The German Timber-Frame Road (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

: ''Deutsche Fachwerkstraße'') is a German tourist route leading from the

river Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper Sorbian, Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of ...

in the north to the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is ...

and Lake Constance in the south. Numerous cities and towns each with examples of the vernacular

timber-framed houses Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

traditional to the German states are situated along the road. The total length of the route is nearly . The route is divided into seven sections, each of which follow the traditional areas of:

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

, and

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

History

In 1975, the 'ARGE Historische Fachwerkstädte e.V.' (Association of Historic Timber-Framed Towns) was founded. Its aim is to preserve the cultural heritage of a huge variety of different styles of half-timbering in Germany. To share this knowledge with other interested people, the 'German Timber-Frame Road' was founded in 1990. In the meantime, more than 100 timber-framed towns have joined up under the slogan "Timber-framed houses unite".

Sights

The German Timber-Frame Road runs almost the entire length of Germany and therefore links many varied landscapes, historic cities and carefully restored sites and monuments. Numerous events, festivals and markets throughout the year are publicised as part of the route's attractions. WernigerodeSmallestHouse

Regional routes

The German Timber-Frame Road is divided into the following seven regional sections, roughly from north to south: * From the

to the Weser Uplands (marked blue on the map) : Stade - Nienburg, Lower Saxony - Bad Essen - Stadthagen - Northeim -

Einbeck Einbeck (; Eastphalian: ''Aimbeck'') is a town in the district Northeim, in southern Lower Saxony, Germany, on the German Timber-Frame Road. History Prehistory The area of the current city of Einbeck is inhabited since prehistoric times. Var ...

- Bad Gandersheim - Alfeld * From the river Elbe plains to the Harz mountains (marked dark red on the map) :

Bleckede Bleckede (, Polabian ''Bleketsa'') is a town in the district of Lüneburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated mostly on the left bank of the Elbe, approx. 20 km east of Lüneburg. Bleckede is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. ...

- Hitzacker - Dannenberg - Lüchow - Salzwedel - Celle -

Königslutter Königslutter am Elm is a town in the district of Helmstedt in Lower Saxony, Germany. Geography It is located on the northeastern slopes of the Elm hill range, within the Elm-Lappwald Nature Park, about east of Brunswick, west of the dis ...

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

- Hornburg - Bockenem - Osterwieck -

Halberstadt Halberstadt ( Eastphalian: ''Halverstidde'') is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, the capital of Harz district. Located north of the Harz mountain range, it is known for its old town center that was greatly destroyed by Allied bom ...

- Wernigerode - Osterode - Duderstadt * From the Weser Uplands via Northern

to the Vogelsberg mountains and the

Spessart Spessart is a '' Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level. Et ...

mountains (marked brown on the map) : Hannoversch Münden - Eschwege - Hessisch Lichtenau -

Spangenberg Spangenberg is a small town in northeastern Hesse, Germany. Geography Spangenberg lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some southeast of Kassel, west of the Stölzinger Gebirge, a low mountain range. Spangenberg is the demographic centrepoint of ...

Melsungen Melsungen () is a small climatic spa town in the Schwalm-Eder district in northern Hesse, Germany. In 1987, the town hosted the 27th '' Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Melsungen lies on the river Fulda in the North Hesse Highlands. The stre ...

Wolfhagen Wolfhagen () is a town in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 12 km southeast of Bad Arolsen, and 23 km west of Kassel on the German Timber-Frame Road. In 1992, the town hosted the 32nd Hessentag state festiva ...

- Bad Arolsen - Korbach - Fritzlar - Homberg (Efze) - Rotenburg an der Fulda - Bad Hersfeld - Schwalmstadt - Alsfeld - Schlitz - Lauterbach - Grünberg - Lich - Butzbach - Büdingen - Gelnhausen - Steinau an der Straße * From the Harz mountains to the

Thuringian Forest The Thuringian Forest (''Thüringer Wald'' in German), is a mountain range in the southern parts of the German state of Thuringia, running northwest to southeast. Skirting from its southerly source in foothills to a gorge on its north-west side ...

(marked orange on the map) : Stolberg - Bleicherode - Worbis -

Mühlhausen Mühlhausen () is a city in the north-west of Thuringia, Germany, north of Niederdorla, the country's geographical centre, north-west of Erfurt, east of Kassel and south-east of Göttingen. Mühlhausen was first mentioned in 967 and ...

