51 Best Sights in The Fairy-Tale Road, Germany

Located at the point where 7 million Europeans set sail for the New World, the Deutsches Auswandererhaus is made to order for history buffs and those wanting to trace their German ancestry. "Passengers" get boarding passes, wait on dimly lit docks with costumed mannequins and piles of luggage, and once onboard navigate their way through cramped and creaky sleeping and dining cabins. After being processed at Ellis Island, visitors enter the Grand Central Terminal, from where they set off to settle in different parts of the USA. Further on, there is a section of the museum dedicated to immigrants to Germany, complete with a 1930s-era German-American pub, a German deli and, a sewing workshop that represents the working environment in the early 1900s. In the annex, there is an exhibition covering the 330 years of German immigration history. At the end of the tour visitors can research their genealogy using two international databases.

The story goes that after Sleeping Beauty had slumbered for 100 years, the thick thorn hedge surrounding her castle suddenly burst into blossom, thereby enabling a daring prince to find a way in to lay a kiss upon her lips and reawaken her. This handsome castle hotel is said to be the inspiration for the original tale. The stony exterior of Dornröschenschloss continues to be clad in colorful roses, and its walled garden is home to an impressive collection of the flowers. Even if you don't stay the night, a drive here is scenic, as it overlooks the nearby animal park. There are ruins as well as the garden to explore for a small fee, or enjoy a coffee on the pleasant outdoor terrace with views over forest-covered hills to enjoy afterward. Every Sunday afternoon there is a reenactment of the fairy tale in the castle courtyard for hotel guests; nonguests can partake of the performance for a fee. Call ahead to request it in English. The castle is closed for renovations until 2025 but the courtyard, cafe, and performances are still running so it is still well worth visiting.

Germany's second-oldest porcelain factory is at Fürstenberg, 24 km (14 miles) north of Bad Karlshafen and 8 km (5 miles) south of Höxter, in a Weser Renaissance castle high above the Weser River. The crowned Gothic letter F, which serves as its trademark, is known worldwide. You'll find Fürstenberg porcelain in Bad Karlshafen and Höxter, but it's more fun to journey to the 18th-century castle itself, where production first began in 1747, and buy directly from the manufacturer. Fürstenberg and most dealers will take care of shipping arrangements and any tax refunds. Porcelain workshop visits can be booked ahead of time, and there's also a sales outlet, museum, and café. The view from the castle is a pastoral idyll, with the Weser snaking through the immaculately tended fields and woods. You can also spot cyclists on the riverside paths.

The gardens of the former Hannoverian royal summer residence are the city's showpiece, unmatched in Germany for its formal precision, with patterned walks, gardens, hedges, and chestnut trees framed by a placid moat. There is a fig garden with a collapsible shelter to protect it in winter and dining facilities behind a grotto. The mausoleum in the Berggarten houses the remains of local royalty, including those of King George I of Britain. From Easter until October there are fireworks displays and fountains play for a few hours daily (weekdays 10–noon and 3–5, weekends 10–noon and 2–5). The 17th-century palace on the grounds was completely destroyed in 1943, leaving only the fountains and stairs remaining. In 2013, a relatively faithful reconstruction replaced the castle, which now houses a museum dedicated to its history and is used frequently as an event location. Herrenhausen is outside the city, a short ride on Tram Line 4 or 5.

The impressive Reichsabtei Corvey, or Schloss Corvey, is idyllically set between the wooded heights of the Solling region and the Weser River. During its 1,200-year history it has provided lodging for several Holy Roman emperors. Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben (1798–1874), author of the poem "Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles," worked as librarian here in the 1820s. The poem, set to music by Joseph Haydn, became the German national anthem in 1922. A garden festival takes place every year in August, and concerts are held in the church and great hall, the Kaisersaal, during the summer. Corvey is reached on an unnumbered road heading east from Höxter (3 km [2 miles]) toward the Weser. There are signposts to "Schloss Corvey."

