Just on the eastern border of Celle, and right on the edge of the Lüneburg Heath, are the five districts that make up the collective municipality of Lachendorf.

That tells you some about it, but that’s not all there is, ya know.

There are five districts to the town, each is unique and has something for you to see and do.

Take Ahnsbeck, for example. This village is known for its nature reserve area, as well as its 15th century chapel, and it’s old Bake House.

Beedenbostel has the Baroque church of St. Martin of Tours, a 20th century mill, and old houses like the one at Am Wehrturm 3 that was built in 1751.

Eldingen has its own church, too. St. Mary’s is tad older, built in the 1300s, but its Castle didn’t come along until the turn of the last century. Today the manor house is used for all sorts of celebrations and exhibitions.

For some really, really old history (no, make that prehistory) head to Gockenholz, known for its Bronze Age burial mounds.

Spechtshorn (part of Hohne) is good if you want to hike along some peat bogs, or if you’re into bird watching, since many migratory birds stop here before getting to their end destination.

Over in Hohne proper is a quaint village church (the Church of the Assumption) that looks postcard perfect just about anytime of year, but especially in the summer. Hohne is also where you’ll find what used to be Burg Heeßel, a castle from the 8th century.

Lachendorf’s got plenty of festivals on top of everything else. Spring starts off right with the Easter bonfire, while April brings on the Dorffest (Village Festival). July is the perfect month for the Summer Festival, while the Thanksgiving Festival, Autumn Market, and Autumn Festival are held when the weather starts to get cooler (think, September). And what a charming Christmas Market Lachendorf has, too.

It’s all in one place, one would say, and there’s little to laugh about.

What if I told you there was a hamlet in Upper Franconia that has a population of 2. Yup, just two.

I have to admit the idea of a place where only two people lived kind of intrigued me. You can go there too; you’ll find the village of Kunigundenruh in the town of Litzendorf.

There are a whole lot more villages that make up Litzendorf, giving it a total population of around 6,000 people. It might seem a bit more crowded than that considering so many people come here to see its Celtic tumuli from the Bronze Age. Some of these ancient burial mounds are quite big, averaging some 8-25 meters wide.

Lots of folks come to Litzendorf to also see its Jungfernhöhle, or Maids’ Cave. It’s also been called the Virgin Cave, but aptly named since many of the bones found within were female.

Then you’ve got the people who come here to scope out the sculptures along the Fränkische Straße der Skulpturen, or Franconian Road of Sculpture. There are around a dozen of these unique pieces of art found along the way.

Just don’t go confusing it with the 3.3km Kunst- und Besinnungsweg, or Art & Contemplation Route. I swear, I can’t keep up with all these scenic routes. ;-)

Hmm, I’m not even going to try — I’m going to go to the Baroque St. Wenceslas Church with all its gold and marble decorations, tall candles, and beautiful statues.

It’ll also be good to head out to the Ellertal, a natural area of rolling hills complete with waterfalls; followed by a trip around town to Litzendorf’s five breweries.

Better yet, grab a few beers to go, and take ’em to Kunigundenruh’s picnic area. Hey, with only two people living there — you might find a minute to yourself.

Last, but by no means least, is a stop to see the Sängerehrenmal Melkendorf — a creation of twelve limestone pillars; a memorial of sorts from the 1950s.

Litzendorf is a fascinating town, full of art and culture and history — with a unique hamlet of only two.

It’d be three if they let me move in… ;-)

How many of these webpages could actually start off with, Once Upon A Time? A good number of them, I’d bet.

One thing is for sure, the Middle Franconian town of Wassertrüdingen could definitely be one of them.

The whole town knows it; no wonder they’ve got themselves a whole Sagen- und Geschichtenweg, a fun touristy route that highlights some local legends and ghostly tales. To make this town even better, it also falls on the Deutsche Ferienroute Alpen-Ostee; one of Germany’s longest scenic routes that runs from Berchtesgaden to the Baltic Sea.

A group tour around Wassertrüdingen is a good way to experience most of the place — there’s a lot to take in. For real, you could spend a month of Sundays just wandering around its 18 villages looking at its half-timbered houses alone. The area right around the town’s mill, with all its framework houses and cobblestone streets, is particularly charming. It’s one of the best examples of Old World Germany, in my humble opinion.

It’d be another month of Sundays to finish off all the hiking and biking trails (not including Nordic Walking routes). There are some four marked hiking trails, and six bike routes through Wassertrüdingen. Hats off to anyone brave enough to bike on cobblestone streets.

