Fairy Tale Road Trip Report

by Allison Williams (keys34@attbi.com)

As an elementary school librarian in Richmond, VA, I'm always looking for ways to broaden my knowledge. In the spring a grant proposal I had submitted was accepted enabling me to travel to Germany during that summer. My proposal was to follow the Fairy Tale Road from Frankfurt north to Bremen, stopping along the way in places famous in traditional German fairy tales as well as in towns and cities where the Brothers Grimm lived and studied in the 19th century.

My husband accompanied me as driver (He can drive a stick shift) and interpreter (college German many years ago) but especially for moral support. We had an unforgettable time which I'd like to share with you.

August 3 - We left Richmond on the most beautiful day of the summer--sunny, low humidity and temperature in the 70's. We drove to Dulles where we left our car at a Fairfield Inn in a park-and-fly arrangement. We will spend the night on our return to the States. Meanwhile they store our car without charge til our return.  We expected to fly Lufthansa but it turned out to be a United Air flight in one of those convoluted alliances. The plane was full, the food was mediocre and the movie wasn't worth watching. We had the obligatory screaming baby but the good news was that we landed a half hour early.

August 4 - We had no trouble finding the ATM machine at the airport or going through customs. Then we completed the paperwork for our rental car and got directions for our first stop, Hanau. It was then we discovered we couldn't locate our car in the airport parking deck. The clerk's "5" looked like a "J" and we were stumbling around the wrong floor among the minivans. A kind attendant helped us decipher the directions. That was only the beginning of our trials. We spent an hour trying to figure out the controls of the car--from opening the window to putting the car in reverse. The manual (naturally in German) provided no help. The time change and lack of sleep were causing us to feel less than sharp, but eventually we managed to get free of the airport and were zipping along the autobahn at 120 km.  The Avis clerk, as well as not writing legibly, was apparently directionally-challenged. We must have approached Hanau, birthplace of the Brothers Grimm, from every direction before finally parking in the old part of the city. The guide book was right. Much of the original city was destroyed in the war and what has been rebuilt looks like the industrial area of any struggling blue collar town. The center, though, is quite pleasant, with a pedestrian area, an open market place where the Brothers Grimm statue is located

and the rathaus stands. There were lots of kids climbing all over the old storytellers. I was finally beginning to feel we were on our journey. We stopped and bought fruit and crusty bread and bottled water at a market and ate on a park bench.  We walked on to the Old Town Hall (Alt Rathaus) which has been converted to a goldsmith's museum. From the outside it retains its original charm--all brick and flowers--but inside it has been turned into a spacious modern museum

to display various exhibits of gold and silver ornaments, including nose rings from India. The attendant couldn't speak English but she really wanted to be helpful. She rummaged around and when we were ready to leave, she proudly presented us with a brochure in English for us to take along.   We returned to the marketplace to buy post cards of the famous statue. Believe it or not, there were none to be had. Even the attendant in the town visitor center (a shabby room in the first floor of the town hall) apologized for being out of souvenir cards. You certainly couldn't call Hanau a tourist trap!  In fact, walking through Hanau, you could see it is clearly NOT a tourist town. The people are quiet, though the children were lively. Everyone was quite pleasant and even if they didn't speak English they tried to help us.  After pausing to enjoy the noon bells playing music by native son Paul Hindemith, we figured we would prevent a repeat of the confusion of our arrival in Hanau by purchasing a map. Unfortunately the directions weren't very good. (Are you beginning to sense a motif here?) so we just followed the road signs and our instincts to get us to Gelnhausen.  By that time it was raining and we were very tired and stressed out. What a great feeling of relief when we finally reached our hotel.

We chose Gelnhausen for our first night's stay based on distance from Frankfurt rather than any connection to the Fairy Tale Road. We figured we would be ready to call it a day and we certainly were. Actually Gelnhausen is famous for being the site of the remains of Burg Barbarossa, a castle that may have inspired the Grimm Brothers. It was built by Emperor Friedrich I (known as Barbarossa or Red Beard) in the 12th century and was subsequently the scene of the first all-German Imperial Diet. We were able to tour the remains of the castle but not the Hexenturm (Witches Tower) a former prison of the 16th century which now houses a collection of medieval torture instruments. What a shame; The tour takes place on Sunday afternoon only.  Our hotel was very quaint.