The magnificent grounds of the 18th-century Schloss and the Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, at the western edge of Kassel, are said to be Europe's largest hill park. If you have time, plan to spend an entire day at this UNESCO World Heritage site, exploring its wonderful gardens, water features, museums, and castle. Wear good walking shoes and bring some water if you want to hike all the way up to the giant statue of Hercules that crowns the hilltop.

The Wilhelmshöher Park was laid out as a baroque park in the early 18th century, its elegant lawns separating the city from the thick woods of the Habichtswald (Hawk Forest). Schloss Wilhelmshöhe was added between 1786 and 1798. The great palace stands at the end of the 5-km-long (3-mile-long) Wilhelmshöher Allée, an avenue that runs straight as an arrow from one side of the city to the other.

Kassel's leading art gallery and the state art collection lie within Schloss Wilhelmshöhe as part of the Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel. Its collection includes 11 Rembrandts, as well as outstanding works by Rubens, Hals, Jordaens, Van Dyck, Dürer, Altdorfer, Cranach, and Baldung Grien.

The giant 18th-century statue of Hercules that crowns the Wilhelmshöhe heights is an astonishing sight. You can climb the stairs of the statue's castlelike base—and the statue itself (you can only mount the statue from April to October)—for a rewarding look over the entire city. At 2:30 pm on Sunday and Wednesday from May through September, water gushes from a fountain beneath the statue, rushes down a series of cascades to the foot of the hill, and ends its precipitous journey in a 175-foot-high jet of water. A café lies a short walk from the statue.

Stroll through the narrow streets of this idyllic district, a jumble of houses, taverns, and shops. This is Bremen's oldest district, dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. The neighborhood is fashionable among artists and craftspeople, who have restored the tiny cottages to serve as galleries and workshops. Other buildings have been converted into popular antiques shops, cafés, and pubs. The area's definitely a great source for souvenirs, with incredibly specialized stores selling porcelain dolls, teddy bears, African jewelry, and smoking pipes, among many other things. There's even a year-round Christmas store.

The city's grandest example of baroque design is the immense Stadtschloss, formerly the residence of the prince-bishops. The Fürstensaal (Princes' Hall), on the second floor, provides a breathtaking display of baroque decorative artistry, with ceiling paintings by the 18th-century Bavarian artist Melchior Steidl, and fabric-clad walls. The palace also has permanent displays of fine Fulda porcelain.

Also worth seeing is the Spiegelsaal, with its many tastefully arranged mirrors. Pause at the windows of the Grünes Zimmer (Green Chamber) to take in the view across the palace park to the Orangery, a large garden with summer-flowering shrubs and plants.

This section of the Georgenpalais, near Herrenhausen, is devoted to the works of cartoonists and caricaturists with an emphasis on Wilhelm Busch, the "godfather of the comic strip," whose original drawings and effects are on display. More than a century ago, Busch (1832–1908) wrote and illustrated a popular children's book, Max und Moritz, which tells the story of two boys who mixed gunpowder into the village tailor's pipe tobacco and, with fishing lines down the chimney, filched roasting chickens off the fire. The first American comic strip, The Katzenjammer Kids (1897), drew not only on Busch's naughty boys (they even spoke with a German accent) but also on his loose cartoon style.

The Old Town Hall was begun in the 13th century and houses a completely preserved Gothic heating system in the part-medieval, part-Renaissance building. The tourist information office is on the first floor.

It took nearly 100 years, starting in 1410, to build this gabled brick edifice that once contained a merchants' hall and an apothecary. In 1844 it was restored to the style of about 1500, with exceptional Gothic gables and an ornamental frieze. The facade's fired-clay frieze depicts coats of arms and representations of princes, and a medieval game similar to arm wrestling using only the fingers. This marvelous picture above the outer right arched window in the Schmiedestrasse can only be seen by following the "red line" around the Old Town Hall. Inside is a modern interior with boutiques and a restaurant.

