Fishing for ideas.....Hesse and Westfalen, Germany

Hessen is full of beautiful little towns and I think you are going to really enjoy this area. The Fachwerk Strasse runs through here, so there will be a lot of nice old towns to visit. Marburg is about 60 km southwest, which would be at the top of my list to visit. My husband just went to Aachen not long ago to explore a bit and really liked it. Can't wait to go myself, as I am a big Charlamagne fan. Just looking on Wiki and looking at some maps, I saw dozens of towns I would like to go visit. I doubt if you will go wrong with any of them. Bad Wildungen looks pretty too. http://marburg.de/detail/24695 Website of Palaces and Gardens in Hessen
http://www.schloesser-hessen.de/englisch/index.htm

I misread your post the first time, and I thought you were looking for places to go fishing.... Well, since I live in Hessen (as does Jo), perhaps I can make a few suggestions, but first, what kind of stuff are you looking for? Small towns to stroll around? Wine? Hiking? Museums? Castles? You can find them all here, but give me some more specifics about what you want to do. What I have found is that this region has many of the same things that some of the more well-known destinations boast. The biggest difference, though, is the lack of foreign tourists.

Sorry, Tom, and to you all for being unclear. You would think after all the responses I've made to others asking them to be specific, I'd remember to do so myself! I'm a historian by training and so love history sites of any era. My wife loves architecture, culture and fine dining. We both spend most of our European trips in museums, castles, and theaters. Big cities and small towns are both appealing. We enjoy wine and beer. I don't plan to spend long in the towns where my ancestors lived. Most of the research about them will be done in advance by mail, and the visits to the towns will be simply to see the places in person and perhaps meet and thank the people we are writing to who have helped us find records. I imagine this trip requiring a car, so I have freedom to move as I please. Right now I am just collecting ideas of interesting sites to see along the way as we make an arc through the Netherlands (where my wife has family living) into northwestern Germany and down towards Frankfurt. I find many guidebooks are very weak on this area. I read the postings here each day and know you all have a wealth of information on the area, so if there is anything of any type you think is interesting and should be considered, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks to you all in advance! Matt

If you are interested in recent (WW2) history there are a number of interesting places to visit along the Dutch/German, Belgian/German border and along the Rhine. The Rhine being the last geographical barrier to the invasion of Germany by allied forces. The Ludendorff bridge at Remagen on the Rhine immediately south of Bonn, captured after fierce fighting on March 7th 1945 was a strategic turning point in the war as it was the only remaining bridge giving access to Germany's heartland. The American 9th armoured division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its capture. A large sign put up on one of the bridge towers by the 9th division read; CROSS THE RHINE WITH DRY FEET COURTESY OF THE 9TH ARMD DIVISION and can now be seen on display at the Patton Museum at Fort Knox. 28 US army engineers were killed whilst trying to strengthen the bridge and 93 were injured, many more died fighting for it's capture. Although the bridge no longer spans the river, (it collapsed on March 17th as a result of weakening from continued bombing attacks by the Germans in an attempt to prevent invasion) the towers still stand as monument and now house a museum. The whole experience was very moving for me even though the musuem was shut! Perhaps all the more moving because we were the only people there in the twilight and the stark contrast of the imposing but totally useless towers with the slow moving Rhine in the background and the ghosts of those who had died both defending and attacking made it one of the most memorable places for me. Worth a moments contemplation if you're in the area.

Matt, If your interests also include that of Prussian history, depending on your time constaint and if you are motorised, (ie., how far you want to drive in northwest Ger.), I would suggest going to Duisburg and Wesel for the appropriate museums. Also, you might want to see in Soest/Westfalen and Wesel the German military cemeteries (Kriegsgräberstätte), which would definitely be on my list to visit in addition to the Prussian Museen in Wesel and Duisburg. As suggested, I recommend going to Marburg an der Lahn, a lovely and historical city, see the old town and Elisabethskirche. If you're interested in seeing the Hermannsdenkmal, the monument errected for the victory over the Romans, go to Detmold/Westf. I saw this in 1984, how the whole thing is balanced is interesting.

If you are going to Bad Wildungen, go a little farther north to the Harz Mountains, an island of pine trees on the otherwise flat plains of northern Germany. The Harz has the Brocken, the highest mountain (~3800 ft) in northern Germany, steeped in witchcraft and a Stasi listening post during the second WW. A steam powered, narrow gauge RR will take you to the top.

