We took the afternoon off to go see two more Christmas markets–Miltenberg and Michelstadt, both about and hour or so from Frankfurt. Miltenberg, our first stop was absolutely delightful. We arrived at about 2:00 and wandered through the town along the main street. There were Christmas market stalls set up along this main street and a few in the small central plaza. It wasn’t what you’d call a large market, but the town was so festive and beautiful, we were really glad to be there during this Christmas season.
Miltenberg stretches along the Main River. The town is narrow and sits at the foot of a mountainside. The water level of the river was just inches below the town, and there has been flooding here when the river rises.
Come walk with me here. This will make you happy.
We parked by the river, then walked the short distance to the main street. Here’s what we saw along the way.
We were met by this young composer as we entered the town square. His name was Joseph Martin Kraus and he was born here in 1756. He died in Stockholm in 1792 and is sometimes referred to as “the Swedish Mozart.”
Here is the main street.
All of the trees decorating this street were cut fresh.
This very old Rathaus (city hall) had some very interesting markings on it showing the different floods through the centuries and how high the water level reached. The earlies mark was from the 1600s.
Shops are below, homes are above. Everywhere we looked, it was beautiful.
This hotel claims to be the oldest Gasthaus in Germany:
We saw this path of worn uneven steps leading up from a narrow alleyway and decided to go exploring. It led to an upper level of the town with old churches, an old Jewish Cemetery and an enchanted wooded city park. The sky was overcast and the day felt magical. There’s something about all the green moss that calms me and takes me places.
St John’s Church:
I just love all the fresh greenery, pine boughs and berries.
This was a beautiful and elaborate Nativity set up in the church:
And a beautiful Maria:
The Advent wreath:
Another old church that looked empty or abandoned:
Here is the old Jewish cemetery. We noticed a dozen or more “Stumbling Stones” in the street down below. There were 44 memorial stones in Miltenberg in 2020. These represent Jews who were killed in the Holocaust.
This was one of the entrances to the park:
After walking along this upper road, we came back down into town.
A double decker private garage:
We walked to the far end of the main street and found a path leading up the hill to a museum monastery with a few more Christmas market stalls overlooking the town.
The climb up was pretty steep, but oh, the views from up on top!!
Then back down again to the central plaza.
On the walls near the river you could see water damage.
Here’s a Wikipedia shot of the entire town from the river. You can see how close it is to the water and how bad flooding could be. In spite of all that, this town has survived for centuries and still has wonderful old-world charm!
Our Frankfurt Germany Mission 