Occupying both the house where the Brothers Grimm lived for much of their childhoods as well as the house's old barn, the Brüder Grimm Haus and Museum Steinau are fun and engaging museums. Featuring a reconstruction of the family's old kitchen, the brothers' former house also displays old personal possessions such as letters and reading glasses, and has an upper floor divided into nine rooms with interactive displays that celebrate the Grimms' stories and other fairy tales from around Europe. Across a small courtyard, the town's museum documents what life was like on the old trade route that ran through Steinau, incorporating into its exhibits a coach, inn signs, milestones, and the type of pistol travelers used to defend themselves from bandits.

Hanau's main attraction can be reached only on foot. The bronze memorial, erected in 1898, is a larger-than-life-size statue of the brothers, one seated, the other leaning on his chair, the two of them pondering an open book.

The Cathedral treasury contains a document bearing St. Boniface's writing, along with several other treasures, including Lucas Cranach the Elder's fine 16th-century painting Christ and the Adulteress.

In case you don't get enough half-timber on the Fairy-Tale Road there is also the German Half-Timber Road (Deutsche Fachwerkstrasse), with lots more storybook architecture. A map and brochure can be obtained from the Deutsche Fachwerkstrasse.

The country's largest and most fascinating maritime museum, the Deutsches Schifffahrtsmuseum, includes a harbor, open from April through October, that shelters seven old trading ships as well as a separate submarine-turned-technology-museum.

Fulda's 18th-century cathedral, an impressive baroque building with an ornate interior, has two tall spires and stands on the other side of the broad boulevard that borders the palace park. The basilica accommodated the ever-growing number of pilgrims who converged on Fulda to pray at the grave of the martyred St. Boniface, the "Apostle of the Germans." A black alabaster bas-relief depicting his death marks the martyr's grave in the crypt.

Marburg's most important building is the Elisabethkirche, which marks the burial site of St. Elizabeth (1207–31), the town's favorite daughter. She was a Hungarian princess, betrothed at age 4 and married at 14 to a member of the nobility, Ludwig IV of Thuringia. In 1228, when her husband died in the Sixth Crusade, she gave up all worldly pursuits. She moved to Marburg, founded a hospital, gave her wealth to the poor, and spent the rest of her very short life (she died at the age of 24) in poverty, caring for the sick and the aged. She is largely responsible for what Marburg became. Because of her selflessness she was made a saint four years after her death. The Teutonic Knights built the Elisabethkirche, which quickly became a pilgrimage site, enabling the city to prosper. You can visit the shrine in the sacristy that once contained her bones, a masterpiece of the goldsmith's art. The church is a veritable museum of religious art, full of statues and frescoes. Walking tours of Marburg begin at the church on Saturday at 3, year-round. Tours inside the church are held Monday to Friday at 3 from April to October, and Sunday shortly after Mass (around 11:15). Due to major renovations of the interior the guided tours may be restricted until 2024.

The statue of Gänseliesel, the little Goose Girl of German folklore, stands in Göttingen's central market square. The girl, according to the story, was a princess who was forced to trade places with a peasant, and the statue shows her carrying her geese and smiling shyly into the waters of a fountain. The students of Göttingen gave her a ceremonial role: traditionally, graduates who earn a doctorate bestow a kiss of thanks upon Gänseliesel. Göttingen's citizens say she's the most kissed girl in the world.

The site of the infamous POW and concentration camp is now a memorial to the victims of World War II and the Holocaust. Anne Frank was among the more than 70,000 Jews, prisoners of war, homosexuals, Roma, and others who died here.

A place of immense suffering, the camp was burned to the ground by British soldiers, who liberated it in April 1945, arriving to find thousands of unburied corpses and typhus, typhoid, tuberculosis, and other diseases spreading rapidly among the survivors. Today, all that physically remains of the camp, which is inside a nature preserve, are the foundations of some of its prisoner barracks and a number of burial mounds overgrown with heather and grass and bearing stark inscriptions such as "Here lie 1,000 dead."