We did have a reservation, the only one we made on our week's journey, after reading about the Burg Muhl in the Fodor guide. It is converted from the mill which was in use til 1948, located on the Kinzig River. Our room has a balcony overlooking the courtyard and garden. We had to wait quite a while for someone to come to the registration desk but we had no trouble getting checked in and our room is pleasant (puffy duvets on the bed, upholstered chairs and a modern bathroom).  Dinner at the hotel was excellent. John had cold cucumber soup and stuffed zucchini with green noodles. I had tomato soup with basil, and pork tenderloin with a mustard crust. It came with mixed vegetables and creamed potatoes cooked into a cake. In the rear of the dining room was the mill wheel, still spinning in the river. We were able to stand there and look down into the dark water. After dinner we crossed the road in the early dusk to watch the river rushing through the fields. In the same field we saw a towering wooden construction made of giant staves and logs. The title loosely translated proclaimed "We are all in the same boat"

Standing there, we saw the sun breakthrough the clouds promising fair weather tomorrow.  It was an incredible moment.

 August 5 - We woke to cool, crisp weather. The hotel manager said we had brought summer; it had rained all last week. After a substantial breakfast we drove without difficulty to Steinau where Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm grew up. The town was charming, full of flower boxes and other decorations

After parking the car, we walked down a hill lined with half timbered houses and found ourselves in the market square. Here was St. Catherine's church where the Grimms' brothers' grandfather served as pastor. In the center of the square was a fountain, built in 1985, that portrayed various fairy tale characters

Across the small square was the Grimm Museum where we were headed.  It had been a medieval fortress and served as the summer residence of the counts of Hanau. Now it contained a great collection of marionettes arranged in tableaus representing Rumplestiltskin, the Bremen Town Musicians, Hansel and Gretel and other traditional fairy tales. In a converted stable on the grounds was a puppet theatre. Ashputtel (Cinderella) was to be performed later in the day but we contented ourselves with studying the exhibits. In addition we saw the family Bible and other personal effects displayed in rather poorly lit rooms. I loaded up on posters and post cards. A far cry from our earlier stop! 

The best part of the museum was across the courtyard in a tower.

The museum curator took our additional DM apiece and buzzed us in from upstairs in the castle. We walked across the cobblestones and pushed open the heavy wooden door. The tower was dimly lit as we climbed the steep stairs. Periodically we stopped to catch our breath and look out a barred window. As we got higher, the stairs got narrower and cobwebs coated the window. Finally we reached the top, and we could look out a window in each direction. The housetops and church spires of Steinau were visible below us. The countryside was divided into neat gardens and lush green fields bordered by woods. I mentally blocked out the highway and could easily imagine I was back in time 200 years. The effect was heightened by the privacy in which we toured. Only one other group visited the castle while we were there, and it was evident from the cobwebs at the window that few visitors made it up the tower. We later walked through the rose gardens in what had been the moat around the castle and sat in the sun, enjoying the quiet. We felt a long way from Richmond, Virginia.

We left Steinau around noon anticipating a short drive to Alsfeld.  We travelled through open fields under a sky alternating clouds and sun.  We were within a few miles of Alsfeld when suddenly the road was barricaded without explanation. We could see no detour or signs of any sort, and since we were not the only car forced to stop and turn around, I don't think it was just our ignorance of the language. Oh well, another opportunity to use our map-reading skills.   We drove back to Fulda and found another road that took us to the town of Alsfeld. We arrived mid afternoon after having lunch along the way. For atmosphere this town wins the prize.

All the houses were half-timbered with some leaning haphazardly and all of them decorated with flower boxes. The shops had picture signs identifying their wares. One business we couldn't figure out had the Confederate flag hanging out in front! In our exploration of the picturesque town, we walked to the edge of the cobblestones delineating the old Town and suddenly we were back in the 20th century. We went into a grocery store and found all the modern conveniences, including barcode scanners and a vast assortment of products. The one difference we noted is that we had to pay extra for a bag for our purchases.

