From the River Elbe to

the Weser Hills

German
Half-Timbered
House Road
A complete overview
of the regional routes

From the Meadows of

the Elbe Valley to the
Harz Mountains
From the Harz
Mountains to the
Thuringian Forest
From the Weser Hills
via North Hesse to the
Vogelsberg Mountains and
the Spessart Uplands
From the Lahn Valley
to the Rheingau Region
From the River Rhine
to the River Main and
the Odenwald Forest
From the River
Neckar to the
Black Forest and
Lake Constance

Welcome
Dear Guests of the German Half-Timbered House Road,
were pleased to welcome you here. Youll see its worth your while. Enjoy the
fascination of timber frame construction on a more than 2800 km long route.
The German Half-Timbered House Road, founded in 1990, runs meanwhile
from the river Elbe to the Black Forest through six federal states (Lower
Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Hesse, Thuringia, Bavaria and Baden Wuerttemberg) and is divided into seven regional routes.
In the meantime, nearly 100 timber frame towns have joined up under the
slogan Half-Timbered unites in order to coordinate their marketing. The
German Half-Timbered House Road doesnt only join unique landscapes,
historic sites and carefully restored monuments but above all the people
who live and work there.
Health resorts and festival locations alternate with nature parks and
romantic nooks. Cider and Bock beer were invented here and hardly any
other tourist route can offer its guests such a variety of culinary delights.
Germanys northern most vineyard, the biggest Christmas candle in the
world and Germanys only Ivory Museum are all located on the German
Half-Timbered House Road.
Many events, festivals and markets offer the visitor variety and entertainment throughout the whole year.
Whether you travel by car, by bicycle, by train or in a motorhome
discover the old craft and living traditional customs on this historical trail.
We would like to invite you to a tour full of culture and adventure along
the German Half-Timbered House Road.
If you need any further information, please contact our ofce in Fulda
(address overleaf).
Enjoy reading this brochure and planning your trip.
Head Ofce
German Half-Timbered House Road

Timber Frame in Germany

Timber frame towns and villages are still characteristic of many landscapes
in Germany. More than 2.5 million half-timbered buildings are the apparel
and pride of communities and proprietors.
The base for half-timbered building was timber. The characteristic features
of wood, climatic conditions and the art of carpenters are crucial for the
dimensions and shapes of half-timbered houses.
Timber frame structures are a skeleton construction method which saves
wood with self-supporting timber and curtain struts lled with clay or
bricks: a highly ecological, environmentally sustainable and aesthetic
building method.
The half-timbered buildings in Northern Germany are essentially based on
the Lower German hangar-house where people, animals and the harvest
were united under one roof. Central German timber frame is characterized
by the triple-zone Ern-house with open eaves which served primarily as a
dwelling. The timber frame in Southern Germany was developed from the
Alemannic oor-type building, a precursor building method with wide
column positions.
With half-timbered houses we are stepping into the way of life and
buildings of past centuries. Here we encounter living evidence with an
abundance of shapes, apparel and symbolism, e.g. Andrews cross (the
other cross of the Germanic people) which in Christian times became
St. Andrews cross commemorating holy St. Andrew who was nailed to a
slanted cross. Savages as well as fanned rosettes, ared and straight
rhombuses but also a large variety of trees of life to Christian symbolism
all belong to the apparel of half-timbered buildings constructed in
traditional craftsmanship.
But timber frame constructions are not only individual jewels: streets,
squares, even entire timber frame places are characterized by incomparable town- or villagescapes well worth being protected as historical
monuments.
Professor Manfred Gerner

German Half-Timbered House Road Timber Frame Styles

Lower German Timber Frame

is characterized by two- and four-column constructions for

large hangar-houses with a central hall accessible from the
street. The ground plan of these houses consists of three
naves. Originally, the side naves were sheds, the central nave
was the hall and the bedrooms faced the garden. Especially in
towns, the basic ground plan was changed early whereby the
typical Utluchten developed.

