteine, which were partially buried on the corners of the house. This forced the driver to avoid and swing their carriages wide, so they didn’t risk their wheels getting damaged from these strategically placed corner stones.

Castle Braunfels

Christian Christmas Tradition

In Germany there is an old religious custom on the twelfth day of Christmas, or what is more properly known as the Epiphany. On the evening of or the day of Epiphany the front door of the building is chalked with the pattern “yy * C + M + B * YY”. The CMB is short for the Latin phrase Christus mansionem benedicat, or in English, May Christ bless this house. The YY are the year divided up appropriately.

Castle Innards

The courtyard of the castle is fairly large and surrounded by three walls and towers. The inside of the castle is typical for one of this period. The slideshow below finishes our tour of the castle and our visit to this very nice little town in Hessen.

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Mainz, Germany – Stadtbummel And Lunch

Though we have been in Mainz at least several times, it was before the beginning of this blog. Therefore, after a brief visit to the city to meet our friends and have a walk or stroll throughout the city (also known as a Stadtbummel), a quick mention here seemed almost required.

Day Trip To Mainz

This week we met our good and long time friends Karl Heinz and Isolde in Mainz for lunch and a customary Stadtbummel, if only to see some of the sights Patti has never seen.

To get there, we had to take the RMV S8 line from the Marktplatz in Offenbach to the Römisches Theater in Mainz. Unfortunately for us, there a typical issue which held the train up for forty-five minutes after we boarded and only went for two stops. Apparently something fell onto the tracks and tripped the signal on the line.

Mainzer Dom

Once the item was removed from the tracks, there were no further difficulties and we reached Mainz with plenty of time before lunch. We toured the Mainzer Dom and the Marktplatz, which are side by side, while we enjoyed the exceptional weather we were having for Germany.

Saint Ignatius Church

One of the more colorful churches inside is Saint Ignatius church. Though rather plain from outside the inside is definitely worth a look. The baroque style and paintings are impressive.

Saint Stephan’s Church

A must stop is Saint Stephan’s church, if only to see the famous church windows designed by Marc Chagall. Once inside, the eerie blue glow that occurs inside a bright sunny day is indeed a treat for the eyes.

Almost totally destroyed during World War II along with the rest of Mainz, the church was rebuilt in the late 1950s. Marc Chargall created a number of stained glass windows from 1978 and 1985 depicting scenes from the Bible.

Restaurants

Since we did not actually stay in the city we only had time with our friends to try the following restaurant for lunch.

Hof Ehrenfels

For lunch we ate at Hof Ehrenfels, a stone’s throw away from the Mainzer Dom on Greberstraße. It is actually a three star hotel that also has a very good restaurant with a garden. The four of us ate outside in garden and had Wiener Schnitzel.

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Mainz, Germany – Deutschen Freunde

Diese Woche hatten wir die Gelegenheit unsere guten deutschen Freunde in Mainz zu treffen. Bevor wir unsere aktuelle Reise begannen, schickte ich meinem Freund Karl Heinz eine E-Mail, um alles zu planen. Und in den letzten Tagen haben wir uns gefreut, dass all unsere Planungen für uns geklappt haben.

Eine Kleine Reise Mit Dem Zug

Da wir eine Woche in Offenbach am Main waren, um unsere Töchter Ericka und ihren Mann Gabriel zu besuchen, mussten wir die DB S8 ab Offenbach Markplatz nehmen, die direkt zur Mainz Romisches Theater Haltestelle führt. Das bedeutete, dass wir von der Wohnung unserer Tochter in der Innenstadt laufen mussten, aber das kein Problem war, denn es dauert nur ungefahr fünfzehn Minuten.

Train Status S8

Nach fast zehn Minuten des Anfangs unserer Reise gab es eine Störung, einen Gegenstand leigt auf den Gleissen und das rotes Stopplicht angeschaltet war. Es dauert 43 Minuten bevor wir unsere Reise fortfahren könnten.

Restaurants

Für Mittagsessen wählten wir Hof Ehrenfels.

Hotel and Restaurant Hof Ehrenfels

Hof Ehrenfels

Dieser restaurant ist auch ein Drei-Stern-Hotel mit einem schönen Garten, den man draussen sitzen kann während man isst.

