"Why visit Worms?" Top 5 Page for this destination Worms by christine.j

Worms Travel Guide: 85 reviews and 266 photos

Update September 2010: I added a sports tip about sightseeing while running, great fun!

There are several reasons for a visit here:

It had been an important Roman town, first a military camp only, but later one of the main cities near the Rhine.Judging from the artefacts found there Worms at Roman times was a very wealthy place.

From the Middle Ages on Worms was also called Little Jerusalem, because of the large Jewish community living there. In Worms there is the oldest stone synagogue in Europe, and you can go and see the oldest Jewish cemetery in Europe.One of the most important commentators of the Talmud, Rabbi Rashi, attened the Jewish school, the Jeshiva, here from 1060 to 1065.

Worms is also - probably - the place where a much of the old legend of the Nibelungen took place. As a legend, this is of course hard to prove. It's an old legend with all the typical ingrediences: Kings, beautiful queens,a dragon, a hero ( who seen from today is not quite so heroic anymore ), jealousy, murder and revenge, and of course a huge treasure.As it is so often the case with treasures in legends, this one also has disappeared. It is said to have been thrown into the Rhine near Worms and many generations of treasure hunters have looked for it. Some are still searching, but so far nobody has found it.

Worms is also the place of the famous diet of Worms, where Martin Luther had been summoned to abjure his ideas about a change in the church. As we know, he didn't and the reformation process continued.

Add to this a nice atmosphere, a large,old cathedral, several other beautiful churches and a good choice of restaurants and there are more than enough reasons to visit Worms.
As a child I had been there several times, mostly concentrating on the Jewish aspect, as an adult only a few times and during my last visit I pretended to be a tourist and treid to see as much as possible.Let me tell you, it cannot be done in one day.

For a very good page about Worms look here at :Ingrid's (Trekki) page:

I didn't find any special significance of this modern fountain, why a rabbit is sitting on top of it, but I just liked it. In a city where you see references to history at every corner, this little rabbit seems to be there just for fun.

Last visit to Worms: Sep 2010
Intro Updated Sep 15, 2010
Add to Trip Planner (?)
Report Abuse

Reviews (10)

St Paulus Things to Do (7)

The church St.Paulus belongs to the Dominican cloister of Worms, still a working cloister. We had seen the church from... more travel advice

Reformation Monument - Luther Denkmal - Worms

Reformation Monument - Luther Denkmal Things to Do (7)

In 1521 emperor Charles V was coming to Worms to hold a diet there.He had only been crowned as emperor the year before... more travel advice

Dom - the Cathedral Things to Do (7)

While this is certainly a very impressive building, I didn't really like the cathedral. This is of course strictly a... more travel advice

A break before sightseeing Restaurants (1)

Coming from the train station we passed this nice café. Tables were out in the sun, many people were having a late... more travel advice

Sports & Outdoors (1)
Do your sightseeing on the run

Local Customs (1)
Dragons in all sizes and colours

Comments (6)

Reply
- Report abuse
balhannah Jul 2, 2010 at 2:25 PM

Glad you took a close up photo of the doors at St. Paulos, they are incredible! The Cathedral carvings too, just beautiful too! they were so clever back then doing this lovely work that is still around for us to admire.
Reply
- Report abuse
jumpingnorman Feb 17, 2009 at 10:46 PM

Dragons in Worms --- I like these tips! Interesting place --- I love dragons! Norman :)
Reply
- Report abuse
JLBG Jan 29, 2009 at 9:20 AM

Another very informative page about a very beautiful place that I will remember !
Reply
- Report abuse
evaanna Sep 25, 2008 at 6:43 AM

Sounds like a wonderful place and so full of legends. The cathedral ornaments look just gorgeous. A very interesting page.
Reply
- Report abuse
robertgaz Sep 23, 2008 at 4:37 PM

What a worthwhile way to spend a day in wonderful Worms :~)
Reply
- Report abuse
Trekki Sep 19, 2008 at 10:24 PM

Erster :-)) I see that you have found a very good restaurant :-) I had lovely pasta there :-) And you also found the Dackel. I am relieved that you had a similar impression about the cathedral and next time I'll try and visit St Paulus as well :-)