Central German Timber Frame

is spread in all medium-altitude mountains as far as the

Neckar in the south, to Poland in the east and to the French
Alsace in the west. Mostly, the gables of these houses face
the street and the latter are divided into zones: the
parlour is in front, then come the kitchen and stairway
and the bedrooms are in the back. Sheds, the crop storage
and the bakehouse were mostly in separate buildings and in
larger settlements the houses were adapted to urban
conditions.

Upper German Timber Frame

In the region between the river Neckar and Lake Constance,

Black Forest and Bohemian Forest an independent type of house
with wide column positions and double frame beams developed
from the Alemannic oor-type building in 14th century. In 15th
and 16th century more and more construction methods were
adopted from Central Germany until the basic contruction
methods became identical about 1600.

Andrews Cross

As a sign for multiplication, our early ancestors, the Germanic

people, used the other cross which we still use in calculators.
In Christian times, the other cross was re-interpreted as
St. Andrews cross commemorating holy St. Andrew. In the
ared form, St. Andrews cross is also called redog.

Fanned Rosette

Grudger Heads

Especially in Lower Germany, the fanned rosette appears as

an ornamental motif in the rst third of 16th century and
adopts a dominant role as breast apparel in the following
centuries. The origin is supposed to be the shape of a shell
but also symbols of the sun.

In the Middle Ages, one of the evils against which one had to
defend oneself was not only the evil eye but also envy.
Therefore Grudger Heads, frowning heads or gures sticking
out their tongues to grudgers, were xed on the front of
half-timbered houses.

447 km
From the River Elbe to the Weser Hills
The variety of landscapes of the regional
stretch from the
River Elbe to the
Weser Hills could
hardly be any greater.

Stade

Nienburg

Stadthagen
Bad Essen

On this stretch a
tour through the
most diverse scenic
landscapes of Lower
Saxony awaits you.

Beginning at the
North Sea Coast via
the North German
Einbeck
Lowlands with the
Northeim
Central Weser
Region, the Leine Valley to the Weser Hills, you are welcomed by towns
that all have an independent timber frame character. Not only the
different building materials available are responsible for this.
Alfeld

The various cultures of coastal inhabitants, people living along rivers and
in uplands are reected in the buildings themselves.
The towns are characterized by century-old crafts and became known
beyond the German borders through their trading and beer brewing
traditions.
Many places are the scenes of century-old customs, legends and myths
that come alive again in medieval town festivals.
Exploration by bicycle, best from south to north, is particularly recommendable on this part of the German Half-Timbered House Road. The
cyclist will reach the mouth of the River Elbe from the hilly south of
Lower Saxony without any larger slopes travelling along secondary roads
and country lanes.

537 km
From the Meadows of the Elbe Valley to the Harz Mountains
Bitte lesen!

Bleckede

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Stammdatei, in der die Deutschlandkarte
hinterlegt ist.

Hitzacker

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Dannenberg
Luechow

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Danke,
Andreas

Salzwedel

Celle

Koenigslutter
Wolfenbuettel
Bockenem

Hornburg
Osterwieck
Halberstadt

From the River Elbe

up to the rivulet Hahle
you can nd manifold
landscapes: be it the
Wendland Heath, the
Margravate Altmark,
the Lueneburg Heath,
the Brunswick region,
the Harz Mountains or
the Eichsfeld region.
You will encounter
century-old timber
frame at every turn.

Wernigerode

The action of dukes,

princes and kings has
Duderstadt
produced sites with
outstanding evidence of European cultural history. Experience places that
document building history as in a vivid textbook.
Osterode

Bitte lesen!

Owners and inhabitants as well as towns and communities have perceived

the value of historic half timbered work as individual creations of
craftsmanship and as unrepeatable contributions to the development of
towns and villages. Timber frame is valued and fondly maintained.

