Dinkelsbühl
Category:Has custom banner Dinkelsbühl is a town of 12,000 people (2023) in Mittelfranken. It has escaped both wars and overzealous city planners with its old town largely intact. It has therefore come to be considered a stop along the Romantic Road.
For those whose interest in medieval architecture is more limited, Dinkelsbühl is also well known as the site of Summerbreeze Open Air, a yearly Heavy Metal Festival.
Understand
It is a former Reichsstadt (nominally subject to the Emperor but to no other ruler) and grew slowly since the end of the Holy Roman Empire.
Dinkelsbühl was de facto self-governing until 1802 when it was annexed by Bavaria in the course of the Napoleonic Wars. Uniquely during the era of cuius regio eius religio (the ruler would decide the faith of the subjects), Dinkelsbühl had not only equal rights for Lutherans and Catholics but a city government composed of equal numbers of both. Its current touristic importance is largely due to the well preserved old town, which was "discovered" by American soldiers stationed in the American Zone of Occupation after World War II who would link several medieval and "romantic" stops to the Romantic Road before tourist marketing agencies got wind of it and started marketing it themselves. Compared to nearby Rothenburg ob der Tauber Dinkelsbühl is less well known and therefore less crowded with tourists.
Tourist information
- Dinkelsbühl tourist information web page
Get in
By train
The train line through Dinkelsbühl while still extant has been shut down for regular service and is only sporadically served by a heritage railway from Nördlingen among other routes.
By plane
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is in Nuremberg (NUE IATA)
- 1 Flugplatz Dinkelsbühl-SinbronnCategory:Has map markers. A small general aviation airfield.
Get around
Parking
- 2 Parkplatz BleicheCategory:Has map markers, Nikolaus-Eseler-Straße. free.
See
- 1 St. GeorgeCategory:Has map markers. St. Georg Church is a striking late Gothic hall church at the heart of medieval old town. Built between 1448 and 1499 by Nicolaus Eseler, it features soaring sandstone columns, a luminous interior, and a remarkable ribbed vault supported by eleven pairs of pillars. The 65-meter tower, inherited from an earlier Romanesque church, offers panoramic views when accessible. Inside, visitors can admire six ornate altars, including the famed Brezenfenster—a stained-glass window donated by the bakers’ guild, symbolizing civic pride. The church hosts regular organ concerts and is open daily.
- 2 Former City HallCategory:Has map markers. Today housing a museum.
- 3 Deutsches HausCategory:Has map markers. A timber-framed house.
- 4 StadtmühleCategory:Has map markers. A mill.
- 5 Rothenburger TorCategory:Has map markers. Citygate
- 6 Segringer TorCategory:Has map markers. Citygate
- 7 Nördlinger TorCategory:Has map markers. Citygate
- 8 WörnitztorCategory:Has map markers. Citygate
- 9 Old Town HallCategory:Has map markers (Altes Rathaus), Altrathausplatz 14. After the town hall at the leather market in 1483/84 fell victim to a fire, the city acquired two residential buildings to use it as a town hall. The two buildings were connected by a gatehouse. When Dinkelsbühl had lost its imperial immissibility and came to the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1806, the town hall had become too large. In 1855, the municipal administration moved to the former star economy at Segringer Straße 30. From 1887, the building was used as a school building.
Do
- 1 Summer Breeze Open AirCategory:Has map markers. A heavy metal festival held here every year since 2006.
- The last week in October is Fischerntewoche (fish harvest week)
Eat
- 1 Wilder MannCategory:Has map markers, Wörnitzstraße 1, 91550 Dinkelsbühl, ☏ +49 9851 552525.
- 2 Weib's BrauhausCategory:Has map markers, Untere Schmiedgasse 13, 91550 Dinkelsbühl,, ☏ +49 9851 579490. Original Swabian dishes served with their own beers.
Drink
Sleep
- 1 DCC Camping Park "Romantic Road"Category:Has map markers (DCC Campingpark "Romantische Straße"), Kobeltsmühle 6, ☏ +49 9851 7817.
Connect
Go next
| Routes through Dinkelsbühl |
| Würzburg ← Rothenburg ob der Tauber ← | Würzburg  Füssen |
→ Nördlingen → Augsburg |
Category:Middle FranconiaCategory:All destination articles