Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [634]
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Orientation
Most attractions run north–south parallel to the western bank of the firth. The central bus station is across from the firth, which extends along Norderhofenden (becoming Schiffbrücke). The pedestrian zone is just inland; following Rathausstrasse (adjacent to the tourist office) for one block west (uphill) brings you to the main drag, whose name changes from Holm at the southern end to Grosse Strasse in the centre and Norderstrasse to the north.
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Information
Flensburg tourist office ( 909 0920; www.flensburg-tourismus.de; Europa-Haus, Rathausstrasse 1; 9am-6pm Mon-Fri year-round, 10am-4pm Sat Jun-Aug, 10am-2pm Sat May & Sep) Across from the northwestern corner of the central bus station.
Post office (Schiffbrückstrasse 2)
Zuckerspeicher ( 840 1188; Grosse Strasse 69; per hr €3; 10am-8pm Mon-Sat, noon-7pm Sun) Internet access.
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Sights
A Flensburg highlight, literally as well as figuratively, is the hilltop Museumsberg Flensburg (Municipal Museum; 852 956; www.museumsberg.flensburg.de, in German; Museumsberg 1; adult/child/family €4/1.50/8, extra for special exhibitions; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, 10am-4pm Tue-Sun Nov-Mar). The museum is divided into the Heinrich-Sauermann-Haus and the Hans-Christiansen-Haus. The first building contains a collection of rooms and furniture from Schleswig-Holstein history, including a remarkably painted cembalo (early piano covered in murals; room 25). In the second building, you’ll find excellent art nouveau works by Flensburg-born painter Hans Christiansen, as well as an Emil Nolde room.
Combination tickets (adult/child/family €5/2.50/10) are good for both Museumsberg Flensburg and the Schiffahrtsmuseum (Maritime Museum; 852 970; www.schiffahrtsmuseum.flensburg.de; Schiffbrücke 39; adult/child/family €4/1.50/8, extra for special exhibitions; 10am-5pm Tue-Sun Apr-Oct, 10am-4pm Tue-Sun Nov-Mar), which has a small rum museum (included in admission) in the basement.
Flensburg’s other main highlight is checking out the town’s charming Kaufmannshöfe (Merchants’ Courtyards). These date from the 18th century, when Danish-ruled Flensburg provided supplies to the Danish West Indies (St Thomas, St Jan and St Croix) in exchange for sugar and rum. Designed to make it easier to load goods into ships, they typically consisted of a tall warehouse on the harbourside, behind which was a series of low workshops, wrapped around a central courtyard and leading to the merchant’s living quarters.
Free town maps from the tourist office mark nearly every Hof (courtyard), or ask for its Käpitans Weg brochure (also free), which follows a captain’s route around town as he was preparing for a trip.
Just off Grosse Strasse 24 is a courtyard that houses the attractive Westindien-speicher (West Indian Warehouse). If you continue south along Grosse Strasse it becomes Holm, where at No 17 you’ll also find the Borgerforeningen Hof.
The prettiest courtyards can be found off picturesque Rote Strasse (continue south along Holm through Südermarkt). While here, you have a chance to buy rum at Weinhaus Braasch ( 141 600; www.braasch-rum.de, in German; Rote Strasse 26-28; 10am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat).
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Activities
Today, when most of us fly across borders, or whiz across by road, rail or sea, it’s fun to have the opportunity to cross one on foot. Just 6.5km north of Flensburg’s city centre you can hike (or cycle) across the Schusterkate. Northern Europe’s smallest border post sits on the only bridge connecting Germany and Denmark. It’s unmanned following the open-border Schengen Agreement, but as with all cross-border travel, you’re still required to carry your passport.
The Schusterkate is part of the 74km-long Gendarmenpfad trail, which starts west of Flensburg in the otherwise uninspiring Danish truck-stop town of Padborg. From Padborg, it heads east to the Shusterkate and then follows the coastline to Høruphav, Denmark. Ask the tourist office