Do you know the best thing about choices? For me, the best thing about choices — is well, choice; I’m not limited to just one thing.
Gimme a minute before jumping up asking: Marcus, have you lost your mind? I have, but not for the reasons you might think. The reasons I’m mentioning choices, because there are quite a few in regards to the Franconian town of Hollfeld.
Your first choice is, do you take a guided tour around town, or do you do it yourself? If you choose the former, you best be at the Rathaus (Town Hall) on Saturday mornings to get in on a tour. Don’t worry too much, it’ll only cost you a few Euro, which is money well spent.
Or, if you’re more independent, you can choose to tramp around Hollfeld’s twenty-four districts all on your own. Either way, the sights and sounds and smells will all be (pretty much) the same. No tour (guided or otherwise) should be without seeing the Blauer Turm, a bright blue tower that used to be a brewery.
Beer and Franconia, go figure. ;-)
Anyway, there’s no missing the town’s Salvatorkirche. This isn’t just any ordinary church, mind you, legend says Jesus himself appeared on this very spot — which explains why the townsfolk built the original pilgrimage church more than a thousand years ago.
You’d think this would be Hollfeld’s landmark, but that’s reserved for the Gangolfskirche — another medieval church steeped in legends and lore.
As much as it pains me to say, you can’t spend your entire visit going from church to church, you’re gonna have to go outside to get the full Hollfeld experience. Warmer weather gives you fields of yellow flowers, vast green fields, and plenty of hiking opportunities on either the Blue Dot Trail or Yellow Dot Trail.
Hooray, more choices! And there are plenty of shopping choices at the Wochenmarkt (Weekly Market), held at the Marienplatz every Friday morning from 9am-noon.
There’s even opportunities to learn a few things in Hollfeld, go visit the town’s museum to find out more about beekeeping, among other things. If you don’t mind, I’ll take a trek over see the two nearby castles, Schloss Freienfels and Burg Wiesentfels. Too bad there isn’t anything left of Stadtburg Hollfeld, I love thousand year old castles. Who doesn’t?
As you can see, a visit to Hollfeld offers up a number of choices to see and do plenty in the pretty part of the Franconian Switzerland — so it’s easy to see why Hollfeld’s the right choice for everyone.
