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Imagine sitting outside the oldest Gasthaus in Germany as you quaff Faust beer, named after the great German poet Goethe’s masterpiece, surrounded by wood-timbered houses dating back to the medieval ages and saying to yourself, “Man, this is what I always dreamed Germany would be like.”
It’s not a dream or a picture from a magazine, but a reality in Miltenberg am Main, just two hours by car across some of the most beautiful countryside in Germany.
Miltenberg nestles in the northwest corner of Franconia, the upper part of Bavaria, just south of Frankfurt, east of Darmstadt and north of Heidleberg.
Because the town straddles a huge south-bending loop in the Main River, visitors also can enjoy cruises on the river as part of a day-trip’s activities. Some call the Main the “forgotten river” because cruise companies push Rhine River trips, but the Main offers even more picturesque villages that promise a less-industrial, less-polluted and slower flow of life.
Surrounding vineyards cover the slopes that provide such wine varieties as Silvaner and Muller-Thurgau in the famed Frankenwein bocksbeutel.
In Miltenberg, a UNESCO protected city, the gasthaus/hotel der Riesen offers many regional food specialties as well as their prize-winning Faust beer and seasonal beers.
Up and down the pedestrian Laufpassage, visitors find small bakeries, kabob shops and coffee cafes for snacks, all situated in wonderfully restored Medieval buildings painted in bright colors and adorned with religious icons and statues.
On a recent Sunday, children in the park along the Main embankment fed bread crumbs to begging swans who seemed to pose for photographers.
Sgt. 1st Class David Worrell of Wiesbaden Air Field and his wife, Anne, stood back from their laughing children and shot photos.
Asked if they had visited Miltenberg before, Sergeant Worrell said, “Yeah, this is our third time here. We’ve always wanted some shots of the kids feeding the swans, so when my parents came to visit, we took the cruise up river to Wertheim where my dad once served in a missile unit. Now we’re
just wandering around to get the pictures we missed before. This town’s a photographer’s dream.”
Gasthaus der Riesen
Gasthaus der Riesen offers rooms as well as its fabulous German food. Imagine telling friends that you once slept in the oldest Gasthaus in all of Germany. However, singles or families can find less expensive alternatives as “Zimmer frei,” or rooms available, signs appear up and down almost every street in the city center. A scenic way to experience Miltenberg, including a ride up to the small castle that overlooks the city, involves hiring a horse-drawn buggy for the 25 minute “Stadtrundfahrt,” or city tour.
For antique collectors, the old city hall provides space for special sales by the many antique dealers of the area who offer full sets of classic Rosenthal porcelain, Kaiser figurines, and hard-to-find beer mugs from closed-down breweries. If someone wants to buy a horse buggy to park in the front driveway back in Kaiserslautern, it’s there too.
Miltenberg am Main is the dream come true for the photographer, for the hunter of antique bargains and for the prefect weekend day trip with friends and family. And, the two hour drive becomes an enjoyable part of enjoying Germany at its classic best.