We left Alsfeld at 5 P.M. and drove directly to Marburg, a university city on a hill. Jacob and Wilhelm had both attended the university as young men. To get there we drove through changing scenery--open fields, then winding hilly paths and into dark woods, part of Red Riding Hood country. The drive on country roads is as much a part of the pleasure of this trip as arriving at our destinations.  We had the name and address of a hotel that a friend from home had used when he studied at the University. Europäischer Hof was right on the main street, Elisabethstrasse, not far from the 700 year old Cathedral of St. Elizabeth. The hotel was established in 1834 and has been owned and managed by the Richter family since 1958. The hotel manager even remembered Ray who had attended summer classes for a number of years til his untimely death in 1996.  The location of the hotel presented a few problems. On our initial drive down Elisabethstrasse, we drove by the hotel on the one way street. We kept driving, expecting to make a right turn and make our way back with little effort. Were we in for a surprise! We drove for miles on a narrow road before finding a spot in which we felt safe turning around.  Only later, after studying the map did we realize that there were no roads running behind the hotel due to the forest-topped rock abutting it. Our automotive test was not yet complete. John had to park in the hotel's underground garage. The literature boasts of offering parking for more than 65 cars "in spite of the cramped location." Imagine parking on the lift of your neighborhood mechanic with steel columns placed at each corner and a railing set along the sides. Then, once you finally jockey into position, imagine trying to squeeze out your car door as it banged into the steel railing. Once parked, you had no desire to get your car out and drive anywhere in Marburg!  We were definitely ready to do some walking. We left our bags in our third floor room and went to explore the neighborhood. We found ourselves in an area of outdoor cafes situated on a sloping street

and happily decided it was time for dinner. No trip to Germany is complete without wienerschnitzel, so we ordered what would be the first of several such dinners that week. Accompanied by salad and huge mounds of french fries, it made a great meal for two hungry tourists.

We sat there til dark, contentedly people watching.

August 6 - Timing it perfectly, we finished breakfast at the hotel and walked to St. Elizabeth Cathedral to admire the largest baroque cathedral of Germany. It had just opened for the day, and we were able to reflect quietly without the crush of tourist crowds. Then we crossed Elisabethstrasse and walked up the steps to St. Michael's chapel and pilgrims' cemetary

It was very steep and slow going but the view was worth the effort. You could see down over the city and across to the schloss . It was hard to believe we were so close to a busy city as we stood in the deep shaded wood.  After we checked out, we drove to the schloss instead of walking.   What a steep and winding ascent to the castle and another breathtaking view of the whole city. When we finally parked, we saw that it was a regular stop on the city bus route. Walking through the courtyard we entered the renovated castle and walked through 5 floors of exhibits detailing the furnishings, costumes, weaponry and other artifacts of Hesse. We bought a descriptive booklet in English but there was no entrance fee at the castle. This area of Germany certainly has not been bitten by the tourist bug.

When we left at noon, we started to walk back to the car and discovered a wonderful park on the way. Not only did it have a glorious view, but also fountains, formal beds of roses, shady paths and, if you looked down below, a great garden cultivated by a man who looked to be as old as the schloss.

We drove down the mountain and parked by the Lahn River near Universitatstrasse. We walked to the old university buildings to try to imagine what university life was like for the Brothers Grimm. Certainly it was different from the busy metropolis of today.

We were driving north on Rte. 3 to Kassel when I caught sight of a sign for Neustadt. The Fodor guide described it as being the home of the 13th century circular tower from which Rapunzel let down her golden hair, so we made a detour to track it down. By means of sign language we asked for directions when we stopped for gas. We got a primitive map from a gas station attendant and found the tower on the outskirts of the pleasant town park . We got some video footage and then walked back. On the way we passed the rathaus where a couple had just gotten married. Their friends were celebrating by blowing whistles. We felt like cheering too!

Our next stop was Kassel where the Brothers worked as librarians at the court of the king of Westphalia, (aka Napolean's younger brother, Jerome Bonaparte.) This city is known as the heart of the Fairy Tale Road because of the extensive Bruder Grimm Museum located here. We were really looking forward to seeing what it contained.

The hotel we selected from a city brochure (Hotel Chassalla, Wilhelmshöher Allee 99) was very nice but I think we were the only guests. We had a friendly chat with the clerk, who had been to Florida last year. She showed us a bulletin board of post cards she had received from previous guests and asked us to send her a card from Richmond when we got home. I like the idea of our Virginia photo being on display in Kassel, Germany when we are long gone.

