|
| | Home Page > Travelogues
> Germany > Rheinland-Pfalz
> Deutsche Weinstrasse > Southern
Wine Road
Other Chapters in the Weinstrasse
section: [ Southern Wine Road ] [ Trifelsland ] [ St. Martin ] [ Landau ] [ Neustadt ] [ Bad Duerkheim ] [ Leiningerland ]
The Wine Road begins at the French border in the tiny wine towns of Schweigen
and Rechtenbach, marked symbolically with a concrete monument known as the
Weintor (the "Wine Gate"). From there, the first twenty miles or
so follow the foothills of the Pfalz mountain range, connecting a series of
little hillside towns overlooking the rolling terrain of the vineyards.
These towns all have a lot in common. Most of the residences are
half-timber, and many of them are decorated wonderfully with an array of
colorful flowers in the summer. The wine houses are (or appear to be)
family-owned operations that combine the winery with an inn and
restaurant. Several of the towns have a single landmark that distinguishes
the town and identifies its history.
This gallery describes six such towns along the first twenty miles of the
Wine Road beginning at the Weintor itself.
 |
 |
| Schweigen and Rechtenbach -- Pictured
here is the famous Weintor, erected in the 1930s when a suffering German
wine industry decided to band together several towns in the
Rhineland-Palatinate and form the German Wine Road as a way of encouraging
tourism. The Weintor marks the beginning of the Weinstrasse, and is
surrounded by winemaking exhibits and several local wine bars and
restaurants. The cuisine here is Pfälzer, which is similar to
Alsatian -- meat and potatoes, but done wonderfully (especially with a
good local white!) |
Oberotterbach -- This little town of
perhaps 1,000 people was having a local festival when I arrived, such as
the flower booth shown here beneath the town church. This region is
largely Protestant, and each town has a single small church in the center,
mostly humble structures of brick. Nearly all the rest of the old
architecture is half-timber, and very decorative. As I wandered
around, I noticed that the vast majority had congregated in the town's two
main wine bars to escape what was a humid 90-degree afternoon. |
 |
 |
| Dörrenbach -- Of the six towns
featured here, this one was the must-see. It's unique feature is
this structure, a medieval Gothic church that is fully fortified, complete
with corner towers and an external wall (which this picture shows as
having been decorated with roses). |
The center of Dörrenbach also had the most
decorative of the half-timber houses I saw. These are two examples,
though my digital camera doesn't pick out the details adequately.
Several of the beams on the left house are actually carved
structures. Dörrenbach's Town Hall was the most decorative
half-timber building I've ever seen (and is boasted as the best such
structure in the entire Pfalz region, I'll grant that as probably true --
it's fabulous). |
 |
 |
| Bad Bergzabern -- This was the
largest town on this stretch, and it too had some unique structures.
This picture shows a royal palace that is now a regional government
building. Equally impressive is the Gasthaus zum Engel (Angel's Inn)
that had to have the weirdest shape of any inn I've ever seen. Bad
Bergzabern's was much more industrialized and commercialized of the
surrounding towns, but it retained a lot of its small-town charm,
particularly its charming market square underneath the town's Protestant
Church. |
Gleiszellen-Gleishorbach -- These two
towns are each barely a neighborhood big, but they were fabulous.
This picture shows a segment of the Winzergasse (Vintner's Alley) in
Gleiszellen showing one of its Weinguts (Private Winery, more or
less). The whole Winzergasse is set up like this, a short narrow
cobblestone street lined with such establishments. |
 |
 |
| Meanwhile, Gleishorbach seemed more
residential, but this was the best shot I took of a common feature among
the streets in the region. You can see how the residents connected
wires over the street to let the vines grow like arches. Some towns
seem to have gotten this better than others, and Gleishorbach got it about
the best. |
Klingenmünster -- The final stop on
this chapter is among the first with a castle on the hills overlooking the
town and its surrounding vineyards. The Schloss Landeck is pictured
here, a medieval structure that has been renovated and refurbished as a
tourist attraction, complete with restaurant and wine bar. Castles
like this become more common as one travels further North on the German
Wine Road. |
Other Chapters in the Weinstrasse
section: [ Southern Wine Road ] [ Trifelsland ] [ St. Martin ] [ Landau ] [ Neustadt ] [ Bad Duerkheim ] [ Leiningerland ]
Trips taken 7-8 June 2003 -- Page last
updated 01 September 2006 --
(C) 2002 Tom Galvin
Useful Links:
|