OK, here's a few of the towns I like in my immediate area. Many of the towns on the Bergstraße are definitely worth a quick visit. These are very old towns that sit at the feet of the Odenwald mountains. Lots of old fachwerk buildings, impressive churches, and usually a castle overlooking them from the mountains. The nicest town on the route, in my opinion, is Heppenheim. Most of the old centers are pedestrian only, so you won't see much if you only do a drive-by. You'll need to park the car and walk around a little. Although it's not on the Bergstraße, Lorsch also has a wonderful town square and Rathaus. The historical highlight of this town is the abbey complex from the Carolingian period. There's some wonderful drives through the Odenwald National Park. I went to visit Michelstadt for the first time last week, which is like a smaller version of Rothenburg (with an incomplete wall). There wasn't a whole lot to see here, but the drive from Bennsheim to Michelstadt was beautiful- although it helped that I drove on a rare winter sunny day. I passed through a stunning town called Lindenfels, which isn't in any guidebook that I have seen. There's a castle rising from a hill in the center of town, and the whole town is surrounded by mountains. There's also a "Niebelungstraße" that runs through the Odenwald, through the Rhine-Neckar valley to Worms. I'm not sure exactly what this is (the only references I've found in guidebooks or online are in German, a language I'm still struggling with), but I assume it may have something to do with locations named in the medieval Niebelungenlied. This epic poem is to Germans what the Iliad is to Greeks. Jo recommended Seligenstadt to me, and that's also a very pretty fachwerk town. They had a very nice Christmas market there. I also have my own set of seldom-visited areas of Belgium, but I have to go now...

There are a couple of places that aren't in any of the guidebooks, but that I have mentioned a few times on the Helpline. They are located in Hessen, but not really near Bad Wildungen. Büdingen is about the best as it can get and I really recommend visiting here and staying overnight. If Rick ever comes here, Rothenburg will be forgotten. It is about an hour on the train outside of Frankfurt. Idstein in the Taunus mountains is another beautiful town on the Fachwerk route. If you go here, stop into the Union church for a look at one of the most unusual ceilings. 30 oil paintings done in the late 1600's, in the Ruben style make up the ceiling. Great Hexen Turm too. This town executed 70 + witches in the 1600's. Tom already mentioned Seligenstadt, which has one of the largest, and well preserved old abbeys in Hessen, founded in the early 800's. The Taunus mountains are lovely and contain several towns that might be interesting to you. Kronberg has an original Staufen castle built in the 1200's and lots of fachwerk houses. I would stay here overnight too. Bad Homburg has the Kaiser Palace, well worth touring, and the Saalburg, a reconstructed Roman fort that is fascinating. Lots of Roman boundaries ruins around here. Glauburg has a fantastic Celtic burial mound of a prince that I would take extra time to go visit. If in Frankfurt, do visit the neighborhood of Höchst. Has one of the oldest churches in Germany, set up on the original city walls and with lots of fachwerk houses, narrow cobblstone lanes, plus a schloss and a palace.

These are all great suggestions, and my thanks to everyone who contributed. As I suspected, there is much to see and do that is not being covered in the guidebooks (Rick: Are you listening? ) I have much to think about now, but one thing is certain: I think I need to save my vacation leave and make the trip a three-week visit rather than a two-week visit. Thanks to all!

"As I suspected, there is much to see and do that is not being covered in the guidebooks (Rick: Are you listening? )" Please, no! If he writes it, the Rickniks will come. And then the souvenir stands start popping up. Then the restaurants start changing their menus... I rather like the non-touristy aspect of this region and I hope it stays that way.

Fair enough, Tom. At least keep it pristine until I get there!
Cheers, Matt

I rather doubt the Rickniks will go en masse to Westfalen, the lower Rhine area, Lower Saxony, or even Holstein and Brandenburg, and RS will continue to give the rest of Germany outside of Upper Bavaria scant attention. They stay primarily south of Frankfurt, as all Germans know. Matt - If you're interested in art, the special art exhibition, once every 5 years, "Dokumenta" is on in Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe in Nordhessen in 2012. I saw part of this once in 2007.

Since you got already a lot of ideas for sites to see in Hessen I jump in with my favourite suggestion for Westphalia - Muenster. If you are interested in history that is a great place to visit. Check out their website: www.muenster.de I lived there for 8 years and still visit pretty much every year. So I'll be happy to answer any questions. Detmold was mentioned already. I strongly recommend the Open Air museum there, the largest in Germany: http://www.lwl.org/LWL/Kultur/LWL-Freilichtmuseum-Detmold/museum/