We had dinner down the street in a very nice Italian restaurant but we were the only customers until another couple, clearly friends of the owner, arrived. Where is everyone? I realize August is often vacation time in Europe but in this part of Germany all the shops seem to be open so at least the business owners are still at work.

August 7 - We took our time having breakfast so we could arrive at the Bruder Grimm Museum as it opened at 10 A.M. We knew approximately where it was located and calculated it was only a short walk from our hotel. By this time we should have known better! We found our way to a statue of the Brothers surrounded by flowers on a busy street corner but the museum was nowhere to be seen. Asking directions of a receptionist at the building on that corner, we were overheard by a kind gentleman who pointed us in the right direction. He also showed us the building, now a law office, where the brothers had lodged. Even with his help, we had to keep looking for the museum and ask a workman for further directions.  It turned out to be in the back of the Palais Bellevue, and the entrance was not well marked.

We were greeted enthusiastically by the staff of two who gave us their full attention. (Naturally, we were the only ones there!) It was a treasure trouve of Grimm memorabilia, and I was able to purchase posters, puzzles, books and even a CD program in English and German. The museum also housed an exhibit of another native son of Kassel, Louis Spohr, a contemporary of Mendelssohn. We got a personal tour of the exhibit from the curator.  Feeling we had really added to our store of knowledge, we were ready for a change of pace. We walked back to our hotel and drove all the way down Wilhelmshoher Allee to the great schloss at the end. This 18th century Schloss Wilhelmshohe was the summer palace of the German emperor Wilhelm II. The grounds are magnificent; in fact they are the largest palace grounds in Europe. The state art collection, one of Germany's best museums, is housed there, but unfortunately it was closed for renovation. Another attraction we didn't see was the Deutsches Tapaten Museum with more than 600 exhibits tracing the history of tapestry. That's a lot of wallpaper!

Our next Fairy Tale Road destination was Gottigen, where the Brothers served as professors and librarians at the university from 1830 to 1837. Our research of the area strongly recommended first making a stop in Hann Munden, a picturesque walled town.

We followed a 650 year old bridge across the Weser River and strolled through the streets of half-timbered houses. John took a picture of me smiling brightly before some ornate gates. It was only later that we learned what the commemorative sign said. It was from this location that the Jews were rounded up to be sent to concentration camps. This was one of the few mentions of this issue we saw on our trip. In Gelnhausen,for example, a tourist brochure describing the synagogue built in 1601 states,"There being no Jewish community in Gelnhausen since the Holocaust, the Synagogue is now used for concerts and art exhibits." What is omitted from that sentence speaks volumes.

We continued on Rte. 3 to Gottingen, choosing a hotel on the outskirts of town. (Hotel Schweizerhof) We had an enormous room with all the comforts of home, but once again the hotel was practically empty. It certainly makes parking easy! We drove into the old part of the city and strolled along the streets around the Rathaus. The statue of Ganseliesel, the little goose girl of folklore, stands in the central market square.

Tradition dictates that doctoral graduates of the university kiss the statue in graditude, leading to a claim that she is the most kissed girl in the world. We noticed many punk-type young people lounging at the foot of the statue and the fountains of the town. Some were drunk, a few looked down right homeless. I don't know if they were local or travellers, but it spoiled the charm of the area.  Despite the presence of the vagrants we had a very good dinner at a restaurant located in the old town hall (Ganseleisel Rathskellar). We sat outside indulging our favorite activity of people watching. We couldn't figure out the elaborate menu but the waiter provided us with an English version. Not only was the food good, but it wasn't too expensive. We had soup, an entree of turkey in some kind of sauce, potato cakes and sliced tomato broiled with mozzarella cheese, and a drink, and the total for the two of us was 49 DM. Since breakfast is included in the cost of a room in German hotels, and it is a meal hearty enough so you don't need lunch, a good dinner is not really such an extravagance.

