Whether it|s raining or shining, winter or summer, Bavaria is going to delight you. Perhaps this is why the state is the most visited part of Germany. I don’t know, I can only guess — but when you find places like Vilseck, along the Vils River, it is an educated one.
A few hundred years ago I wouldn’t have been able to make that statement, considering almost the entire population was wiped out due to the dreaded Black Death over four years in the 1630s. And who ever wasn’t wiped out by that had to suffer through all the pillaging of the Thirty Years’ War.
And WWII brought the United States Army to Vilseck, which the town celebrates with an annual German-American Volksfest.
It ain’t a one-horse show, ya know. Vilseck gets its party on for its annual Vilsecker Kirwa and its Ebersbacher Kirwa (in August). These are just two of its 35 villages, so there’s something to do just about every time you turn around.
For instance, Burg Dagestein has its Castle Festival in July, and its Burgkirwa on the 4th weekend of October. Ohh, a creepy 10th century castle around Halloween? Fantastic!
For a piece of history with a good bite to eat, look no further than the Pflegerhof, now a hotel & restaurant built into what used to be part of the town’s Stadtmauer, or city wall, from the 14th century.
There are a couple of old churches here in Vilseck. The Pfarrkirche St. Ägidius is both a Romanesque and Gothic design, while the Church of St. Georg has a Romanesque tower. The baby of the bunch is the Leonhardskirche that didn’t come along until the 16th century.
That’s around the same time the Axtheider Schlößl, once a home of the Bishops of Bamberg, was built.
One of the most modern places in Vilseck is its outdoor pool, complete with waterslide and beach volleyball court.
As cool as all this is, the Oberpfälzer Bienenlehrpfad is the best. What’s that? Oh, it’s an educational Bee Trail where everything is all about the mighty bee.
Best stay clear if you’re allergic though. If so, visit the Vogelturm (Bird Tower) that’s become the Deutsches Türmermuseum, or German Tower Museum; the first of its kind, that is.
Now do you see why Bavaria, and small towns like Vilseck, are so popular?
