Romantic Road in Germany
Fuggerhäuser
The Fuggerhäuser (Fugger houses) is a complex of houses built for the Fugger family of businessmen. From 1512 to 1515 Jakob Fugger the Younger built two linked houses on the Via Claudia (now Maximilianstraße) near the wine market, one as a town-house and the other as a warehouse. He designed them himself, based on notes he had taken on his travels in Italy. The secular building was the first Renaissance style building c ...
Founded: 1512 |
Location:
Augsburg, Germany
Augsburg Cathedral
The Cathedral of Augsburg is perhaps located on the site of a pre-existing 4th-century building, not necessarily a church, whose foundations have been excavated beneath the current level; the site is included within the ancient Roman walls of Augusta Vindelicorum. The first known church in the place is documented from 822, but dating to the late 8th century reigns of bishops Wikterp and Simpert. The edifice was damaged b ...
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Augsburg, Germany
Fuggerei
The Fuggerei is the world's oldest social housing complex still in use. It is a walled enclave within the city of Augsburg. It takes it name from the Fugger family and was founded in 1516 by Jakob Fugger the Younger as a place where the needy citizens of Augsburg could be housed. By 1523, 52 houses had been built, and in the coming years the area expanded with various streets, small squares and a church. The gates were lo ...
Founded: 1516 |
Location:
Augsburg, Germany
Weikersheim Palace
Weikersheim Palace (Schloss Weikersheim) was built in the 12th century, however the exact year is not known. The palace was the traditional seat of the princely family of Hohenlohe. In the 16th century, Count Wolfgang II inherited Weikersheim after a division of estates and made it his main home. He converted the moated castle into a magnificent Renaissance palace, whose splendid rooms have been preserved with their furni ...
Founded: 1586 |
Location:
Weikersheim, Germany
Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg
The Museum im Kulturspeicher Würzburg is a municipal art museum opened in 2002 within a converted river-side warehouse that provides 3,500 m² of exhibit space in 12 rooms. It contains two distinct collections: the municipal art collection, founded in 1941 as the Städtische Gallerie and originally located in Hofstraße; and the Peter C. Ruppert Collection of European concrete art from World War II to th ...
Founded: 2002 |
Location:
Würzburg, Germany
St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey
From the late 16th century onward, the Abbey of St. Ulrich and St Afra was one of the 40-odd self-ruling imperial abbeys of the Holy Roman Empire and, as such, was a virtually independent state. The territory of that state was very fragmented: the abbey of St. Ulrich and St Afra proper enclaved within the Free Imperial City of Augsburg, and several small territories disseminated throughout the region. At the time of its d ...
Founded: 10th century |
Location:
Augsburg, Germany
Harburg Castle
Harburg Castle is one of the jewels of the German Romantic Road. Wonderfully preserved, the castle sits high on a hill and overlooks the town for which it"s named. It is unclear when the first structure was erected, but the castle was first mentioned in a document in 1150. Harburg was built by the former Hohenstaufen emperors of Germany in the 11th or 12th century. In 1295, the castle was transferred to the Count of ...
Founded: 11th century |
Location:
Harburg, Germany
Pilgrimage Church Käppele
Käppele is the commonly used name for the church Wallfahrtskirche Mariä Heimsuchung in Würzburg. It was built following plans by Balthasar Neumann in the mid-18th century in Rococo style. It serves as a pilgrimage church and until 2014 was attended to by members of the Capuchins. The name Käppele is derived from the German word Kapelle (chapel). Originally, a local fisher erected a pietà in what was then a vineyard ...
Founded: 1748 |
Location:
Würzburg, Germany
Bad Mergentheim Castle
The castle of Mergentheim was the residence of the Grand Masters of German Teutonic Order from 1525-1809. In 1996 the museum was opened with around 3000 m² of exhibition space. The 800-year history of the German Teutonic Order from 1190 to the present day is illustrated with objects, works of art and models. The castle has a rich architectural history. There are Romanesque structural elements (residential quarter co ...
Founded: 1525 |
Location:
Bad Mergentheim, Germany
Füssen Franciscan Monastery
The Franciscan Monastery was inaugurated in 1628, but damaged already in 1632 by the Swedish army. The restoration took place in the late 1600 and the new wing dates from 1712. The church of St. Stephen was built between 1763-1767. The monastery is the official end of the Romantic Road – a sign is available for photographic proof of a visit. However, the main reason to visit is the fine views that can be enjoyed fr ...
