My next housesit was two hours north in Germany, in a rural village half-way between Frankfurt and Heidelberg. I was looking after a very nice dog and a cat and had a bike and a car and plenty of beautiful, ancient towns to visit.
There was a week-long wine festival in the nearest town, Bensheim
Another nearby town, Lorsch, has a UNESCO World Heritage Status abbey
The towns date from the Middle Ages and are beautiful and full of history. The Grimm who published Snow White lived in this house in Weinheim
There are lots of towers that look like Rapunzel might have lived in them
Each place was interesting for different reasons. The old town of Darmstadt was largely flattened in WWII, with three-quarters of the centre being destroyed. The rebuilding reminded me of Paris on a small scale. I liked the Art Nouveau Wedding Tower and Russian Chapel that escaped the bombs and the town square was full of activity (it was Saturday)
I’d gone there particularly to see a building designed by Hundertwasser. It was built between 1998 and 2000 and he died before it was finished. It suddenly appears in the middle of the suburbs and is spectacular. It’s an apartment block and no two windows are the same. The foliage in front is allotments.
Heidelberg is one of the bigger centres and the old town is gorgeous.
This is the view from the castle in the picture above
There’s always a breathtaking church
Worms also had a huge cathedral and lots of interesting history
Seifried the Dragonslayer fountain
Worms is most famous for a visit by Martin Luther in 1521. He stayed for only 10 days but his challenge to catholicism saw a return to the roots of the Christian faith.
There were lots more places I visited and I have endless photos. It was a great place to housesit.
There was a week-long wine festival in the nearest town, Bensheim
Another nearby town, Lorsch, has a UNESCO World Heritage Status abbey
The towns date from the Middle Ages and are beautiful and full of history. The Grimm who published Snow White lived in this house in Weinheim
There are lots of towers that look like Rapunzel might have lived in them
Each place was interesting for different reasons. The old town of Darmstadt was largely flattened in WWII, with three-quarters of the centre being destroyed. The rebuilding reminded me of Paris on a small scale. I liked the Art Nouveau Wedding Tower and Russian Chapel that escaped the bombs and the town square was full of activity (it was Saturday)
I’d gone there particularly to see a building designed by Hundertwasser. It was built between 1998 and 2000 and he died before it was finished. It suddenly appears in the middle of the suburbs and is spectacular. It’s an apartment block and no two windows are the same. The foliage in front is allotments.
Heidelberg is one of the bigger centres and the old town is gorgeous.
This is the view from the castle in the picture above
There’s always a breathtaking church
Worms also had a huge cathedral and lots of interesting history
Seifried the Dragonslayer fountain
Worms is most famous for a visit by Martin Luther in 1521. He stayed for only 10 days but his challenge to catholicism saw a return to the roots of the Christian faith.
There’s a widely intact city wall and the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe
There were lots more places I visited and I have endless photos. It was a great place to housesit.
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