"Why you Have to Find three Mice in Amberg" Amberg by Kimi_the_Bear

This page is not only about Amberg but the region of Oberpfalz (Upper Palatine) which is nowhere near the Pfalz or Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatine). In fact, Oberpfalz is roughly east of Nürnberg and part of Bavaria. But never tell an Oberpfälzer that he is Bavarian. You could rather call him a Franke but better you use the proper term. However, you will still not understand their dialect. It is even nearly impossible for Germans from other regions to understand them.

Mama's friend Gisela lives in the region since her wedding with an Oberpfälzer guy, so Mama has been there on quite some occasions. She understands if she listens closely. Especially Gisela's father-in-law tests her quite a lot with his veeeeeeery strong accent.

The Unterpfalz (Lower Palatine) once was the region around Heidelberg.

Until 1810 Amberg was the capital of Oberpfalz, then the administration centre went to Regensburg. Now Amberg forms an administration centre with Sulzbach-Rosenberg, named Kreis Amberg-Sulzbach. It has about 44,000 inhabitants.

With Basilika St. Martin on the river Vils.

Amberg is on the river Vils. I will tell you in my travelogues why it is important to find three mice in Amberg if you ever want to come back, and why the city has glasses, yessssssss, glasses like spectacles.

It is a very beautiful place, enclosed by a nearly complete medieval city wall. In fact, it is one of the best-conserved medieval cities in Europe.

Mama and Gisela always find a lot of clothes in the many shops, so I guess it is a great place for shopping. I also find it very important to point out that it has a lot of cafés, so I can indulge in nice cakes and ice-creams.

I had funny encounters with this dog named Kalle.

I was surprised to spot a lot of Bavarian lions in Amberg although the people are Oberpfälzer and do not want to be called Bayern. Well, I think the lions are for the tourists like you and me.

Another thing that would be very interesting for you to know is that they have lots of breweries in and around Amberg. In the Middle Ages they had 30 breweries. Now there are a lot less but still impressive enough to have a big beer fest named Bergfest. At the end of June/start of July all breweries have marquees in front of a church named Maria-Hilf-Kirche. They call this pilgrimage! Now that's what I call Bavarian ;-)

• Pros:A beautiful city in a very authentic unspoilt region
• Cons:Only a dozen breweries ;-)))
• In a nutshell:This remote region is worth a visit