Handpicked experience · Frankfurt
Frankfurt, Germany
Two old German cities that came out of the same war in opposite conditions — one essentially untouched, the other destroyed and rebuilt on its medieval plan — seen back to back so the difference registers.
An old town that came through the war essentially unaltered
A rebuilt city that followed its own medieval street plan
A castle cellar holding a cask of absurd proportions
A river path on a slope warm enough for almond trees
The town that guarded an empire's regalia for centuries
Twentieth-century sites that the city has not hidden
A long day tour from Frankfurt taking in Heidelberg and Nuremberg — two old German cities that came out of the same war in completely opposite conditions, which is the reason to see them on the same day rather than separately.
Heidelberg came through the bombing of Germany almost untouched. Its lanes, its bridge and its riverfront are the originals, and that is why it feels the way it does: nothing about the old town is a copy.
Nuremberg was almost erased. In a single raid in January 1945 the great majority of its old town was destroyed. What stands there now was rebuilt afterwards on the medieval street plan, with façades reconstructed from records and photographs — a deliberate decision to put the city back rather than start again.
Walking both in one day makes a point that is hard to feel from a book: the two look comparably old, and only one of them is.
In the castle cellar sits a wine cask of preposterous size — big enough that a platform was built across the top of it for dancing. It was filled with the tithe wine of the region, and its keeper was a court dwarf famous for the quantity he was said to get through.
The castle above it is a ruin, and the town below it holds the oldest university in the country. On the far bank a path runs along a slope warm enough to ripen almonds, which is where people have gone to think, or claim to, for centuries.
For nearly four hundred years the imperial regalia of the Holy Roman Empire were kept here, brought out for coronations and returned. That, plus the castle above the town, made this an unofficial capital of a state that never really had one.
The same status is why the twentieth century chose it: the rally grounds on the edge of the city were built to borrow that history, and after the war the courtroom used for the trials of the surviving leadership was here too. That courtroom went on being an ordinary working court until a few years ago, which is a very Nuremberg fact.
This is a genuinely long day. The two cities sit far apart, with Frankfurt roughly between them, so several hours go on the road and the time in each place is a good walk rather than an exhaustive visit.
Both old towns are covered on foot, on cobbles and inclines — Heidelberg's castle terrace involves a climb or a funicular, and Nuremberg's castle sits at the top of the old town. Start early, expect to be back late, and treat it as an overview of two places rather than a study of either.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
Because they show opposite outcomes of the same war: one old town survived nearly intact, the other was destroyed and rebuilt on its old plan.
Little of the old town fabric. Most of what stands was reconstructed after 1945, following the medieval layout and using records of the earlier buildings.
Largely, yes. Its old town, bridge and riverfront came through the war essentially intact, which is why it reads as genuinely old.
An enormous wine cask, big enough to carry a dance platform on top, once filled with wine collected as a tax in kind.
A path along a south-facing slope warm enough for almonds to ripen, long associated with walking while thinking.
It kept the imperial regalia for centuries and had a castle above the town, which made it a de facto centre of an empire without a fixed capital.
The rally grounds on the city's edge and the courtroom where the postwar trials were held, which remained in ordinary judicial use until recently.
Yes. The cities lie far apart with Frankfurt between them, so a large share of the day is spent on the road.