Michelstadt

Michelstadt's town hall was built in 1484 with its upper floors carried on oak posts over an open ground floor used for markets, two pointed oriel turrets on the front and a stair tower behind; it is among the most reproduced images of German half-timbered architecture. The market square around it keeps buildings of the same period. In the Kirchberg quarter a synagogue of 1791 survived Kristallnacht because it had been sold to a neighbour and was used as a store, and it is now a museum. Nearby Steinbach holds the Einhardsbasilika, a Carolingian church of about 827 built by Charlemagne's biographer.

History

Michelstadt is first recorded in 741, when Carloman, Charlemagne's uncle and mayor of the palace, gave the royal estate to Burchard, first Bishop of Würzburg; it was one of the oldest settlements in the inner Odenwald, its castle growing out of a Frankish estate. In 815 Louis the Pious gave the town and the land for two leagues around to Einhard, Charlemagne's confidant, who built the Einhardsbasilika and in 819 left his Odenwald lands to Lorsch Abbey, which inherited them on his death on 14 March 840. The first houses outside the wall went up in the 17th century and a new gate, the Neutor, in 1773, the town passed with the County of Erbach to Hesse in 1806, and the railway to Darmstadt in 1870 and to Eberbach in 1881 brought industry, from cloth and machines to ivory carving (Wikipedia, Michelstadt).

What you'll find

• The 1484 town hall - upper floors on oak posts with two oriel turrets.
• The synagogue - an eighteenth-century building saved by having been sold.
• The market square - period houses framing the town hall.
• The Einhardsbasilika - a Carolingian church of about 827 at Steinbach.

When to go

April to October; the Einhardsbasilika keeps seasonal hours. Christmas markets fill the square in December. Museums close Mondays.

Practical notes

The town is small. The Carolingian basilica is a short drive away with limited opening. Coach groups arrive at midday in season.

Nearby

Erbach lies south; the Felsenmeer is west.

Key facts