Kulmbach

Kulmbach is a city in Franconia. Its main claim to fame is a high brewery density, which albeit much diminished with economic consolidation was historically quite remarkable.

By plane
Nuremberg Airport is the closest airport with scheduled flights



By car
Kulmbach is easily accessible on the autobahn A70, approximately 90 km north of Nuremberg and 40 km south of Hof.

See
There are regular guided tours of Kulmbach from April through October every Saturday at 10.00 meeting at Tourist Information Kulmbach. There are also themed tours, historic cellar tours, night watchmen tours, or special tours for children.

Churches

 * , with an exterior dating back to the 15th century. The interior was remodeled in a neo-Gothic style around 1878.

Castles



 * Steinenhausen.JPG

Breweries
There are two main breweries in Kulmbach, the small Kommunbrau Brewery and the big Kulmbacher Brauerei.



Memorials

 * In front of the Altem Friedhof (Old cemetery) is the Ehrenmal f die Gefallenen (Memorial to the Fallen). In front of the town hall stands a statue of Hans von Kulmbach, actually Hans Suess, a painter, draftsman and graphic artist.

Events

 * There is a spring market in March.
 * In April or May there is a public celebration (Volksfest) at Schwedensteg.
 * The annual Bierfest (Kulmbach Beer Festival) begins on the last Saturday in July and continues through until the first weekend in August. Getting accommodation might be a bit difficult at the time of the Bierfest, but not impossible, if you're early enough with for reservations.
 * The Alstadtfest (Old Town Festival) takes place on the first weekend in July and is organised by the restaurants, bars and pubs in the old part of the town.Kulmbach Altstadtfest.JPG
 * Every other year odd-numbered years), Kulmbach hosts one of the world's largest model figure shows, Internationale Zinnfigurenbörse. Thousands of miniatures from exhibitors and retailers from around the world are on sale and display. Also visit the German Museum of Miniatures inside the Castle Plassenburg. Founded in 1929, the museum has more than 300,000 individual pieces.

Hiking
Kulmbach is located in between the hiking areas of Fichtelgebirge, the Frankenwald, Obermain and Franconian Switzerland. There are also wonderful walks and short hikes in and around Kulmbach at any time of the year, especially the Hans Edelmann Ringweg around the city with very beautiful views.

Kulmbach is located on the Burgenweg (Castle Trail). This 88-km long hiking trail runs from Bayreuth to Lauenstein, via Kulmbach, Kronach, Teuschnitz, and Ludwigsstadt. It leads to the Plassenburg, Rosenberg Fortress in Kronach, and Lauenstein Castle.

Buy
The farmers' market in front of the town hall takes place every Wednesday and Saturday 07:00-12:00, selling fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, sausages and flowers.

Eat
Best of Kulmbach are fried sausages (Bratwurst) and beer.

Drink
Kulmbacher Eisbock, ice bock, is a dark, tasty beer speciality with 9% alcoholic content. Overall Kulmbach is famous for its beer and several breweries still operate in town, though diverse factors have lead to a consolidation and reduction of independent breweries, with many either bought up by bigger companies or driven into bankruptcy.



Go next
Visit Bamberg to see the medieval town and try the local smoked beer (Rauchbier) or to Bayreuth, is famous as the host of the Richard Wagner Festival, furthermore the Markgräfliches Opernhaus is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Weblinks

 * https://www.kulmbach.de/xist4c/web/Town-Hall_id_13355_.htm (en) - Official Kulmbach website