August 8 - Speaking of breakfast, here is a list of what we were offered in the hotel in Gottingen. Considering there were very few guests, it was quite an elaborate spread. There were four kinds of juice, and many choices of tea and coffee. There was a great selection of cold cereals, freshly scrambled eggs, bacon, many cheeses and cold cuts and meat pastes. In addition was a variety of fresh fruits, all kinds of rolls and bread, and -- something we hadn't seen before-- a toaster with about 8 jars of jam arrayed in front of it. This was a big change for someone accustomed to eating just a bagel and a cup of tea in the morning, but when in Germany, do like the Germans. So we sat in the sunny and practically empty breakfast room and chowed down.  We left Gottingen around 9 AM, heading back to Hann Munden, then taking rt. 80 north. We found the village of Veckhagen and followed the sign posts for the hotel at Sababurg. You drive for miles through a nature preserve. Densely wooded, the Reinhardswald is very different from the countryside along the Weser. We saw logs being cut and processed in the midst of the forest. There were signs indicating hiking trails but we did not see any one either walking or driving as we continued through the woods. Finally after driving for more than half an hour, we came out into the sunshine and saw our destination at the top of a hill. This was the castle at Sababurg, now a luxury hotel, said to be the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty. Just to walk around the grounds cost 1 DM, but the garden was peaceful and the views were lovely.

Only portions of the structure have been restored, so as you walk through the ruins covered with weeds and overgrowth, you can imagine the prince cutting his way through brambles to rescue Sleeping Beauty with a kiss.

Our next stop, Bad Karlshafen, was a refreshing change from the half-timbered villages of this area. This spa with an inland harbor on the Weser was a planned community of the 18th century in the Baroque style. It was from this harbor that many German troops sailed to America to fight as mercaneries against the British in the American War of Independence.

There is also a small Huguenot museum with an exhibit commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Edict of Nantes. This decree promulgated by King Henry IV of France in 1598 defined the rights of the French Protestants and included full liberty of conscience and private worship. When the edict was eventually revoked in 1685, many French Protestants fled to Germany and ultimately to America.

We decided to drive directly to Hameln and arrived about 1:30. We went to the Old Town and found the hotel we had selected from the Fodor guide (Hotel Zur Borse, Osterstrasse 41) without difficulty. Naturally, though, our arrival had its share of drama. We turned in off the road into what we thought was a driveway to a parking lot. It turned out to lead to a outdoor patio and we ended up with the car practically in the lap of someone having a late lunch. Not too embarrassing! The hotel manager gave us our choice of rooms, and we selected a third floor room with a balcony overlooking the street.

He was very low-key--didn't even want us to fill out the registration form right away. The center of town is just steps from our hotel. We followed little painted rats along the cobbled streets and were able to get good video of the Glockenspiel and the reenactment of the Pied Piper -- both the mechanical figures on the Hochzeithaus (the Wedding House)

and the Pied Piper himself complete with striped garb and clarinet.

We read somewhere that the man portraying the Piper is actually an American working for the summer. It did seem as though he recited his German phonetically. I was able to buy some souvenirs for friends but just barely. Since today is Saturday, everything closed up at 4 PM until Monday morning. We had to convince the proprietor of a bakery to sell us some of the the rat-shaped loaves before she hustled us out of the shop

You would think she would be happy to get rid of as much of her baked goods as possible before closing for the week end, but apparently not. Maybe she doesn't care if the bread is stale, knowing full well no one comes back to complain about it.  We had dinner at the Rattenfangerhaus, the most famous building in Hameln. The real Pied Piper is said to have stayed here in the year 1284 when he rid the town of rats. It may be like the George Washington legend in the US, since the building was actually built as a restaurant in 1603. Whether fact or fiction, we had a good German meal: chicken schnitzel for me, veal for John. Mine had mushrooms and asparagus and a wine sauce, with a slice of pineapple, breaded and fried. Talk about excess! We shared a dessert of ice cream with a sauce made of applesauce and whipped cream, which was quite light and refreshing.  After dinner we strolled around the central city, window shopping.  The side walks roll up early in Hameln. There was nothing open but restaurants so we sat on our balcony til it finally got dark about 9:45, and then we admired a beautiful full moon. Tomorrow we plan to get an early start.

