Wiesbaden Things to Do

The Marktkirche (Market Church), unsurprisingly in the Marktplatz, is at 92m the tallest building in the town, and now one of my favourites in the country. From some angles the church doesn't look like much of anything at all, but in the fading of a late March afternoon the quality of the light was such that the church lit up in the deepest of oranges. It gave the building a very unreal, even ethereal, look that ensured that the building remained in my imagination for long afterwards.

The Lutheran church was built by Karl Boos between 1852 to 1862 as a Gothic Revival basilica. Its brick construction was the first of its kind in the entire Duchy of Nassau, and this material is what gives it its wonderful shade of colour.

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The St Bonifatius church is one of the most striking buildings in the city, but doesn't even get a mention in the tourist guide books that I found. Its pleasant location at the end of Luisenplatz singles it out for attention, as do the two grand spires that stretch out high into the Wiesbaden skyline. The Church was very busy and noisy when I was there, and apparently has seating for 4500 people, making it a considerable size and the biggest church in the region. The building was first started in 1828, but suffered a collapse only a few years later in 1831. After sitting in ruins for some years, a collection of the townspeople raised enough money to build the current one, which was constructed in 1845 in a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles. The two 65m towers were only finally completed in 1866, and the electric clock added in 1890.

The churches in Wiesbaden symbolize, in a very special way, the social and architectural development of this city, which is the capital city of the state of Hesse. The Market Church was deliberately erected opposite the City Palace as a symbol of the thriving bourgeoisie in the Duchy of Nassau with its almost 100-meter tall main steeple, it continues to dominate the cityscape. This Market Church, built in 1852-62, is the main Protestant church in Wiesbaden. The brick building in Neogothic style on Schlossplatz has three naves and five slim towers, the one in the centre is 90 meters high. This makes the church the highest building of Wiesbaden.

Wiesbaden enjoys the reputation of the green city. Its parks, surrounding forests, the Taunus Mountains and the Rheingau invite many people to undertake trips into the natural of Wiesbaden. Biebrich is a borough of the city Wiesbaden, Hesse, Germany, located in the Rhine-Main-Area near Frankfurt. Biebrich was an independent city until it was incorporated into Wiesbaden in 1926. Biebrich was first mentioned in 874 as villa biburc. Until the 20th century Biebrich was a small town (or rather village) and the Summer Residence of the Princes, and since 1806 Dukes of Nassau, who built up an imposing baroque castle.

www.webcamgalore.com/EN/webcam/Germany/Wiesbaden-Biebrich/1527.html

I was in Frankfurt recently on a quick stopover and decided to checkout the nearby city of Wiesbaden. I found out it was so easy to get there by train (less than an hour on a normal local train from Frankfurt main train station).

I didn't have a whole lot of time but wanted to see EVERYTHING - naturally! So I joined this English-speaking walking tour and our guide was excellent. She showed us all the historical stuff plus told us some really cool stories. (Did you know Bismarck had a gambling problem???) Lots of fun and really nice cake.

I'd recommend it to anyone.

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On wednesdays and saturdays from 7am to 2pm you find many fruit and vegetable sellers of the region. The best apples and pears are here. Dornröschen and Domäne Mechthildshausen sell organic grown products.
In July and August, try to find "overripe" apricots for 1 Euro the kilo (Kastanienhof), cheap sour cherries, and berries for 1 Euro 500 g.

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Catch a train to Koblenz along the Rhine so you can see the beautiful Castles. When you get to Koblenz you will be at the point where the Mosel flows into the Rhine. I was suprised to find the the Rhine flows to the North. We had a great lunch at a old prussian fort overlooking the Statue of Kaiser Willhelm.

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The great yearly carnival corso takes place on SUNDAY and passes through the center. Starting time: 2 pm I recommend the Kochbrunnen to have a relaxed and good sight on the corso. The last two years there was sunny wheather, while next day in Mainz it was grey.