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Auerbach, Germany – Auerbach Castle

Perched above the small hamlet of Auerbach, located immediately north of Bensheim, Germany is the castle of Auerbach. The Auerbach Castle is privately owned, maintained and is free to visit. Hiking and walking around its grounds and castle is allowed and encourage by the many structures that have been put in place to reach the upper parts of the castle.

Auerbach Castle

This is a perfect destination for a day trip, where one can go and enjoy the weather and the beautifully forested grounds of the castle. The castle itself is rather small and may be used to get an excellent view of the surrounding area and countryside beyond.

We were lucky enough to stop on our way to Frankfurt, and on a day of exceptional weather, where we were able to easily make out the nuclear power plant ten miles away and the hills beyond that, at what must be close to fifty miles away.

The castle was built sometime in the thirteenth century on what they called the old hill, or Urberg. It was probably partially maintained as a strategic fortification well into the seventeenth century, when it was no longer needed.

Over the next hundred years or so, it fell into disrepair and eventually the north tower collapsed. In the nineteenth century, it was repaired and partially rebuilt, the former bailey[1]A bailey is a protective walled courtyard, usually surrounded by a palisade or ditch outside. being converted into an Inn and eventually taking on its final form we see today. You can actually stay at the Inn even today.

Restaurants

There is only one restaurant on the grounds and a cafe. The cafe is situated outside and you may even bring your own food and enjoy a nice picnic on the tables that have been provided, assuming I would guess, if you buy a drink. The restaurant is inside, has a marvelous outside terrace with overlook and is fully staffed. The restaurant and grounds are capable of actually holding weddings, with the appropriate arrangements, of course. They also occasionally hold dinner theaters and a Rittermahl[2]In the U.S., this would be similar to our Medieval Times, where you get a knight fight and a dinner, while cheering your team on., complete with medieval games.

Auerbach Castle Restaurant

We ate lunch at the restaurant on the terrace, which of course has a commanding view of the countryside below.

They have a very good selection of typical German dishes and the service is also very good and timely. However, I am not sure how much English they speak, since we only spoke German to them and they never attempted to speak English. So if you are an English only speaker and plan to visit, be prepared, you may have to use the point and grunt method of ordering.

References

References
↑1 A bailey is a protective walled courtyard, usually surrounded by a palisade or ditch outside.
↑2 In the U.S., this would be similar to our Medieval Times, where you get a knight fight and a dinner, while cheering your team on.
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Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Germany – Bad Water And All

This is actually a missing post from our travels in Germany while we were visiting our daughter and her fiancée in August. As we were driving back from our visit in Kronberg im Taunus, we stopped here to visit the wonderful park and spa.

Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, or Bad Homburg before the Taunus, was originally settled in 1180. Until recently in the late 1800s it became widely known as Kaiser Wilhelm II’s summer residence. Wilhelm later erected the spa and built the Erlöserkirche, or Church of the Redeemer for which the place is now recognized.

We divided our time between the Schloßpark and the Kurpark, which features numerous fountains where people collect and drink the local water.

Schloßpark And The White Tower

The Schloßpark, or Castle Gardens, contains many fine flower beds and examples of exotic flora. There is also a large lake that can be enjoyed while taking a leisurely walk around the grounds. The main attraction here is the castle with its white tower and overlook of the grounds and lake. At the time of our visit the tower was closed and we were not able to ascend to see any views of the surrounding town.

The Kurpark

The water here is documented to contain a myriad of basic elements, minerals and other health regenerative ingredients that are ostensibly good for your health. I tasted a few, with my fingers crossed that I wouldn’t get sick (which I didn’t), and can say that the overwhelming tastes are of sulfur dioxide and metallic, most likely from manganese. Though drinking it often could cause issues, depending upon the mineral exposures, an occasional drink now and then probably has no negative impact to the body and may even help in some cases.

The Kurpark, or Spa Park or Garden, has many cafes and paths that one may stroll and enjoy during fine weather. There is a Swan Pond and a stream that runs through the park along which one may find numerous benches were one can stop, sit and just enjoy nature.