August 9 - After a week of beautiful weather we woke to overcast skies. For some reason I was awake by dawn so I took my duvet out on the balcony and read as the sky lightened. Eventually the sun broke through the clouds and after the usual hearty breakfast we were eager to get on our way. Our goal all week has been to arrive in Bremen in time for the weekly open air performance of the Bremen Town Musicians scheduled for noon on Sunday. What a treat to capture that musical on video for my students!

First we had to depart from Hameln and based on our past experience with the parking garage in Marburg we should have expected the unexpected. This garage was across the street from the hotel. I stood out on the sidewalk with our suitcases while John went down into the bowels of the garage. I waited and waited, expecting to see our Opel Vectra pop out any minute. Finally John himself came out with no car.  "What's happening?" I naturally enough wanted to know. "You'll never believe this," He told me. The clerk at the hotel had given him instructions to raise the bar permitting the car to pass through. To do this, he had to insert a magnetic card and then leave it since we were not returning. Unfortunately the gate did not raise, and the card was now gone! I had to go back into the hotel and get the clerk to come out and raise the bar manually. So far it's Parking Garages 2   Americans 0.

We refuse to let the intransigence of inanimate objects get us down.  Finally we were on our way, travelling north to Bremen on country roads.  We arrived on schedule about 11 AM and, despite misgivings, we parked in a midtown parking deck. We called a teaching colleague who is staying in Bremen for the summer but whoever answered said he was away for the day.   That is too bad. It would have been nice to see the city from an insider's perspective.  Bremen is Germany's oldest and second largest port. A huge stone statue of knight Roland, erected in 1400, stands in the Liebfrauenkirchhof square.

It is a symbol of the city's independence and also serves as its good luck piece. The other famous statue is the one that exerted a pull on me.

The donkey, dog, cat and rooster of the well-known fairy tale are seen in every size and many interpretations through the city. The funny thing is that in this story the tenacious animals who outwit the band of robbers never actually get to Bremen. Once they oust the robbers, they spend their retirement years in the thieves' former cottage in the woods. Oh well, no sense quibbling; a whole tourist industry has sprung up around this old tale.  In true German character, the musical production started right on the dot of noon.

A small crowd of about 150 stood or sat on wooden benches in front of the colorful little stage. The introduction was made in English, French and German but the play itself was in German only. It was easy enough to understand, even if you didn't know the story, and I expect my students will enjoy the antics of the silly creatures as they sing and dance across the stage.

We enjoyed the rest of our Sunday afternoon in Bremen. It was cool and crisp with a hint of a northern autumn in the air. We admired the stained glass in a gallery on Bottcherstrasse.

and visited several museums in the area, including the Roselius-Haus, a 14th century building

showcasing paintings and decorative arts from the 12th through 18th century. Finally we walked across to the Shnoor, an artists' colony that has sprung up in the city's oldest district.

There are art galleries, cafes, workshops and pubs, all on narrow picturesque streets.  With a feeling of satisfaction for all we had accomplished, we were ready to leave Bremen. But remember that parking deck I mentioned earlier? It was not finished with us. As we attempted to drive out, we could find no method to pay our fee. There was no attendant and no way our ticket activated the exit gate. We sat at the gate gathering our wits when another car pulled up behind us. The kind driver took pity on us (and it was clearly in his self-interest to do so.) His passenger jumped out and led me to a little room where you exchanged the original ticket and the correct change for another paper which finally enabled us to leave. Were we glad to get out of there!  Parking Garages 3 Americans 0.

Our last night on the Fairy Tale Road was spent at an unusual family-run hotel (Hotel Lanhaus Louisenthal; Leher Heerstrasse) on the outskirts of the city. There are chickens and geese roosting on the back lawn.

The hotel is full of geegaws--lace, fake flowers, stuffed furniture from the '30's, grotesque lamps. There's a certain weird charm to it all, although being awakened at 5 AM by a rooster crowing diminished my enthusiasm somewhat.  I must admit that, like everything else about this week, it was memorable. When we got on the A1 the next morning and drove back to Frankfurt in 4 and a half hours, we realized how much slower our pace had been all week. We had followed the Brothers Grimm and in doing so had discovered a corner of Germany little known by American tourists.  It was a wonderful experience and I encourage others to get off the highway and follow The Fairy Tale Road.

Allison Williams
Richmond, VA
Email - keys34@attbi.com

The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.
--Samuel Johnson