Bamberg Shopping

All of Kaethe Wohlfahrt shops all over Germany are eye catching to say the least. They are amazing to browse and are dressed and displayed with obvious meticulous care and attention to detail. A gift shopper's delight, you might say.
So why do I say that Kaethe Wohlfahrt stands alone? Well, in this instance, I was in Bamberg on a rainy Sunday and the only store open (and selling umbrellas) was Kaethe Wohlfahrt. This is probably one of the many reasons for the huge success of this chain of stores. I know that it is the norm in Germany for shops to close on Sunday, but what about the visitors? On this particular Sunday there was money to be made, if only the proprietors of the other stores could see that. Kaethe Wohlfahrt is on top of the heap because the proprietors are prepared to go that extra mile. Good luck to them.

What to buy: The stores are particularly well known for the amazing array of dolls of all shapes and sizes to be had.

What to pay: A little or a lot depending on what you are looking for.

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If you love Christmas, you'll love the "Christmas Store" KATHE WOHLFAHRT as it's Christmas here all year long. Everything imaginable can be found here. Christmas Villages - lights - knick knacks - tree decorations - house decorations - etc.
There was also one in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, so it is obviously a chain of stores. I popped in to get some Bamberg postcards for my scrapbook.

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There is a beer and beer items store at this brewery. Instead of entering the brewery go left. Signature beer is the Mahrs Ungestpundet. It is unfiltered and served from wooden kegs. They do sell this in bottles.

What to buy: We bought some beer schnaps in a decorative ceramic bottle and more beer. You purchase the beer at the window and then you give the receipt to the guy outside in the beer warehouse across from the store.

Hours daily 9:00 a.m.-11 p.m.

What to pay: Under 1 euro per beer. The schnaps was about 12.

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We stopped here to get some Rauchbier to take home. They sell it in 5 l. kegs for 12 euro. We got two. It is superb beer. We picked up 3 each of their other beers.

What to buy: BEER, beer mugs, and beer related items.

What to pay: 12 euro for a 5litre keg and less than 1 euro for a 1/2 l. cold bottle of beer to go.

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We came upon this when we were leaving the city. We are big foodies so we stopped to see what we needed for our pantry. It's a great store with a huge selection of wines and a full butcher counter.

What to buy: Pasta, Semolina flour, Farina, Risotto, cheese, meats, wine etc...

What to pay: A pound of pasta was around 1 euro.

The "Mohrenhaus" is a shop in a pretty limestone building that sells just about anything ... tea, clothing, accessoires, bags, bath and beauty, gardening accesssoires ... It is probably the worlds smallest department store! The house is named after the ornamental "Mohr" (= moor) on the house front.

The "Mohrenhaus" is roughly located between the inner city ("Gabelmann" fountain) and the Old Town Hall.

Welcome to catholic Bavaria! I found this sex shop in Bamberg and nearly collapsed on the street because of its name which translates as "Specialist shop for Marriage Hygiene".

What to buy: I let you decide ;)

What to pay: Dunno. I haven't been inside. I am not married, ya know?!

There was a great little beer store on the street leading to the train station from the city center. It’s convenient if you want to bring beer back home and saves lugging it such a long distance.

What to buy: They had a great selection from all the Bamberg breweries and some from around the region as well. With so many beers in town, it is good to stock up on specialty beers here rather than drink generally bottled beer while in the breweries. So, check for bock beers in particular. Don't buy too much though or you'll hang yourself carrying it in your backpack.

What to pay: For a half liter bottle, it's between 65 and 95 Euro cents. A bargain compared to US.