Predominant: River Lahn
This town counts a little over 50,000 inhabitants and is located in central Hessen. Wetzlar is dominated by the river Lahn, which winds through old town passing various ensembles of historical buildings and houses.
Although not exactly known when, Wetzlar was already at the end of the Roman Empire a settlement that received during early Middle Ages rights to do markets and bazaars. Wetzlar was mentioned for the first time in a donation document dated 832 for the monastery of Lorsch. In 1180 it was announced imperial town by Friedrich I. Barbarossa. Wetzlar maintained this status until 1803. In 1815 Wetzlar became Prussian and after World War 2 it became part of Hessen.
Besides important single constructions Wetzlar owes its special charm to an astonishing Old Town. Nearly completely preserved ensembles of historical buildings like half-timbered houses and stone houses from Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque times take you back into a time when master of words Goethe was still a trainee at the imperial Supreme Court and wrote "Werther".
Many buildings assemble around places like butter market near the cathedral, fish market, iron market and grain market; some buildings like the "Wandständer construction" are very old (1356). To the oldest buildings in Wetzlar belong further “Alte Münze” at iron market and “Römischer Kaiser”, a former theatre. To Goethe refers also the “Jerusalem” house in which the model for Goethe’s Werther, Karl Wilhelm Jerusalem shot himself.
Of special attraction are walks along Lahn’s shores over which the old stone bridge "Alte Lahnbrücke" leads, which was mentioned for the first time in documents in 1288. Moreover, worthwhile visiting is the Wetzlar cathedral whose construction started in 1230. Unfortunately a date of completion cannot be named since cathedral’s tower is even still today not completed.
Central Hessen has a cultural life which is characterized both by modern festivals and events rich in tradition. Since 1318 a fair is held on the 16th of October, on the day of St. Gallus. Nowadays many activities and attractions in Wetzlar’s pedestrian zone accompany this fair.
More demanding is the programme at the Wetzlar festival which beside operas and operettas stages also musicals and concerts. Every three years Central Hessen’s biggest public festival takes place in Wetzlar. Highlight at the "Ochsenfest" (ox festival) is a parade through town.
The "bridge party" takes place on the old Lahn Bridge to which it is dedicated. "Summer night wine party" on Schillerplatz in the Old Town is of course a wine festival. However, the wine is from more southern areas, since in and around Wetzlar wine-growing can hardly be found.
A lot of museums and galleries can be discovered in Wetzlar as well. Especially the subject of optics is an attraction in Wetzlar, because as a centre of high grade optical device production the town has some famous museums devoted to this subject. Among galleries „Gallery near the Cathedral“, that displays works of contemporary artists, is worthwhile mentioning.
One of the typical dishes in Wetzlar is "Dulges", dough made of raw potatoes, onions, bacon, salt and spices which is roasted in a roasting pan and said to taste better than it looks. Also favoured is "Schmierchelskuche", a potato cake with onion layer with a top of sweet jam – a food one probably first has to get used to.
River Lahn is used by many tourists for canoeing and boat trips. In Wetzlar there are five landing places specially intended for it. Nevertheless, Wetzlar also is situated at the German Fachwerkstrasse and Lahn Holiday Street which can be taken by car or motorcycle. Lahnhöhenweg and Dillweg are footpaths for hikers while Lahntalradweg is according to the German Cycling Club among the top 10 German bicycle tracks.
Wetzlar is situated 70 km from Frankfurt airport and lies at two railway lines, Frankfurt am Main – Siegen – Cologne as well as Giessen – Limburg - Koblenz.
More information: http://www.wetzlar.de/
Photo: Christopher Kubaseck
