Roman and medieval ruins and other Ladenburg, Germany Things to Do Tips

Ladenburg's high time is very much in the past, when it was a Roman state capital and the bishops' summer residence. On several places throughout the town you can see ruins from these times, around 200 AD left from the Romans and around 1200 AD fom the Middle Ages.The picture shows what's left of one of the watch towers from 1200, the so-called priest's-tower.

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Directions: Just walk through the old part, you can't miss them.

Because of the rich past, digging in your garden can be very surprising in Ladenburg.A few years ago a woman found human bones when planting tulip bulbs. It was not the scene of a murder, as she had thought at first, but her garden turned out to be on the site of an old cemetery.(She didn't have any tulips the following spring)
In another garden a man found an old Roman fountain and in it a Roman Four-Gods-Stone with Jupiter on top.A proof, that among the Romans living there were some praying to the old Roman gods. The original of the statue is in the museum, but a reproduction can be seen outside.

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Directions: Just outside the bishops' place.

Parts of the last city wall from 1250 can still be seen enclosing the old part of town.Often people used it as part of their house, for a wall or a nice balcony.

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Address: Around the historic part

The former bishops' palace now houses the museum of Ladenburg. It's only open on weekends - 11:00 to 5:00 pm - and tells people more about the Roman times. A plate with the Persian sun -god can be seen there. This plate was found in Ladenburg, a sign, that among the Roman soldiers stationed here must have been some from Persia.

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Address: Bischofshof

Walking along the old wall you come to another old watch tower, this one still standing. It was built around 1200 as a watch tower, but was later used as a prison for "witches", women who were thought to be witches. This name stuck and it is now called the witches' tower. When you're there, look for windows, you won't find any. Just tiny openings in the wall, barely enough to let in some rays of light.What a horrible place this must have been as a prison!

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Address: Outside the old wall

This was the main gate in the old wall to go into the town.A statue of St.Martin near the top gave it its name. You can still see the holes made by cannon balls in the year 1622, when the town was besieged in the 30 years' war.

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Address: Right next to the Witches' Tower

The center of the town is the old market square, surrounded by half-timbered houses, some as old as late 15th century.This is where the farmers' market is held, where the festivities start for the party in the old town - second weekend in September - and where the Christmas market is held each December.

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Address: Right in the center of the old part

The church is right behind the market square. It is built on the site where the Romans had started to build one of the first Christian churches, but weren't able to finish it. The church is a mixture of old and new, there is a Romanesque crypt - very much worth seeing, but unfortunately only when booking an official city tour. The door is from the 19th century, the windows are from the 1960s. One window is special, it doesn't show any religious subject but a historical one. It is called the Ladenburg window, since it shows the three layers of history, the Roman rule, the bishops' rule and modern Ladenburg.

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Carl Benz, the inventor of the automobile - the car - moved to Ladenburg and parked his car in the world's first garage. That's something people here are very proud of, so there is a Benz Museum.If you're interested in oldtimers, you'll enjoy watching the Berta Benz Memorial Drive. She was his wife and really liked the idea of a carriage without horses. While he was still trying to improve his invention, she was convinced that it worked. So she took her two sons, took the car and left a note for her husband: "The boys and I took the car and are on our way to see my mother". Her mother lived about 100 km away, but they made it. (I don't know if their marriage made it, but divorce was really frowned upon back then.)
So the first long-distance drive was done by a woman! In her memory there is a drive every two years, oldtimers, people wearing the costumes from back then, the leather caps etc. It's fun watching. The last drive was in 2005, so the next one will be in 2007, probably in August.

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Address: Ilvesheimer Strasse 26
Website: http://www.automuseum-dr-carl-benz.de/

This church is a lot younger than the catholic St Gallus, from 1876. It's also smaller and the windows aren't as colourful. But it has a special feature, the ceiling is made out of wood and painted with floral motives, very pretty.
The church is next to St Gallus. You walk through a small garden to get to the entrance door.
On your left in the garden there is a biblical garden, the plants which are growing there have all been mentioned in the bible. Signs are telling you what kind of plants they are.

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