10 most fabulous cities in Germany

Who among us did not love fairy tales in childhood? And, what to hide, many, even at quite a respectable age, no, no, and they pick up a colorful children’s book and read it with great pleasure, willingly “falling through” into the world of fairies and witches, princes and princesses, talking animals, magical objects …

And which of the most famous storytellers is popular all over the world? Hans Christian Andersen, Charles Perrault, Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann and, of course, the Brothers Grimm. We all once sincerely worried about Little Red Riding Hood, rejoiced at the tricks of Puss in Boots, loved the kind and hardworking Cinderella and sweet Snow White.

Do you know that you can not only remember all these characters, but also really see those regions where the stories told by the Brothers Grimm “took place”? In 1975, the German National Tourist Board compiled a now very popular route called the German Fairy Tale Road (Deutsche Märchenstraße), which stretches through the federal states of Hesse and Lower Saxony from Hanau (Hanau) to Bremen.

This route (600 km long) goes through amazingly beautiful places reminiscent of the life and work of the Brothers Grimm, covering a total of about 70 cities, towns and settlements (many of which are on the UNESCO World Heritage List). And let’s get acquainted together with the main “stops” on the “Road of Fairy Tales”?

10 Steinau – the childhood home of the Brothers Grimm

As we mentioned above, the first point of the trip is Hanau, where the future great storytellers Jacob (1785-1863) and Wilhelm (1786-1859) were born in the family of the lawyer Philipp-Wilhelm Grimm and his beloved Dorothea. On the square of pastoral Hanau, of course, there is now a bronze monument dedicated to them.

And since 1791, the Grimms lived in the town of Steinau (about 50 km from Hanau). Here Jacob, Wilhelm and their three brothers and sisters spent their childhood. Of course, now the house where a large friendly family lived is a museum – beautiful and truly fabulous.

For young visitors, there is entertainment for every taste: you can listen to fairy tales or guess them from illustrations, watch cartoons, put on puppet shows, etc. The “Princess Room” with beautiful outfits is popular with girls.

The city of Steinau, which is already 1300 (!) years old, has been perfectly preserved – it is full of charming half-timbered houses, on its streets you can find many figures of characters from the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, as well as the plots of these magical stories depicted directly on the walls of some buildings. In 1985, the Fountain of Fairy Tales settled on the central square – a 4-meter column, completely covered with bas-reliefs-illustrations.

The brightest events take place here in August – during the Festival of Fairy Tales in Steinau, there is a whole “invasion” of Little Red Riding Hoods, Hansel and Gretel, gnomes, knights and princesses (and, of course, tourists), and on every corner there is a theatrical performance, puppet dances, etc.

9. Schwalmstadt – the city of Little Red Riding Hood

Schwalmstadt is the official “capital” of the fairy tale about the girl in the red cap. The town is very picturesque, the history of these places is jealously kept here – hundreds of half-timbered and other buildings of the XNUMXth-XNUMXth centuries have been perfectly preserved in the old center.

Of course, in Schwalmstadt there is also a Little Red Riding Hood Museum (or rather, a local history museum, which presents, among other things, women’s costumes – “Schwalmtrachts” that were once worn by all the women of this region – one of the elements of such an outfit was the same round red cap).

In the same region of Schwalm-Eder there is another town that considers itself the place where Little Red Riding Hood was born – Alsfeld. Alsfeld’s houses seem to have really stepped out of the pages of fairy tales, they are so bright and “toylike”. Time seems to have frozen here forever at the behest of some kind fairy, at the same time “preserving” in the very air of Alsfeld a veil of eternal, enduring magic.

In this town there is a House of Fairy Tales, on its streets you can meet fairy-tale characters at any time (both bronze, stucco and painted, and quite alive). Every summer a festival takes place here, which culminates in the procession of many fairy-tale heroes – led, of course, by Little Red Riding Hood – through all the old squares and streets of Alsfeld. (Of course, there is a similar summer holiday in Schwalmstadt).

8. Marburg – the city where the Brothers Grimm became storytellers

The beautiful ancient Marburg (founded in 800) seems to “climb” the slope of a high hill above the Lahn River, and therefore you have to constantly overcome many stairs, descents and ascents. Of course, this city has a very rich history. One of the historical facts that glorified him: the Grimm brothers studied at the University of Marburg (and it is here that their career as famous storytellers and outstanding German philologists begins).

