It’s possible that Nußloch in the Baden region is one of the best dressed towns in all of Germany. Well, if you’re going to travel on the Bergstrasse or the Bertha Benz Memorial Route (both of which come right through here), you SHOULD look good while you’re doing it.
The very first place to come in Nußloch is the Betty Barclay Outlet on Max-Berk-Straße. Betty Barclay has been around dressing brides and formal events for decades. I’d like to think that Mrs. Benz would have shopped at Betty Barclay, but the company wasn’t founded until 1938. They even dressed the German Women’s Olympic Team in 2008. So, do you see why you need to go their first? ;-)
Getting here is easy enough, just follow the signs from Heidelberg (about 10 km north) on either the Bergstrasse or the Bertha Benz Memorial Route.
If you choose the Bergstraße, you’ll be traveling on an old Roman Road that goes on from the Odenwald, down into the wine growing region of Baden and Hesse. Wine is real serious business here and the countryside with all the grapes ripening on the vines is more than stunning.
The Bertha Benz Memorial Route follows the historical route that Mrs. Benz took with her husband Karl’s prototype car in 1888. I’m sure the name Benz sounds familiar within the automobile industry — yeah, this was where the world’s love of the German automobile started.
Either route is nice to take and leads you right into the heart of town. The old Lutheran Church is now the town’s library, but the St. Laurentius Church is still holding services since 1756.
When you’re in Nußloch, make sure you look up. Look up? Yes, there’s an aerial track that’s bringing material to and from the Heidelberg Cement Company. Now you’ll know what it is, when you see it.
The aerial track isn’t the only modern thing working in town, there’s the modern City Hall that works, too. The much older one that preceded it was destroyed in 1945.
Nußloch is a remarkable blending of old and new, historical and modern; and better yet, is easily reached though some of the best wine growing parts of Germany (again, Baden).
Oh, maybe you better not do that if you’re driving on the Bertha Benz Route — so stay a while and sample some of the best of the local wineries and shop ’til you can’t shop any more!
