Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [289]
Getting Around
The city has five car parks right outside the walls. The town centre is closed to nonresident vehicles from 11am to 4pm and 7pm to 5am weekdays, and all day at weekends; hotel guests are exempt.
Some hotels have bicycle hire, or try Fahrrad Krauss ( 3495; Wenggasse 42; per half-day/day €5/10). Clamber aboard a horse-drawn carriage at the Markt or hail one down in the street; rides of 25 to 30 minutes cost about €6 per person, but it’s worth haggling. Call 2066 for taxis.
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DINKELSBÜHL
09851 / pop 12,000
Some 40km south of Rothenburg, immaculately preserved Dinkelsbühl proudly traces its roots to a royal residence founded by Carolingian kings in the 8th century. Saved from destruction in the Thirty Years War and ignored by WWII bombers, this is arguably the Romantic Road’s quaintest and most authentically medieval halt. For a good overall impression of the town, walk along the fortified walls with their 18 towers and four gates.
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Orientation & Information
The Altstadt is five minutes’ walk west of the Busbahnhof (bus station), via the town gate called the Wörnitzer Tor. The tourist office ( 902 440; www.dinkelsbuehl.de; Altrathausplatz 14; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct, 10am-5pm daily Nov-Mar) recently moved to the new Haus der Geschichte. Dinkelsbühl is also home to the central Romantic Road tourist office ( 551 387; Segringer Strasse 19; 9am-5pm Mon-Thu 9am-1pm Fri). The post office and police station are next to the bus station.
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Sights
Near the Wörnitzer Tor, Dinkelsbühl’s history comes under the microscope at the new Haus der Geschichte (History House; 902 440; Altrathausplatz 14; adult/child €4/2; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri, 10am-5pm Sat & Sun May-Oct, 10am-5pm daily Nov-Apr) which occupies the old town hall. There’s an interesting section on the Thirty Years War and a gallery with paintings depicting Dinkelsbühl at the turn of the century.
Continue into the historical centre to find the Weinmarkt, the main square lined with a row of splendid Renaissance mansions. The corner building is the step-gabled Ratsherrntrinkstube, the erstwhile weigh house which later hosted important guests such as Emperor Karl V and King Gustav Adolf of Sweden.
Standing sentry over Weinmarkt is Münster St Georg, one of southern Germany’s purest late-Gothic hall churches. Rather austere from the outside, the interior stuns with an incredible fan-vaulted ceiling. A curiosity is the Pretzl Window donated by the bakers’ guild, in the upper section of the last window in the right aisle.
Following Dr-Martin-Luther-Strasse north past the Schranne, you’ll reach the Spitalanlage. Founded in 1280 as a hospital, this is now a seniors’ residence and home to a gallery with changing temporary shows.
Just outside the western town gate, the Museum of the 3rd Dimension ( 6336; Nördlinger Tor; adult/concession €9/7; 10am-6pm Apr-Oct, 11am-4pm Sat & Sun Nov-Mar) has three floors of holographic images, stereoscopes and 3-D imagery. The you-must-be-kidding admission includes a pair of red-green-tinted 3-D specs.
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Festivals & Events
In the third week of July, the 10-day Kinderzeche (Children’s Festival; www.kinderzeche.de) celebrates how, during the Thirty Years War, the town’s children persuaded the invading Swedish troops to spare Dinkelsbühl from a ransacking. The festivities include a pageant, re-enactments in the festival hall, lots of music and other merriment.
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Sleeping & Eating
The tourist office can help find private rooms from €30.
Campingpark ‘Romantische Strasse’ ( 7817; www.campingpark-dinkelsbuehl.de; Kobeltsmühle 6; per tent/person €6.15/4.10) This camping ground is set on the shores of a swimmable lake 1.5km northeast of Wörnitzer Tor.
DJH hostel ( 9509; www.dinkelsbuehl.jugendherberge.de; Koppengasse 10; dm €17.70; closed Nov-Feb) Dinkelsbühl’s hostel in the western Altstadt occupies a beautifully restored 15th-century granary with doll’s house qualities.