At first, Jakob and Wilhelm wanted to become lawyers like their father. But philology and folklore still won. Interest in these two scientific subjects arose among the brothers back in the Kassel Gymnasium (about Kassel – below), and nothing managed to “kill” him. Just while studying at the university, they began to collect, record and literary process German fairy tales.

In fact, Marburg is already very much worth a thorough inspection. Here you can spend hours admiring the beautiful buildings (including half-timbered houses, the old town hall, the Church of St. Elisabeth with its high spiers and Marburg Castle).

In addition, in this city you will constantly stumble (in the most unexpected places) on “reminders” about different fairy tales: gnome caps hang on the fence, here in the grass lies a shoe forgotten by the princess, and there are seven kids, Snow White, Cinderella and others (in the form of figures or drawings).

7. Kassel – the city where the Grimm brothers studied and lived

The younger Kassel (it became a city only at the end of the 25th century) is the central point of the Fairy Tale Road. Here the Grimm brothers studied at the gymnasium, and later (after graduating from the University of Marburg) spent the most fruitful years of their lives serving in the ducal library and collecting local tales and legends. They have lived here for a total of 1812 years. By the way, it was in this city in XNUMX that their first collection, Children’s and Family Tales, was published.

In 1959, a museum dedicated to Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm (perhaps the best of all) was founded in Kassel, where, in addition to expositions about their life and work, there are separate, colorfully decorated rooms that “illustrate” the most famous fairy tales. Do you know that the Grimm brothers were the compilers of the first dictionary of the German language? True, Wilhelm, alas, managed to reach only the letter D, and Jacob died right at the workplace, describing the word Frucht (fruit).

Of course, in Kassel there is also a monument to the Brothers Grimm. In addition, there are 3 ancient castles and 3 beautiful parks that are also worth a visit.

Oh yes! Not far from Kassel there are several more “fabulous” places:

• Fritzlar (Fritzlar) – a very atmospheric medieval town (which is 900 years old) with an old fortress, surrounded by magical landscapes. Here is a high tower with almost no windows, in which, according to local residents, the beautiful Rapunzel languished – a girl with chic long braids;

• Waldeck (Waldeck) – an ancient castle over Lake Eder (in which a private hotel is now located), – here with her father (Count von Waldeck-Windulgen) lived young Margaret – the prototype of the fabulous Snow White;

• Bergfreiheit (Bergfreiheit) – a place near the town of Bad Wildungen (Bad Wildungen), which houses the Museum of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs;

• Wolfhagen (Wolfhagen) – the city where the “occurred” events of the “Seven Kids”.

6. Hannoversch Münden – a fabulous city-decoration

Perhaps more than all other places on the Fairy Tale Road, the fantastically beautiful Hann-Munden, which has preserved the bright flair of the Middle Ages, impresses. The famous German geographer Alexander Humboldt considered it one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Münden (which, by the way, has a rich 850-year history) looks like a set for a movie based on German fairy tales.

The city is located in a picturesque place where the Fulda and Werra rivers merge, forming a new river – the Weser. And here the historical center is surprisingly well preserved with “gingerbread” half-timbered houses (which are already 400-500 years old) with family coats of arms on the facades, a beautiful Renaissance town hall, craft workshops and ancient fortress walls with towers.

And on the streets of Hann-Münden, you will definitely meet organ grinders playing poignantly tender old music. Many German legends are associated with Münden.

5. Hessisch Lichtenau – the city of Lady Metelitsa

No one knows exactly where the fabulous Lady Metelitsa lives – they say that on one of the peaks between the cities of Heiligenstadt (Heiligenstadt) and Göttingen (Göttingen): on Hoher Meissner, on Hörzelberg or on some other. But, in any case, when there is thick fluffy snow, all the local kids are aware that it is Madame Metelitsa fluffing her soft and airy feather bed.

Well, the museum of Mrs. Metelitsa is located in the city of Hessisch-Lichtenau, in the building of the Old Town Hall. In addition, here you can see the monument to Lady Metelitsa, walk around the park of Lady Metelitsa (with spindles, gates and a bucket of resin, etc.), as well as find sculptures and images of other heroes of this fairy tale.

