Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [548]
The museum houses a cannonball to illustrate the baron’s most famous tale, in which he claimed to have hitched a lift on one similar in an attempt to spy on a battlefield enemy. It also has paintings and displays of Münchhausen books in many languages. It’s all definitely more enjoyable if you first arm yourself with the English-language book, Tall Tales of Baron Münchhausen, available at the museum shop.
In the garden by the museum, the simple fountain showing the baron riding half a horse relates to one such tale, where the baron noticed his horse seemed a bit thirsty, and then realised the animal had been cut in two by a descending town gate, so the water was pouring right through it. (In the story the horse is sewn back together and lives happily ever after.)
The Tourist Information Bodenwerder ( 405 41; www.muenchhausenland.de; Münchhausenplatz 3; 9am-12.30pm & 2-5pm Mon-Fri, 10am-12.30pm Sat Apr-Oct, 10am-12.30pm Mon-Fri Nov-Mar) has information on canoe and bicycle hire in town, arranges accommodation and can answer other queries.
No trains travel to Bodenwerder; Click here for transport information. The village is small and walkable.
Return to beginning of chapter
BAD KARLSHAFEN
05672 / pop 4000
You’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stumbled into 18th-century France in this sleepy spa town. Little wonder, for Bad Karlshafen’s orderly streets and whitewashed baroque buildings were built at that time for the local earl Karl by Huguenot refugees. The town was planned with an impressive harbour and a canal connecting the Weser with the Rhine to attract trade. But the earl died before his designs were completed and all that exists today is a tiny Hafenbecken (harbour basin) trafficked only by white swans. Add the town’s Gradierwerk, a large pine-twig contraption poured with saltwater to create ‘healthy’ air, and this is the perfect place to escape the worries of the world for a few days.
Bad Karlshafen is strictly in Hesse, but it’s at the end of the Fairy-Tale Road, just across the Lower Saxony border. For transport information, Click here.
The town is small and easily covered on foot. Most of it lies on the south bank of the Weser River, with the Hafenbecken and surrounding square, Hafenplatz, at its western end. To reach the tourist office ( 999 922; www.bad-karlshafen.de, in German; Hafenplatz 8; 9am-5.30pm Mon-Fri, 9.30am-noon Sat, 2.30-5pm Sun May–mid-Oct, 9am-noon & 2-4pm Mon-Fri mid-Oct–Apr) from the Hauptbahnhof, follow the road left for a few minutes after exiting the station and cross the bridge, right, over the river. Turn right again on the other side and continue straight ahead to Hafenplatz.
While here, take a stroll around the Hafenbecken and pop into the Deutsches Huguenotten Museum (German Huguenot Museum; 1410; www.hugenottenmuseum.de, in German; Hafenplatz 9a; adult/concession €3/2.50; 9am-5pm Tue-Sun mid-Mar–Oct, 2-5pm Sat & Sun Nov-Dec), which explains the history of the Huguenots in Germany.
The Gradierwerk lies to the left as you cross the bridge.
Return to beginning of chapter
Sleeping
Am Rechten Weserufer ( 710; www.campingplatz-bad-karlshafen.de, in German; per adult/tent & car €4.50/5) This camping ground enjoys a prime position on the northern riverbank, extending south from the train station. It overlooks the town centre.
Helmarshausen DJH hostel ( 1027; helmarshausen@djh-hessen.de; Gottsbürener Strasse 15; dm under/over 27yr €18.50/21.50; ) Although Bad Karlshafen doesn’t have its own hostel, this one 3km from Hafenplatz (take bus 180 to Helmarshausen-Mitte) in the suburb of Helmarshausen is situated on the edge of the forest and the forest trails in a lovely half-timbered building.
Hotel-Pension Haus Fuhrhop ( 404; www.pension-fuhrhop.de, in German; Friedrichstrasse