Schwäbisch Hall

Schwäbisch Hall is in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Understand
Schwabisch Hall was founded by the Celts, but got its current name from the name for Swabia, and Hall for "drying something by heating it", likely due to the salt production that was the mainstay of the town. It grew prosperous with salt and in its power to mint its own currency. It therefore has many buildings from the Middle Ages, most intact since after the Thirty Years' War the town declined in power, so the latest buildings in the old town are from the Baroque period, replacing those burned in the last major fire the city had in 1728.

In more modern times Schwäbisch Hall is a household name mostly due to the Bausparkasse headquartered there and named after the town. Another claim to fame is American Football team, that also produced the first European to be drafted without playing College Football in North America.

By car
Schwabisch Hall is two hours from Frankfurt taking the A6 highway, two hours away from Strasbourg via both A5 and A6 roads, one hour away from Stuttgart via A81 and A6 highway, two and a half hours from Munich via A9 and A6, three hours from Zurich via A81, four hours from Prague via E50 and A6, and five hours from Berlin via A9.

By train
There are regional trains from Crailsheim and Nürnberg.

Get around
The old town is split between an upper town, which includes the town square and St. Michael's Church, and the lower town, by the river, where there is a Biergarten, more old town, and the Wurth Collection. They are connected by medieval stone stairways between buildings.

See
If you go in the summer, you may see theatre in the town square on the steps of St. Michael's Church, or in the temporary Globe Theatre next to the Biergarten. However much of what to see is simply a medieval town, as well as the baroque town square.

Do

 * The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns play American Football in the first division German Football League advanced to the German Bowl every year from 2014 to 2019. The regular season runs roughly May-September with the latter half of September and the first half of October comprised of Playoffs culminating in the German Bowl. In 2016 the Unicorns also played in the European big six tournament - as they did in 2015, where they lost the final to Braunschweig. They won four German Bowls 2011, 2012, 2017 and 2018. Their 2017 and 2018 championships were part of a record 50-game winning streak across multiple seasons only ending in their 2019 German Bowl loss.

Eat
Since it is in the heart of Swabia, Schwabisch Hall has very good Swabian food, with restaurants in all parts of Schwabisch Hall. There are also many good cafes where you can have a good breakfast, and many good bakeries, butchers, pastry shops, and ice cream parlors that sell local cuisine.

Drink
You can get a cheap beer at the Biergarten, and a cheap dinner.

Go next
Dinkelsbühl, Rot an der Rot