"weekend in Lorsch" Lorsch by brendareed

Lorsch was once a very important town in the 8th-13th centuries with its most famous visitor being Charlemagne himself. The town is best known for its Kloster, or the Benedictine Abbey (statue of Benedict is near the center of town). Because of the significance of the abbey, Lorsch has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

On a nice Saturday in autumn, Hubby and I decided to go see Lorsch, which is really rather close to home and it sounded interesting. Getting to Lorsch was easy - just off the A67 west of Bensheim. We didn't have any problems finding parking; in fact, we got a spot on the street for free just about as close as one could get to the center of town.

As we got out of our car, directly ahead of us was the King’s Hall - most notably because it was covered in scaffolding. Since we had come to see this site, luck was not on our side.

In the city center, we wandered around a bit, noting the unique fountain of a girl with a tobacco leaf (I didn't know until today that tobacco was a prominent crop in Hesse years ago...guess I was focused on the wine!), a boy playing with some balls, and a playful cat.

Noting the Tourist Information Office in the beautiful half-timbered old Rathaus (just behind the fountain), we headed in for some information. A very friendly young girl helped us out (she spoke English -- good since our German is not as good). Yes, that scaffolding was the Königshalle (King’s Hall), but she showed us a model of the building, told us of other things to see that we weren't aware of, and gave us some English literature.

So we were off to see what there was to see in Lorsch on this pleasant autumn day.

remaining part of the abbey from the altar area

Starting at the King’s Hall, we headed into the abbey grounds.
It was nice to have so many signs in both German and English, complete with helpful maps and diagrams. There is little left of the actual abbey, but you can see the footprint of the abbey and get a feel for the size of what it used to be.

The old abbey wall and garden remain - the garden being well maintained and herbs nicely labeled. It was a frosty morning in October, so some of the plants were starting to fade from the cold nights. We walked throughout the abbey grounds, reading the signs and enjoying the morning.

One of the signs told us that this was actually the second abbey built, with a smaller abbey down the road. So we decided to take a walk...

the wild bee house near the old abbey

Near the King’s Hall we saw a sign that told us the old abbey (Altes Munster) was 1,000 meters down the road. It was a pleasant day, so we headed down towards a canal where the path turned and we found ourselves headed up along a canal pathway.

Along the way, we saw a large field with tobacco growing. Across the field there was a massive barn, obviously for drying the tobacco leaves. Had I not come to Lorsch today, I'm not sure I would've learned this tidbit of information.

When we got the old abbey, you could clearly see the difference in size - the new one was much larger, reflecting its heightened influence and prestige. The old abbey was a small rectangular nave and an altar at the east end. While the "ruins" we saw had been rebuilt, it gave us a good idea of what it used to be like.

Near the old abbey was a unique wood creation that we had seen in other places, but we never knew what it was. A box with hollow tubes (possibly bamboo) and slices of tree trunks with holes cut into them. This time, however, we had a sign -- it was a wild bee house, catering to one of the 500 species in the area.

We headed back to the Tourist Information Centre where we learned that the scaffolding comes down in the spring/summer of 2012. Looks like we will have to come back then, but with such pleasant memories from our day, it will be something to look forward to!

Update! I revisited Lorsch with VTer Trekki in spring 2012. The scaffolding was still on the King’s Hall, but we still had a wonderful time. On this trip we visited the Lorsch Museum and spent some time in the herb garden. Thanks, Trekki, for being such a wonderful tour guide!

• Pros:Small, quaint village with pleasant people; easy for walking around with lots of signs in English
• Cons:Scaffolding covered the main site - but thankfully, this will be removed in 2012
• In a nutshell:A pleasant surprise that makes for a wonderful day out!