Um Streckennderungen schnel
durchfhren zu knnen, nutzt b
Stammdatei, in der die Deutsch
hinterlegt ist.
Museums of the most diverse kind, old treasures and new design-icons will
thrill you. From the cathedral treasure in Halberstadt via the round villages
of the Wendland Heath, from the Lower Saxon stud farm to the Book of
Gospels of Henry the Lion, from the Museum of Mechanical Music
Instruments via the Brocken in the Harz Mountains look forward to
pulsating life, culture and nature.

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Take your time and enjoy the secluded patios, the cosy restaurants and
cafs and the various shopping possibilities while strolling around the
timber frame towns. From hiking via cycling, riding, golf and aquatic
sports up to gliding, a comprehensive offer of leisure facilities awaits you.
Discover the charm and the individual attractions of the timber frame
towns from the meadows of the Elbe Valley to the Harz Mountains.

204 km
From the Harz Mountains to the Thuringian Forest
Bitte lesen!
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durchfhren zu knnen, nutzt bitte die
Stammdatei, in der die Deutschlandkarte
hinterlegt ist.

The people living between the

Harz Mountains and
Thuringian Forest have for
Worbis
Bleicherode
generations been used to
adopting cultural inuences
Wanfried
Muehlhausen
from all over and giving them
Treffurt
their own character. The
architectural styles from
Vacha
Gothic to Historicism,
Schmalkalden
regional particularities from
Lower Saxony to Southern
Germany and ultimately the
function of representative town halls to labourer homes all contributed to
creating a multitude of timber frame designs.
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Stolberg

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Danke,
Andreas

The clearly structured construction and the palmette as a feature of Lower

Saxon timber frame can thus be seen best in the towns of Stolberg and
Worbis. Wanfried, once the terminus of the Werra-Weser navigation,
reects these contacts also in its timber frame. The former Potash-Town
Bleicherode is a rare example of the temporary revival of the timber frame
architecture at the end of the 19th century. Thuringian Ladder and
Savage as constructive elements of timber frame building become
increasingly important moving from the town of Muehlhausen via the
Werra Curve including the towns of Treffurt and Vacha. In Schmalkalden
nally, a special style combining Hessian and Franconian elements
dominates the historical town centre.
During this tour the visitor can admire carefully restored timber frame and
historic buildings (stone testimony of times long past) in all eight towns,
hike along the traces of historic personalities, enjoy the hospitality of the
locals and relax in a varied medium-altitude landscape.

591 km
From the Weser Hills via North Hesse to the Vogelsberg
Mountains
and the Spessart Uplands
Bitte lesen!
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durchfhren zu knnen, nutzt bitte die
Stammdatei, in der die Deutschlandkarte
hinterlegt ist.
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Bad Arolsen

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Hann.
Muenden
Wolfhagen

Korbach

Danke,
Andreas

Fritzlar
Homberg (Efze)

Hessisch
Lichtenau

Eschwege
Spangenberg
Melsungen
Rotenburg
a. d. Fulda

Schwalmstadt
Bad Hersfeld
Alsfeld
Gruenberg

Schlitz
Lauterbach

Lich
Butzbach
Buedingen

Steinau a. d. Strasse

Gelnhausen

From the Weser Hills via

North Hesse to the
Vogelsberg Mountains
and the Spessart
Uplands one of the
most varying timber
frame regions lies
ahead of you. It is no
coincidence that the
constitution of the
German Half-Timbered
House Road started in
this region in 1990.