4. Göttingen – the city of Girls with a Goose

The greatest fame for the city of Göttingen (which is more than a thousand years old) was brought by its famous university, where the Grimm brothers taught for 7 years (but were fired for views that were too liberal at that time).

There are always a lot of tourists here, because Göttingen is full of attractions: ancient bridges, picturesque streets, monuments to scientists and other prominent people, as well as fairy-tale characters.

The most famous (and most beloved) of them is the fountain-monument “Girl with a Goose” (or “Goose Shepherdess”). According to an old local tradition, every university student who successfully passed the final exams is obliged to kiss the Girl with the Goose on both bronze cheeks – for good luck.

And not far from Göttingen there are several other fabulous “locations”:

• Sababurg (Sababurg) – the picturesque ruins of the castle of the XIV century, where, according to legend, Sleeping Beauty (or Princess Aurora) slept in an enchanted dream for 100 years, waiting for the kiss of a handsome prince. Now here is a private hotel with a restaurant, a theater and even a registry office, as well as a zoo and a large magnificent rose garden;

• Trendelburg (Trendelburg) – a castle of the XIII century with a 40-meter round tower, also persistently claims to be the “place of events” of the tale of Rapunzel;

• Oberweser-Oedelsheim – the “homeland” of Puss in Boots.

3. Bodenwerder – birthplace of Munchausen

Baron Hieronymus Karl Friedrich von Munchausen is almost the only hero on the Fairy Tale Road who was not glorified by the Brothers Grimm. Moreover, he is a very real person who was born and lived in the town of Bodenwerder.

And his stories, which the former captain (who served, by the way, in Russia) told his neighbors in his declining years – entertaining and completely fantastic – were recorded and published without the knowledge and consent of the baron himself (which made him very angry) Rudolf Erich Raspe.

Of course, now there is a Munchausen Museum in Bodenwerder, and throughout the city you can find monuments dedicated to him and his adventures – a baron on a flying cannonball and on a half horse, from which water flows in a stream, a baron pulling himself out of a swamp by a pigtail, etc. . And from May to October, every first Sunday of the month, a performance of Munchausen is played here.

By the way, not far from Bodenwerder is the town of Polle, where there are ruins of an old castle in which Cinderella allegedly danced at the ball.

2. Hameln – the city of the legend of the Pied Piper

It was in this ancient city (known since 851) that the eerie legend about the Pied Piper and his magic pipe originated, which was retold to us by the Brothers Grimm. At the request of the “fathers of the city”, a young man in strange colorful clothes saved Hameln from hordes of rats, luring gray creatures with the sounds of music and drowning them in the Weser River.

And after they refused to pay him, the Pied Piper took revenge on the whole city, in the same way – with the help of a pipe – taking all the children with him. There are several versions of the end of this legend: the most terrible one says that the Pied Piper also drowned the children in the Weser; the other is that he took them to a fairyland; another claims that the Pied Piper lured the children into the cave, where they still sleep.

The chronicles say that the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin is based on real events: on June 26, 1284, more than 130 children aged 4 years and older disappeared from the city at the same time. Where they went and with whom, no one knows …

Today in Hameln there is a monument to the Pied Piper, and the House of the Pied Piper, and images of rats can be found on the paving stones. And from May to September, street performances are held in the city on Sundays, where the Pied Piper takes all the children with him.

1. Bremen (Bremen) – the city of the Bremen Town Musicians

The final destination of the “Road of fairy tales” is the magnificent Bremen. And, I think, no one needs to particularly explain which fairy tale is the most popular here. The city was founded by Charlemagne himself in 787, and it certainly has a rich and interesting past, which is reflected in its fine architecture and numerous monuments. What is nice – most of them are located right in the old center, very close to each other.

On the main square of Bremen is the Town Hall and a huge statue of the legendary knight Roland (the main symbol of the city). Here, near the side entrance to the Town Hall, since 1951 there has been a bronze sculpture depicting the Bremen Town Musicians: a dog stands on a donkey, a cat is on the back of a dog, and a rooster has settled above all. In addition, images of this funny four can be found throughout the city on signs, advertisements, etc.