- Wanfried - Treffurt - Bad Langensalza - Vacha -

Schmalkalden Schmalkalden () is a town in the Schmalkalden-Meiningen district, in the southwest of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is on the southern slope of the Thuringian Forest at the Schmalkalde river, a tributary to the Werra. , the town had a popu ...

* From the river Lahn valley to the Rhine District (marked yellow on the map) :

Dillenburg Dillenburg, officially Oranienstadt Dillenburg, is a town in Hesse's Gießen region in Germany. The town was formerly the seat of the old Dillkreis district, which is now part of the Lahn-Dill-Kreis. The town lies on the German-Dutch holiday road ...

- Herborn - Wetzlar - Braunfels - Hadamar - Limburg - Bad Camberg - Idstein - Eltville * From the

river Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

to the river Main and the Odenwald mountains (marked purple on the map) : Trebur - Dreieich - Hanau-Steinheim - Seligenstadt - Babenhausen - Dieburg - Groß-Umstadt - Wertheim - Miltenberg - Walldürn -

Erbach Erbach may refer to: Places *Erbach im Odenwald, a town in Hesse, Germany *Erbach an der Donau, a town on the Danube River in Baden-Württemberg, Germany *Erbach, Rheingau, a district of Eltville, Hesse, Germany *Erbach, Rhineland-Palatinate, a mun ...

- Reichelsheim * From the river Neckar to the

and Lake Constance (marked red on the map) : Mosbach - Eppingen -

Besigheim Besigheim () is a municipality in the district of Ludwigsburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated 13 km north of Ludwigsburg at the confluence of the Neckar and Enz rivers. The town has many old buildings and a town ...

- Bietigheim-Bissingen - Vaihingen an der Enz - Markgröningen - Marbach -

Backnang Backnang (; swg, Bagene) is a town in Germany in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, roughly northeast of Stuttgart. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 35,761 in 2005. Backnang was ceded to W ...

- Waiblingen - Schorndorf - Esslingen - Kirchheim unter Teck -

Bad Urach Bad Urach () is a town in the district of Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 14 km east of Reutlingen, at the foot of the Swabian ''Alb'' (or Swabian Alps in English), and is known for its spa and therapeutic bath. Ne ...

: Here the route divides in a western part in the direction of the

, and a southern part in the direction of Lake Constance: : - Western Route: From Bad Urach to

Herrenberg Herrenberg ( Swabian: ''Härrabärg'' or ''Haerebärg'') is a town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, about 30 km south of Stuttgart and 20 km from Tübingen. After Sindelfingen, Böblingen, and Leonberg, it is the fourth largest town ...

- Calw - Altensteig - Dornstetten -

Schiltach Schiltach is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Black Forest, on the river Kinzig, 20 km south of Freudenstadt. Geography Schiltach lies on the eastern side of the Black Fores ...

- Haslach : - Southern route: From Bad Urach to Blaubeuren - Riedlingen - Biberach an der Riß - Pfullendorf - Meersburg

Gallery

Esslingen kesslerhaus gr.jpg, Speyrer Zehnthof in Esslingen am Neckar (Kesslerhaus) Marktplatz (Herrenberg) IMG 2823.jpg, Marketplace in

Jaegerhaeusle (Hunters house ) in Schiltach built on the town wall.JPG, Jägerhäusle (Hunter's House) in

, built on the town wall in 1590 Schiltach Marketplace out of the townhall.JPG, Marketplace in

(

) Wetterburg.JPG, The ''Wetterburg'' near Bad Arolsen Bernkastel 12 (5486108438).jpg, Market square of

Bernkastel Bernkastel-Kues () is a town on the Middle Moselle in the Bernkastel-Wittlich district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a well-known winegrowing centre. The town is a state-recognized health resort (''Erholungsort''), seat of the ''Ver ...

Fachwerkhaus Marktplatz Butzbach.JPG, Timber-framed house at the marketplace in Butzbach, built in the 16th century Ohrfeigenhaus Treffurt.JPG, Box-on-the-ear house, Treffurt Rathaus Treffurt.JPG, Town hall, Treffurt Thuringia Schmalkalden asv2020-07 img10 Salzbruecke.jpg, Salzbrücke,

Dornstetten-p01.jpg, Market square, Dornstetten Haslach, Gasthaus zum Rebstock, Kirchgasse.jpg, "Gasthaus zum Rebstock" (inn) in Haslach im Kinzigtal (

)

References

External links