Founded: 1628 |
Location:
Füssen, Germany
Steingaden Abbey
Dedicated to John the Baptist, the Steingaden abbey was founded in 1147 as a Premonstratensian house by Welf VI, third son of Henry the Black, Duke of Bavaria, and brother of Duke Henry the Proud. The first monks and their abbot came from the Premonstratensian Rot an der Rot Abbey. The Romanesque abbey church was dedicated in 1176. Between 1470 and 1491 the abbey buildings were refurbished under Abbot Caspar Suiter in the ...
Founded: 1147/1663 |
Location:
Steingaden, Germany
Dinkelsbühl Castle
The castle of the Teutonic Order in Dinkelsbühl was originally called "Tewtscher Hof" (around 1350) and situated next to the almshouse. When the town was extended in 1390 it was rebuilt in its actual position. Newer building was built in Baroque style (1764). The valuable Rocaille cartouche on the gable and rococo chapel with intricate stucco are worth of seeing.
Founded: 1764 |
Location:
Dinkelsbühl, Germany
Feuchtwangen Old Town
Worth seeing in Feuchtwangen is the historic old town with its marketplace that is described as 'Franconia"s ballroom'. Also worthy of note is the former Benedictine monastery church with its Romanesque cloister, in which the craftsmen"s workshops are housed. Also, a fair amount of the town"s old wall still stands, dating from about 1400. Of the town"s original three gates, only one, the Uppe ...
Founded: |
Location:
Feuchtwangen, Germany
Rottenbuch Abbey Church
Rottenbuch Abbey was founded as an Augustinian monastery in 1073 on land granted by Duke Welf I of Bavaria. The Abbey church was constructed between 1085 and 1125 in the Romanesque style. The design of a crossing transept and free-standing tower is unusual for a Bavarian church. Rottenbuch was a center of papal loyalty during the Investiture Controversy. Under the patronage of Emperor Louis the Bavarian in the 14th centur ...
Founded: 1073 |
Location:
Rottenbuch, Germany
Tauberbischofsheim Castle
Tauberbischofsheim town came under control of the Prince-Bishops of Mainz in the 13th century and it was they who built the former castle at the top part of the central historic part of the town. The castle is now given over to a Regional Museum and the old watchman"s tower and living quarters, the Türmersturm, is the symbol of the town.
Founded: 13th century |
Location:
Tauberbischofsheim, Germany
Schongau Old Town
The important strategic position of Schongau on a defensible hill above the Lech means that it has a very long history of settlement. Finds from the Bronze Age have been made in the area, along with Roman remains. Schongau is surrounded by fortified walls built in the Middle Ages - parts of them can still be walked around - and those fortifications were built to protect the wealth created by its position on the river and ...
Founded: |
Location:
Schongau, Germany
Donauwörth Abbey
The Holy Cross Abbey in Donauwörth was founded around 1040 by Mangold I von Werd as a Benedictine convent. In the early 12th century the convent moved to the western edge of the city to the highest point insode the city walls. After buildings were damaged during the Thirty Years" War, the abbey church wa rebuilt. In 1770-1780 it was expanded to the Rococo style. The monastery was dissolved in 1803. The church r ...
Founded: c. 1040 |
Location:
Donauwörth, Germany
Schillingsfürst Castle
The Baroque castle of Schillingsfürst was first mentioned in the year 1000. It was owned by Hohenlohe family since 1300s. However, the castle was destroyed by Ludwig of Bayern in 1316. The next castle was destroyed in 1525 and third one again in 1632 in Thirty Years" War. The current castle was built by Prince Karl Albrecht Schillingsfürst in 1753-1793. Today there is a museum.
Founded: 1753-1793 |
Location:
Schillingsfürst, Germany
Friedberg Castle
The Friedberg castle was subsequently built to serve as a border security and customs post for the Duchy of Bavaria and Swabia, but put the town in opposition to the free city of Augsburg. It was built between 1257-1264 by Duke Ludwig II. The castle was the cause of the first burning of Friedberg by Augsburg in 1396. The town was subject to the many frequent wars between Swabia, Bavaria and Augsburg. A revival in the to ...
Founded: 1257 |
Location:
Friedberg, Germany
Herrgottskirche
Herrgottskirche (Church of Our Lord) was built in the mid-14th century after a farmer is said to have found an undamaged communion host in the field that he was ploughing. It is most famous for its wooden altar by the woodworker Tilman Riemenschneider which is considered as one of the most valuable examples of religious altar carving in the Middle Ages.
Founded: c. 1350 |
Location:
Creglingen, Germany