For such a small town there are quite a number of museums here. There is a Natural History Museum, a Railway Museum, the Türmerstube (who wouldn’t want to learn was 19th century German life was like), and the Fluvius — a museum about all the wonder of the Wörnitz River. Besides, the Römerpark Ruffenhofen is all about the Romans who used to call this part of Bavaria home.

I wouldn’t mind calling this place home, either, especially when Wassertrüdingen kicks off one of its festivals. October’s a really good month for festivities with all sorts of church festivals going on, and even an Oktoberfest. July’s good too, with its Altstadtfest (Old Town Festival) taking place on the first weekend of July.

The Afrika Karibik Fest makes the summer even hotter, when thousands party with African-Caribbean feelings — befitting fashion (hair & body), drinks and food included. And the Trüdinger Nußmärteltreiben is a very unique event where young dark creatures cause fun pursuits, while handing out sweet and not so sweet stuff. It takes place since 1972, in the evening hours on November 10th.

You know, the funny part about stories that start off “once upon a time” always finish with “the end” — but there’s no end to what you can do & see in Wassertrüdingen.

Just 29 kilometers (give or take) southwest of Nuremberg is the wonderful town of Windsbach.

Shh, I’ll tell you a secret — this place never ceases to amaze me.

It isn’t about the beer, or about the Alps this time. Sorry, no Alps anyway, Windsbach is up in Middle Franconia. It’s just that you wander around little village streets like Kolbenstraße and Hauptstraße, falling in love with half-timbered houses from the 17th and 18th centuries.

Check out the Gasthaus Stern, for instance, and the old Pharmacy while you’re out there.

Now I know I can kind of romanticize some places in my head, but the reality is, I know it wasn’t always so idyllic. Never is this more evident than catching glimpses of the town’s Stadtmauer, or defense wall. The Alte Stadtmauer is located along Arnsbacher Straße and Retz Straße.

This was just one of three lines of defense to protect Windsbach’s medieval citizens during very turbulent times. The Oberes Tor, also called the Schwabacher Tor, and the Brückentor are the only two remaining gates from its medieval hey-day.

The Fortified Church was another line against marauders, while today we look at it as an outstanding piece of medieval history.

Windsbach’s third, and last, line of defense was its castle. Too bad it’s gone now, but the town’s 18th century Rathaus (Town Hall) is located right next to where it once stood. A little imagination is all that’s needed to see it in your head.

The 18th century wasn’t all that bad to Windsbach, that’s when the Margrave Bridge was built; the Wassermühle (Water Mill) came along, and the yellow-painted St. Margaret Church was rebuilt over its 9th century original.

A few of Windsbach’s sites are a bit older, like the town cemetery from the 1500s; the Gottesruhkapelle, a chapel, has frescoes from around 1430, and the Parish Church of St. George has a charming medieval courtyard.

Scattered throughout the rest of town are old bakehouses, barns, and little shrines and medieval memorial crosses, and a flower-filled 16th century cemetery.

I told you it wasn’t about the Alps or beer — Windsbach won me over with gorgeous architecture and very German-like planning to keep riff-raff out.

You don’t think they meant me, do you? ;-)

Writing these webpages isn’t as easy as it looks. Sometimes I have to be serious, for others I try (somewhat badly at times) to be funny. All in all, the bottom line is I try to give you a look into the life of a typical German town.

There are festivals and old castles, parks and lakes, famous and infamous people. Then there are places like the town of Ispringen — where it’s just ordinary folks sitting around picnic tables talking and eating, listening to music, and it’s just an average day just north of the “golden” city of Pforzheim.

That’s what I like about Ispringen, no frills — no fluff; where the water of the Kämpfelbach makes its way to the Rhine and you’d never know the area was plundered and pillaged during the Napoleonic Wars.

Enough of the philosophical stuff — you’re here to have a good time. And I can’t think of anything better to do that than at one of Ispringen’s festivals or cultural events.

The latter half of the year is real fun time to be here — it’s when the annual Herbstfest (Autumn Festival) is going on in October, followed by upcoming Christmas events like the Christmas Bazaar, when mulled wine stands go up to imbibe a little, and Jazz brunches are taking place.

That’s not entirely fair to the earlier months of the year, though. Come February when you’ve got the Rosenmontag Ball to attend, not to mention the May Day events (May 1st).

In between partying like there’s no tomorrow, you’ve still got sightseeing to do. Schloss Bauschlott (in nearby Neulingen) is a start — see if you can tell how old this brightly colored castle really is.

OK, I’ll tell you — it was originally built in 1540.

A couple of “natural monuments” await, out over by Eisingen. Some call it a sinkhole, but it used to be a Roman quarry — so is it really?

