Germany - The Tiny Medieval Town of Alsfeld
Alsfeld, A Medieval Town in Germany
Just outside of Frankfurt, Germany is the tiny town of Alsfeld. This city has been in existence before the year 1069, the first year it was mentioned in official documents. The history is evident everywhere you look in this town, including the town hall (ca 1250) pictured above.
This archway is part of the bottom floor of the town hall. Just around the corner, one of the local restaurants serves patrons en plein air at tiny little tables nestled up to the ancient building. Throughout the city, the unique cobblestone paving still exists, reminding one of times long past.
The town hall is not alone in its half-timbered construction. As you can see in the image above, the streets of Alsfeld are quite literally lines with homes built in the same style, and at around the same time.
Not all the half-timbered houses are in such good shape. This one seems to be held up largely by props. While many building in the town were at some point scheduled for demolition, the townsfolk in centuries past banded together and demanded that they be preserved instead. Alsfeld has since latched on to their heritage and embraced the idea of preserving the medieval town.
Wonderfully ancient details, such as are evident on this giant wooden door, can be seen throughout the town. The attention to detail of the original craftspeople is outstanding, and the fact that it is so well preserved today makes their efforts all the more impressive.
One way in which Alsfeld embraces their heritage is through continual celebration of the stories by the Brothers Grimm. This wooden statue sits just outside the doorway to a house styled as Rapunzel's Tower. The home even has a lock of hair hanging from an upper window!
Alsfeld has all of the shops one might expect in a traditional medieval town, including the one pictured above. Without doing a google search for the translation, it looks like it might be a butcher's shop. Alsfeld really does have it all, so for your next trip to Medieval Germany, consider stopping by. Just don't come on the weekend if you're looking to do any shopping. All the stores will be closed.
Thanks for exploring this quaint town with me. Join me next time for more adventures through Germany! To book your own trip to a unique place, find me at http://travellifeservicesllc.com/.
Love it. I lived in Frankfurt for 2 years and never been. I paid a visit to Rottenburg Ab de Teuer south of Frankfurt which is beautiful also.
I hear there are many lovely towns in the area. Marburg is also neat, and rather close.
Really cool and what a neat and interesting place! Love the old buildings.
It was fun walking through it. It was at times eerie because it really felt like we were lost in the past.
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Woot! Thanks!
Looks like a nice town - I'd never even heard of it.
It was interesting, that's for sure. We thought it was a little closer to our destination, but were pleasantly surprised once we got there. It's worth an overnight trip.
There are a few such towns over here, too. And they get too little credit. I shall put them on my list of topics. You can't easily run out of stuff to write about if you write about Austria. I knew that before but I'm starting to realise the actual scope only now that I've already written a couple of articles. o.O
Yes! I was thinking that I would write one or two posts about each place I've visited while in Europe, but each post would be way too long if i tried to include everything I wanted to write about.
I've settled for taking notes and planning to go in depth when I return to the States.
Yay, looking forward!
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