Powerful patron saints from Charlemagne via the Lower Saxon Welf Dukes
to the Hessian Landgraves and Prince-Electors helped the historical
towns to establish wealth and artistic development with trade privileges.
The variety of timber frame styles and designs with inuences from Lower
Saxony, Hesse, Thuringia and Franconia and even Italy is unique.
On this regional stretch the German Half-Timbered House Road leads
through beautiful river valleys with medieval sandstone bridges across the
rivers Weser, Fulda, Werra, Eder and Schwalm, contacts legendary mountains
such as the Hoher Meissner also called Mother Hulda Mountain the
Knuell or the Vogelsberg and presents timber frame not only in the
historic towns but also in numerous picturesque villages along the route.
Hann. Muenden, the timber frame and three-river town, the gold mining
at Eisenberg Mountain near Korbach, Lauterbach, the Town of the Lost
Sock, the oldest timber frame church in Hesse in Gelnhausen, the biggest
folk festival in North Hesse in Bad Arolsen, the Reformation town of
Homberg (River Efze), the lumberjack town of Melsungen, the Bad
Hersfeld Festival and the oldest local folk festival in Germany as well as
the many fairy tale characters one encounters at every turn in the Grimm
Brother town of Steinau, stand quintessentially for the unprecedented
cultural diversity of the 22 member towns.

170 km
From the Lahn Valley to the Rheingau Region
Bitte lesen!
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Stammdatei, in der die Deutschlandkarte
hinterlegt ist.
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Dillenburg

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Herborn

Danke,
Andreas

Braunfels
Hadamar
Limburg
Bad Camberg
Idstein
Eltville

Wetzlar

Join us on a tour to the nicest

timber frame towns From the
Lahn Valley to the Rheingau
Region. From the heights of
the Lahn Mountains and the
banks of the River Dill our
tour takes us to spruce towns
near the River Lahn and right
into the wine-growing
regions on the Rhine.

Dillenburgs landmark, the

Wilhelmsturm (Williams Tower) on the Schlossberg (Castle Hill)
commemorates William of Orange and gives the visitor a superb view of the
timber frame ensemble in the town centre. Herborns splendid old town is
a unique timber frame gem with many monuments such as the academy
Hohe Schule (university), the crest-adorned town hall on the romantic
market square and the thousand-year-old Stadtkirche (Town Church).
What makes Wetzlar well worth seeing are among other the Cathedral and
the view of the wonderful timber frame-old town from the tower ruin
Kalsmunt. In Braunfels the tranquil market square, the impressive old
town and the fabulous palace invite the visitor to linger again and again.
Surrounded by nice promenades, Hadamar presents itself as a royal jewel
with the Renaissance palace of the Princes of Nassau-Hadamar. In Limburg
charming winding alleys with a varied play of timber frame fronts lead up
to the cathedral and palace.
Bad Camberg the oldest Kneipp spa town in Hesse boasts gems such as
the Sadonysche House, the Amthof Gallery or the Obertorturm (Upper
Gate Tower).
Idstein impresses the visitor with the Knig-Adolf-Platz (King Adolf Square)
with its densely built timber frame houses, the Unionskirche (Union Curch)
with its splendid interior decor and the Hexenturm (Witch Tower).
In Eltville, the town of vines, roses and the Rhine, one can enjoy the
timber frame with a glass of Rheingau Riesling.

203 km
From the River Rhine to the River Main and the
Forest
BitteOdenwald
lesen!
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Hanau-Steinheim

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Dreieich

Trebur

Dieburg

Seligenstadt
Babenhausen
Gross-Umstadt
Wertheim

Reichelsheim

Miltenberg
Erbach

Wallduern

On the traces of Romans, the Nibelungen and Charlemagne, this varied

regional stretch extends from the Royal Shooting Right up to the green
heights of the Odenwald Forest and from South Hesse to Baden
Wuerttemberg, Bavaria and Lower Franconia.
Discover a millenium of medieval castle and palace architecture, opulent
ornamentation coupled with vivid and traditional customs in the midst of
magnicent forests and romantic valleys.
Numerous variants in ornamentation, opulently adorned bays and
elaborate window constructions characterize the timber frame between
the rivers Rhine and Main, the Spessart Uplands and the Odenwald Forest.
It reects the importance and thriving of timber frame towns as early as
the Middle Ages in this region.
But this half-timbered house route from the River Rhine to the River Main
and the Odenwald Forest can be discovered not only on foot or by
motorhome. This region offers especially cyclists many places of interest,
well-developed paths and scenic landscapes.
Great importance is attached to exquisite hospitality with particular
regional specialities in this region. Whether on a ying visit or on holiday,
whether with backpack, by bicycle or train one cannot miss the historic
town centres and the charmingly located farms.

