Scenic Routes

The oldest and best-known holiday route in Germany stretches from Würzburg via Rothenburg ob der Tauber to Füssen – past half-timbered villages, houses built by the Fuggers, pilgrimage churches and dream castles, all framed by ever-changing backdrops of vineyards, lowland forests and the Alps.

The word "romantic" is commonly used to denote all that appeals to the soul, awakens longings and goes right to the heart – colourful sunsets, peaceful evenings, enchanted woods, soft music and beguiling love-letters. But what about roads?

In Germany, one route leading for 366 kilometres from Würzburg to Füssen describes itself as "romantic", and there is good reason for this.

A road as a tourist attraction

The Romantische Strasse (Romantic Road) is the oldest holiday road in Germany and was established in Augsburg in 1950. At that time, the route was set up with the aim of enticing tourists to Germany once again after the Second World War.

The Romantische Strasse was to help make Germany an attractive holiday destination once more; it stood for a holiday country with much hospitality to offer and full of buildings and art monuments rich in history to be marvelled at. "We want to put you on a road that leads away from daily routine and towards enjoyment and the appreciation and experience of what is eternally beautiful." That was the slogan with which the road presented itself in the 1950s.

Romantic Road

Then as now, the Romantische Strasse stretched from the River Main to the Alps, from the western part of Franconia via Swabia to Allgäu in Upper Bavaria. Since it was first set up, the road has been easily accessible for cars and touring buses. However over the last years the tourist route has also extended its offer to hikers and cyclists. There is now a signposted route for those on bicycles (424 kilometres) as well as a long-distance path (474 kilometres) for those who prefer to travel at a walking pace.

Half-timbered lanes and ringed walls

All these routes start at Würzburg. The Residence of the Prince Bishop – an ornamental Baroque palace built by Balthasar Neumann and classified by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site – counts as the architectural highlight of the university town surrounded by vineyards.

From there, the Romantic Road leads through the scenic valley of the Tauber River to one of the most well-known tourist goals of Germany: Rothenburg ob der Tauber, with its medieval old town, town wall, plethora of towers and gateways, its magnificent Town Hall on the Market Square and its picturesque half-timbered houses.

And so it goes on: one after another, as if on a string of pearls, one well-preserved old town sheltered by medieval fortifications follows the other, alternating with wild and romantic river valleys. Another example is the former Reichsstadt (imperial city) Dinkelsbühl that lies at the heart of the Romantic Road and charms one with its fine Patrician houses and its late-Gothic hall church.

Patrician and dolls’ houses

However it is not only those who love the Middle Ages and its architecture that get their money’s worth on the Romantic Road: along with the magnificent town palaces of the Fuggers and the impressive Renaissance and Baroque facades in Donauwörth and Augsburg that are witness to the economic blooming of the region in the 15th and 16th centuries, one can also enjoy looking at all sorts of different dolls.

In Donauwörth, enthusiasts both small and large can marvel at over 150 dolls and shop-window figures from the workshop of the famous creator of dolls Käthe Kruse; the museum is housed in the former Capuchin monastery. And in the over-2,000-year-old town of Augsburg, a museum is dedicated to the legendary Augsburger Puppenkiste, the most famous German puppet theatre.

Dream castles and faked Middle Ages

Once one has visited the pilgrimage church "Zum gegeißelten Heiland auf der Wies" (Wies Church of the Scourged Saviour) in Steingaden that belongs to the World Heritage sites as a testimonial to Bavarian Rococo, the most southernly tip of the Romantic Road is characterized by worldly pomp.

Schwangau, situated just outside Füssen, is known as the village of the dream palaces. Surrounded by four lakes and the Ammergebirge Nature Conservation Area, it is here that the towers of the Kings’ palaces Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein strive upwards towards the sky.

Slide Show: The Romantic Road

Both palaces were built in the 19th century but copy medieval styles of building. Crown Prince Maximilian had the castle of Hohenschwangau built in the neo-Gothic Tudor style. Ludwig II had the castle of Neuschwanstein built according to the model of the Wartburg – and, thanks to Walt Disney, it has now taken its place in the annals of history as the fairytale castle per se. So now at last it becomes clear that, on Germany’s favourite holiday route, romantic aspects and kitsch are often not so far apart.