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Kronberg im Taunus, Germany – An Overlook

A small town in the Taunus Mountains north of Frankfurt mixes old and new in a quaint little package. Its main attraction, the Kronberg Castle, selfishly occupies the only hill in town. This town offers enough for a great day trip or even an afternoon getaway.

Kronberg Im Taunus – A Panorama – August 2021

Though there is not much to see from the high perch of the Kronberg Castle, the town below actually has several points of interest. There are of course several places to eat in the historic part of town, most serving the typical German food for this area, though Chinese and other cuisine can be found. Aside from its overlook of the countryside, here is a real overlook of what you will find inside the town.

The Town

The historic town is strangely laid out, but practical, given that there is a castle and a wall surrounding it. Many of the streets are typical for a hillside town and are paved in the Sampietrini or larger cobble stone. Many of the houses are built in the Fachwerk style and are hundreds of years old. Below are some of the sights to see ambling the streets.

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There is a modern part of the city as well and it actually represent the modern face of Germany. The houses, apartments and stores have a neat modern appeal to them and ample parking. Anyone wishing to visit these areas only walk as near the closest wall opening, where they may descend into another time in the same place.

The town is at the foot of the Taunus Mountains, which occupy this part of Germany. The mountains are just north of Frankfurt and lie in the state of Hesse.

The Hellhof

The Hellhof was a noble seat built by the Kronberg Knights in the fifteenth century. It now stands as part of a gallery, which was at the time of our visit, closed.

The knights were part of the Teutonic Order and belonged to a rather poor family associated with Walter von Cronberg, a Grand Master and resident of the castle and held the title from 1525, until his death in 1543. Since the building is intimately intertwined with the events and family of the castle, it makes sense that it can be found sitting just beneath a rather steep incline to it. There is a substantial Roman style paved road that one can imagine connected the two at one time.

The Castle

Tickets For Two – Kronberg Castle

Built around 1220, the castle sits atop the rocky hill of historic Kronberg im Taunus. It has a large main building, a tower and several chambers scattered around on the ground floor that must have served several purposes.

Kronberg Castle

The castle has a commanding view of the town and the countryside. It can also be seen quite clearly by its higher castle neighbors in the Taunus Mountains and also from the Main Valley below.

Die Aufrechten – Matthias Schmidt – 2018

In the ground floor of the Fünfeckturn, or five cornered tower, stand five wooden steles carved from a storm fallen 150 year old Beech tree called The Uprights. They were carved by Matthais Schmidt in 2018 to symbolize the knights and kings from the history of this old castle. For more on the history of this castle, visit https://www.burgkronberg.de/die-burg/geschichte.

I am ending this blog post with some additional, non-captioned photographs of the castle.

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Bacharach, Germany – Model Medieval Town

On a bend of the Rhine River above Mainz sits the small town of Bacharach. Nestled among the varied and many castles of the west bank, its row of buildings and high walls demonstrate historically how important this part of the Rhine was in the Middle Ages.

Bacharach – Above Burg Stahleck – August 2021

The walls of the Rhine River valley provide an ample perch for the many castles and fortresses that were built to protect the towns along its banks. The Stahleck Castle sits above this small town and extends it length of walls, turrets and towers around the small community like a net from above. The curtain of walls is formidable in both height and width, being its strongest at river level, where perhaps most of the attacks (if any) would probably originate.

The Town

There is no real center of town, since it is more of a stretch of houses and building along the Rhine. Points of interest include the main street called Mainzerstraße, where all of the shops are located, Blücherstraße which starts at Saint Peter’s church and continues up through the Steeger Tor, a smaller street called the Langestraße which parallels the main street and the beautiful park along the banks of the Rhine.

A main attraction here is the beautifully preserved Altes Haus. It is here where Robert Stolz wrote his operetta Wenn die kleinen Veilchen blühen, or “When the little violets bloom”, which was eventually performed in the Haag in 1932. Aside from that, it is an excellent example of Half-Timber, or Fachwerk framing.

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The hillsides in this area are dominated by vineyards, the area being a major wine producer for Germany. There are many Vintners here and many, if not all, sell directly to the public. Unfortunately after taking so long to eat, we were not predisposed to try and visit any of them.

