Small town German New Years

That's a tall order in small towns unless you belong to a club or organization.

One option comes to mind - a NYE two-hour evening dinner/party boat on the Rhine River that leaves from the small town of Rüdesheim or from Bingen across the river and includes a fireworks show.

https://shop.bingen-ruedesheimer.net/en/themenfahrten

Never done such a thing myself.

How small a town? My town of @ 7000 residents will be launching fireworks from 10pm through 2am, and that's not abnormal. but these are not professional shows, just people shooting off what the picked up at the supermarkets. The pubs usually close down around 1am, and they're crowded until after midnight. This is pretty much the same in the other places I've lived in Germany. But getting a table is pretty much a local thing, and it's usually friends, good customers, etc. We do have a couple Gasthouses, so I expect there are some tourists in town, but not enough to notice.

You should know it's usually quite cold, occasionally snowing, and not especially spectacular.

My German friends who like to party all head for the big cities, Amsterdam and Cologne are favorites. Mainz, Frankfurt, Landau, Koblenz, Trier, all these cities around the Rhineland will have major fireworks and parties. But another option we have is to go to one of the castles on the east side of the Pfalz forest, where it looks out over the vineyards, and (if it's clear) you can see the fireworks from all over the valley. Someplace like this https://hambacher-schloss.de/.

The parties are just starting to be advertised, Google "Silvester Parties" https://silvester.in/silvesterparties

My small town (pop. 12,000) has several parties in restaurants and a big gala dinner show from 7pm till 2 am with live music, dancing, food and drinks in the city hall (cultural centre). Quite common, I'd say.

Have had some fun at river towns over the years. In part due to the fireworks. Hotel and Brauerei in Miltenberg with dancing. Dinner for One play in Neuburg an der Donau at the Brauereigasthof. Heidelberg a great outdoor party near the castle (315 steps down). Not so small but Regensburg was fantastic. No dancing but others like Bad Nauheim (Elvis) and even little Sulzbach-Rosenberg near me. Hard to go wrong. I'm home mostly now and the son buys euro 1000 of fireworks! I've tried to go to some small mountain towns in Austria, but the hotels are always booked. Local Stammgast every year. The party is what you make it. Rollmops in the morning.

Thank you to all who responded. We are still in a quandary but your thoughts were quite helpful.

Fireworks are legal in German and sold the 3 days before NYE in every store and kiosk. That said, in towns with lots of wooden, half-timbered buildings, they restrict the use.

Take a look at Bad Homburg, small enough to be delightful, large enough to have restaurants, etc. The Kurhaus may have something happening. Some large hotels will have a NYE party with dancing, meal, sekt.
Alternative might be Rüdesheim or Eltville.

Rollmops..... too funny. But yes. I have learned if you buy these (as we generally do in the US) in a jar, finish the jar.
Otherwise, they will probably sit in your refrigerator for the rest of the year. And, if your refrigerator is like ours, they will get lost in there, pushed way to the back and possibly sit there for several years before they are rediscovered. They get a bit mushy after a few years.

Take a look at Bad Homburg, small enough to be delightful, large enough to have restaurants, etc.

Rich enough to spend some money for spectacular fireworks.

I like to add the unexplainably German tradition to watch "Dinner for One" in the afternoon or early evening. It is sent on 7 different public TV stations.