If this is an average day, I’d like to think of how amazing it must be on an extraordinary day here in and around Ispringen…

If you’re wondering whether you’ve been here or not yet, this town of Geislingen lies in the Zollernalbkreis, and it is not be confused with “the other” Geislingen an der Steige, over in the Göppingen District.

This Geislingen is a bird watchers dream spot. Heck, I’m in love with these flying guys. You’ll see Blackbirds (the males have yellow beaks), Wagtails, brightly colored Gimpels, listen to a few varieties of Woodpeckers, find the Tree Pipets, Red Starts, and if you’re truly lucky — you’ll find the very rare Chaffinch.

I’ll give you a hint when to find them — they’re winter visitors to Geislingen.

That’s all right, come the summer months you’ll be too busy doing other stuff. The Schlossparkbad is open mid-May to mid-September, so you’ll be swimming at the Palace Gardens swimming pool. Don’t worry, the water’s not cold — it’s heated. And there are lots of BBQ grilling areas for picnics of good sausages and whatever else strikes your culinary fancy.

You’ll find some old buildings around town, too. OK, the Church of St. Ulrich isn’t too old, built only in 1928. But, the Geislinger Wasserschloss, that houses the town’s library, is a Water Castle from 1426. Built by the Bubenhofens and once owned by the Stauffenbergs, the white castle is the town’s landmark — so it’s a must see!

For anyone wanting to spend more time outdoors than in, might I suggest you find one of the two handfuls of hiking trails that lead around Geislingen’s two other villages (Binsdorf and Erlaheim)? Or, find one that just leads off into the Swabian Alb.

Your choice, but either way you’re not going to be disappointed.

I am disappointed in myself to think I would have forgotten such a pretty place like this Geislingen — and hope you won’t make the same mistake I did. ;-)

Your first impression of Geisingen in Baden-Württemberg might be, “damn, this place is huge.”

Well, it’s all a matter of perspective… But at least is here room for the Danube, castles and festivals, churches and hiking trails… Awesome, right?

I knew you’d agree. ;-)

Let’s start off with the castles. There are quite a number of them, mostly medieval, by the way. Well, they were at one time.

Take Burg Wartenberg, for example. Not much of this mid-12th century structure remains — but still pretty if you look past its crumbly facade.

It’s been said that you can see the Swiss Alps from up here on the Wartenberg. I wouldn’t know — too busy looking around for other castles to worry about neighboring Switzerland.

I found them, too, by the way. Except they’re not really castles anymore. Ehrenburg (Hausen), Burg Hörnekapf, Burg Neu-Sunthausen, and Heidenburg are all in ruins at this point. Who cares, really, the fact that the Ehrenburg dates back to around to the year 700 — that’s impressive enough for me.

Where do you go from here? How can you top that?

Ahh, Friends, with a party of course! Over in Gutmadingen you’ve got an annual Village Festival (a Dorffest, if you will), and another over in Kirchen-Hausen; while Leipferdingen kicks it with a musical Fountain Festival (Brunnenfest), and Aulfingen’s got a Pfarrbuckfest.

I told you Geisingen’s got churches, too. Over in Kirchen-Hausen, St. Mary’s Church got its start around 600 A.D., but over the last 13 centuries it has seen its fair share of renovations. This is the village to see the St. Antoniuskapelle, once a pilgrimage site during the Middle Ages.

Another pilgrimage site for Geisingen is the St. Michael Church in Leipferdingen. This early 16th century church doesn’t get the traffic it once did, but still worth looking at after all these years.

With all this going on, who has time to find a hiking trail? Not me, but you can if you give yourself enough time. Hopefully you don’t go too far — and find yourself in Switzerland.

Although, I hear they make a nice watch. ;-)

It’s been said that the town of Zell im Wiesental is in the extreme southern Black Forest.

I don’t know if I’d have put it that way myself, knowing that Zell lies just mere kilometers to the Swiss border. But well, the fact that this primo real estate is in the Black Forest does make it attractive, yes.

Were you aware that Zell im Wiesental is the hometown of Constanze Weber? Connie who? You might know her by her married name, Constanze Mozart — yup, Wolfgang Amadeus’ wife.

The very fact that good old Wolfgang’s wife came from Zell isn’t its only claim to fame. The entire town was specifically known for its textile industry, so there’s no better place to put a Textile Museum. It isn’t just “ohhh, look at the patterned cloth,” ya know. Here you’ll learn all about the process of how the material is woven in looms, the machinery of the industry, and how the material is dyed to just the right colors.

Long before Zell became famous for its textiles, it was a simple medieval town with medieval churches. St. Fridolin is probably the most famous in town, built here in 1545; and rebuilt again in 1699 and 1818.