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560 km
From the River Neckar to the Black Forest and
Lake Constance
Bitte lesen!
Mosbach

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Eppingen
Besigheim
BietigheimMarbach
Bissingen
Backnang
Vaihingen a.d.
Enz
Waiblingen
Markgroeningen
Schorndorf
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Danke,
Andreas

Danke,
Andreas
Calw

Esslingen

Kirchheim unter Teck

Altensteig

Dornstetten

Herrenberg
Bad Urach

Blaubeuren

Schiltach

Haslach

Riedlingen
Biberach
a.d. Riss
Pfullendorf

Meersburg

The star-shaped regional

route in Southern
Germany leads from
Mosbach in the Neckar
Valley to the Black Forest
as well as the town of
Meersburg on Lake
Constance. Here you
will encounter fertile
farmland, steep vineyards,
meadows with colourful
fruit trees scattered all
over them, vast forests as
well as untouched
waters, moors, picturesque mountains and
wide valleys.

24 timber frame towns with a medieval air and romantic aura are located
along this regional route and present the visitor all the different styles of
Southwest German timber frame, mostly consisting of the Alemannic and
Franconian type of timber frame. Just how multi-faceted Southwest
German timber frame is, follows from the long period as well as the diverse
types of construction and the decorative splendour. Magnicent timber
frame buildings of the 13th to the 19th century embellish these historic
towns. The oldest existing houses can be found in the Central Neckar
Region, such as in the towns of Esslingen or Markgroeningen as well as in
Upper Swabia, such as in Biberach an der Riss.
The holiday regions Odenwald Forest, Northern and Central Black Forest, the
Swabian Jura and Lake Constance-Upper Swabia as well as the wild and
romantic valleys of the rivers Neckar, Enz, Kinzig, Riss or Danube offer a
change and recreation. This coexistence of lovely landscapes and timber
frame silhouettes lets the dreaminess of ancient towns come alive again and
offers the ambience to get away from it all. Naturally the age old tradition
of holding markets is still vivid. Markets and festivals are a special attraction
for visitors which make the towns hum with life. Just stroll along the alleys
of our towns and sense the spirit of bygone days at many a place.

Information leaflets of the German Half-Timbered

House Road
Make your choice from our comprehensive offer we have compiled for
you:
Road maps of the seven regional stretches
Hotel directory with hotel suggestions along the routes
Calendar of events

For the tour by motorhome or by vintage car, we provide specic

information, e.g. in our
Motorhome pitch list

You are welcome to order these publications from us. In this case, please
contact our ofce in Fulda, call us or send us an email.
Detailed information on the regional stretches and towns, guided city
tours, festivals and special events can be found on our internet sites:

www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de
Kind regards,
Head Ofce
German Half-Timbered House Road

Deutsche Fachwerkstrae
Propstei Johannesberg
36041 Fulda
Germany
Tel.:
+49 (0) 6 61/4 36 80
Fax:
+49 (0) 6 61/94 25 03 66
e-mail:
info@deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de

Imprint:
Publisher:
German Half-Timbered House Road
Head Ofce:
Deutsche Fachwerkstrae
Propstei Johannesberg
36041 Fulda
Germany
Tel.: +49 (0) 6 61/4 36 80
Fax: +49 (0) 6 61/94 25 03 66
info@deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de
www.deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de
All rights reserved.
Layout:
Greb&Friends, Fulda
October 2009