I would like to take my family on a 2 week trip to Germany. My ancestors are from Markenkirchen, in the southeast, near the border of the Czech Republic. I'd love to take my family on a partial river cruise as well as visit Prague or Vienna in addition to seeing Markenkirchen and that part of Germany. What would your recommendations be?
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8163 posts
I would suggest you fly into Vienna and visit for a few days. Then take a train up to Prague, where you can visit for another few days. When you leave Prague, rent a car to see the countryside around your ancestral home. It appears to be a 120 mile drive by the shortest way.
And I believe the city you're looking for is actually shown on maps now as Markneukirchen. This appears to be a pretty small town, as the hotels in the area are 5 to 10 miles away. This is truly seeing Europe off the beaten path. You can return the rental car back in Prague and fly home from there.
Posted by
OP
New Braintree, MA, United States
4 posts
Thank you both for your suggestions. I think I'll try to work both into my itinerary. Many thanks, Claire
Posted by
Germany
868 posts
I'm sure it's Markneukirchen in Saxony, far away from Vienna and the Danube. Markneukirchen lies in the so called "Musikwinkel", or music corner, a region with a long tradition in making music instruments. Markneukirchen is small, but offers 3(!) museums about music instruments. The historic region itself is called Vogtland and quite small. During the Cold War this region was seperated by the Iron Curtain, that's why the Vogtland is somewhat forgotten. Popular sights are Osterburg castle: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osterburg_%28Weida%29 (sorry, only in German) the castles in Greiz:
http://www.greiz.de/city-of-greiz/tourism/sight-seeings/historical-city-tour.html and the Göltzsch Viaduct: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ltzsch_Viaduct The Vogland is very green and offers several spas. It also borders on Thuringia, Saxony, Bohemia and Franconia, which makes it perfect as a base to explore these regions. Very close are the famous Bohemian spa towns of Karlovy Vary, Marianske Lazne and Frantiskovy Lazne, and Cheb and Loket, two interesting emdieval towns. On the Franconian side you can visit Bayreuth, Kronach, Bamberg and Kulmbach. In Thuringia Saalfeld (town and the Saalfeld Fairy Grottoes), Rudolstadt, Weimar and Erfurt. Most sights in Saxony are a bit farther away, like the already mentioned Seiffen (2h by car). Seiffen can be done in combination with Annaberg-Buchholz, a miners town with one of the most beautiful Gothic hall churches in Germany. Other popular Saxon sights, like Dresden, Freiberg or Meissen, are reachable in less than 2 hours (on a very busy Autobahn). Edit: a possible itinerary could look like this: Berlin - river cruise from Potsdam to Prague on the Elbe river - train back to Dresden, rent a car - drive to Markneukirchen - Erfurt/Weimar - Wartburg castle - Frankfurt