I like the Church of St. Nicholas, built in 1267. Who in their right mind can pass on a medieval church?

And I like the Evangelical church in the village of Gresgen. The current place was put here in 1764, but had you been here in 1360 you’d have seen the original one. Don’t go expecting opulence or over-the-top details, this church is great in its simplicity — no bells & whistles, just you in a holy place.

The rest of your time in Zell can be spent between visiting the Schwarznau Game Reserve to see animals like deer and boar; or, you can party ’til the cows come home at the annual Zeller Fastnacht. This Carnival event’s been taking place for almost 400 years, so they’ve kinda got the whole thing down right.

You’ll be really lucky if you’re here for one of the cultural performances at Zell’s outdoor theater. Doesn’t matter if you don’t speak German, you’ll still have a good time.

The view from Zell is amazing, too. Some parts are at a whopping 1300 meters above sea level — forget Switzerland, I think I see Italy. Nope, I only got eyes for the Black Forest. ;-)

Wow, I’m having a serious case of Déjà vu in regard to Plau am See, because I know I’ve been to this town before. Oh well, I’ll just have to meander around until it comes back to me.

Oh well, there are far worse places to spend the day. ;-)

Duh, it just hit me — it’s on Lake Plau, along the Müritz-Elde Waterway. I’d say that’s besides the point, but that’s all part of Plau am See’s charm. There’s a promenade area offering up views of this very famous lake.

There’s more to Plau am See than just its location on the banks of a lake, ya know. It’s got this really cool castle tower with walls three meters thick. The Castle Tower does double duty as a museum these days, where you can learn all about its medieval origins.

The tower can’t take up all your time in Plau am See, oh no. This is a climatic health resort area, so you need to make time to scope out the Kneipp area. And if that’s not enough to make you feel better, then give the golfing, hiking, paragliding, or horseback riding a try. You could always bike along a section of the Mecklenburg Lake Bike Trail, or give a go to one of the Nordic Walking routes.

By golly, I’m tired and I didn’t even get into all that.

Come to think of it, maybe you should leave some time to do a guided Old Town Tour. They’re available twice a week, taking you to not only the tower — but along to some of the town’s half-timbered houses, its Renaissance styled Town Hall, the former synagogue from the 19th century, and the Gothic Church of St. Mary.

If you’re going to venture further into the town’s other districts, I’d suggest you go see some of their village churches. I truly believe you’ll love the stone & brick architecture of Church Barkow, and the stone wall surrounding the uniquely constructed Church Retzow.

It might also be a good idea to come to Plau am See for some of its annual festivals, or other cultural events. Every summer the Church of St. Mary’s turns itself into a music venue for concerts, and in June there’s the Tractor Event full of Classic Cars.

Ugh, I could kick myself for not remembering what a wonderful place Plau am See really is. I promise, I’ll never forget you again. ;-)

I love you, Germany, but sometimes you’re awfully confusing to the outside world. I mean, what did you think would happen if you named like five towns the same exact thing? For real, how many towns named Laudenbach do you actually need?

This one, for the sake of this webpage, is just ten square kilometers located in the northwest corner of Baden-Württemberg; known as Laudenbach an der Bergstraße, right on the border of Hesse.

Heck, Heidelberg is only 25km south of it, for that matter.

Now that you know where to find it, you’ll be able to make your way over to celebrate the annual Froschkerwe, a church festival that’s held over the first weekend of September — ending on that Monday.

Great, a multi-day event of eating, drinking, singing and dancing.

While only a one-day goings-on, the Christmas Market on December’s first Saturday is worth stopping for.

This Laudenbach is also a great place to stay if you’re looking to hike the Neckartal-Odenwald. Some forty different tracks and trails snake their way through the region teaching you all about all the things found within.

You know what else you’ll find in the region? A castle — yup, the Starkenburg. There’s no way to miss it, it sits high up on the mountaintop flying the Hessian flag.

C’mon, I know it’s a technicality that the Starkenburg is actually a Hessian castle — but cut me some slack, it’s only located right next door. ;-)

Anyway, the castle ruin today is a restaurant — and its so-called hauntings by the White Lady haven’t kept too many people at bay.

Creepy haunted castles not for you? I understand, so I’ll send you off in the direction of the Evangelical Alte Dorfkirche, or Old Village Church. You can’t miss that either with its tall black spire atop its old stone tower. Can you tell the church is nearly eight hundred years old?

I haven’t been to all the Laudenbachs yet, so I don’t know if all of them are as wondeful as this one — but if they are, no brainer to think why you’d need like five of ’em.