The history of the camp and its victims is explained further through a series of moving video, audio, photo, and text exhibits within the slender, minimalist structure of the 200-meter-long (656-foot-long), 18-meter-wide (59-foot-long) Documentation Center. Built almost entirely of plain concrete panels, the center is softly lit and peaceful inside, its floor sloping gently upward from the entrance and beyond the exhibits to windows that let in light and views of the trees outside.

Visitors to the Memorial should plan to stay at least two or three hours. Ninety-minute tours of the site in German and English leave the Documentation Center information desk from March to October at 2:30 and 4:30 from Thursday to Friday, and 11:30 and 2:30 on weekends  Don't try to see everything when visiting the memorial, but do take some time to walk around outside, visiting the site of the barracks to gain a better understanding of the atrocious living conditions inmates of the camp were forced to suffer.

Bear in mind that the memorial is not recommended for children under the age of 14. Older children should be in the company of an adult.

The Hexenturm was originally constructed in the 15th century as a watchtower to protect the town from invaders. What remains today is an imposing 9 meters in diameter and 24-meter-high tower, which was used as a grim prison during the time when Gelnhausen was the center of a witch hunt in the late 16th century. Dozens of women were either burned at the stake or bound hand-and-foot and then thrown into the Kinzig River after being held prisoner here. The watchtower can only be visited as part of a guided tour booked with the tourist office.

On central Osterstrasse you'll see several examples of Weser Renaissance architecture, including the Rattenfängerhaus (Rat-Catcher's House) and the Hochzeitshaus, a beautiful 17th-century sandstone building now used for city offices. From mid-May to mid-September the Hochzeitshaus terrace is the scene of two free open-air events commemorating the Pied Piper legend. From May to September, local actors and children present a half-hour reenactment each Sunday at noon, and there is also a 40-minute musical, Rats, each Wednesday at 4:30 during the same months. The carillon of the Hochzeitshaus plays tunes every day at 9:35 and 11:35, and mechanical figures enact the piper story on the west gable of the building at 1:05, 3:35, and 5:35.

Dr. Johann Andreas Eisenbart (1663–1727) would be forgotten today if a ribald 19th-century drinking song ("Ich bin der Doktor Eisenbart, widda, widda, wit, boom! boom!") hadn't had him shooting out aching teeth with a pistol, anesthetizing with a sledgehammer, and removing boulders from kidneys. He was, as the song has it, a man who could make "the blind walk and the lame see." This is terribly exaggerated, of course, but the town, where he died, takes advantage of it. The good Dr. Eisenbart has "office hours" in the town hall at 1:30 on Saturday from May through December. Throughout the year, a glockenspiel on the town hall depicts Eisenbart's feats, to the tune of the Eisenbart song three times daily: at noon, 3, and 5. There's a statue of the doctor in front of his home at Langestrasse 79, and his grave is outside the St. Ägidien Church.

On an island in the gentle little Kinzig River you'll find the remains of the Kaiserpfalz. Emperor Friedrich I—known as Barbarossa, or "Red Beard"—built the castle in this idyllic spot in the 12th century; in 1180 it was the scene of the first all-German Imperial Diet, a gathering of princes and ecclesiastical leaders. Today only parts of the russet walls and colonnaded entrance remain. Still, you can stroll beneath the castle's ruined ramparts and you'll get a tangible impression of the medieval importance of the court of Barbarossa.

Germany's first children's museum has interactive exhibits to help explain science and technology, including a walk-through heart.

This unique interactive museum takes visitors through nine stations covering the various climatic regions of the Earth. The history of the climate—ranging from the origins of the Earth 3.9 billion years ago and looking forward to the year 2050—is on display in this museum dedicated to helping visitors understand what factors determine the weather and the climate. Located directly on the seafront, it also has information about an offshore wind farm that puts the city's relationship to the sea and the changing climate into perspective.

The priceless art collection of this regional museum includes works by Tilman Riemenschneider, Veit Stoss, Hans Holbein the Younger, Claude Monet, and Lucas Cranach. There are also historical and natural history sections.