Restaurants

There are several restaurants in town to choose from, all of which appear to serve a mixture of traditional German fare and some Mediterranean. It is probably preferable to find something on one of the side streets, since traffic is still allowed through the main thoroughfare.

Restaurant Burg Stahleck

We choose this restaurant based on its menu and amount of outside seating. Plus we were just lucky to get the last table with its advantage at being in a very strategic corner, in order to view the goings on in town.

Bacharach is indeed a great place to spend a day or afternoon. The combination of the town, the banks of the Rhine and Castle above it provide more than enough to do for anyone in the area looking for a day trip.

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Dreieichenhain, Germany – Fachwerkhaüser Allesamt

I considered a title in English, however none appeared fitting to me, or at least to my ear. The above essentially translates to Timbered Houses All or all of them. Most, if not all (I didn’t take a census) are built in this style, at least within confines of the ring wall.

Half-Timbered House – Dreieichenhain, Germany

The exemplary example shows all the features of a timbered or half-timbered house in this region of Germany. In fact, Dreieichenhain lays on a three thousand kilometer (appr. 1800 miles) long Deutschen Fachwerkstraße of timbered framed houses in Germany. This virtual road runs through Niedersachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt, Hessen, Thüringen, Bayern and Baden-Württemburg. This town lays on the portion from the Rhine to the Main and Odenwald.

As you walk along the Fahrgasse, the main street in Dreieichenhain, there are several signs explaining the history and method of this type of construction. In typical German fashion, each timber has its own name and in many cases they may have multiple names, depending on their actual purpose.

These include the Rähm or Rähmbalken for the top beams and Schwelle or Grundschwelle for the beams located on the bottom. Echpfosten, Eckstiel and Eckständer may all be used as names for the column posts used for the corners of the buildings.

Here are some additional examples of this construction practice, which many tourist find to represent the idyllic German town. All of them have very restrictive auto and driving rules, many of which require you to park outside the town and walk in. Though we parked outside the town and walked in, the walk was rather short, even though there were two small traffic circles that we had to walk through. While doing so we discovered the town also has its own parking area a few hundred meters from one of the town gates.

The Untertor Gate – Dreieichenhain

Aside from the interesting houses the town is surrounded by the typical Roman wall. This wall has only three gates, through which anyone approaching or leaving the town must pass. The rest of the wall is sparsely populated by lookout towers. The wall is also supplemented and takes advantages of some the buildings in the town to supply part of its construction. For example the church and several stone buildings that were incorporated and included in the wall in order to remain part of the town proper.

The Ruins

Near the Untertur entrance are the ruins of the Burg, or castle, which was rather small, but probably adequate for a town of this size.

The Castle Ruins – Church In The Background – Dreieichenhain

The castle has had a lot of work on it to stabilize its structure and to make it safe for tourists to enter. There is not much to see, but you can enter the ruins and discover the old main hall chimney and other construction items of interest.

Ericka And Patti – Dreieichenhain Castle – Dreieichenhain, Germany – August 2021

Below is another view from outside the ruins and one of the main hall with chimney.

Restaurants

La Table

Though actually a restaurant, it appears as a rather quaint little boutique coffee shop that sells amazing cakes and desserts. We stopped at La Table for some refreshment, after we had completely discovered what this little town had to offer, and what the local weather kind of forced us into sitting under some kind of cover. Our attempt to sit outside under the coffee shop’s awning was dashed, when what started out as a shower turned into a full blown thunderstorm. We persisted in our belief, along with another cute little old lady from town, that we would be able to sit it out under the awning. But soon enough it rained harder and harder and then the wind picked up and drove us all inside.

Gabi And Ericka – La Table – Dreieichenhain, Germany – August 2021

Luckily, most of the other guest had been driven home by the inclement weather so there was plenty of seating for the rest of us inside, including the little old lady who turned out to be quite the chatterbox. So we ordered up some glasses of Martini Rosso, Prosecco, and hot chocolates along with some cake and had a nice little Kaffeepause out of the rain and eventually hail.

The Burgweiher – Dreieichenhain, Germany

Above a parting shot of the castle’s water source from the nice little town of Dreieichenhain on the Deutschen Fachwerkstraße.