Mission to Memmingen
The brief: We challenge city dweller Steve O’Rourke to relax and unwind in the tranquil Bavarian town of Memmingen. Can the self-confessed urbanite adjust to the slower weekly pace of a historical rural town?
Monday
A quaint Bavarian town buried deep in the heart of Southern Germany, with its 40,000 friendly, chatty residents, Memmingen is far removed from my natural habitat. The pace of life is slow, the air is crisp and clean. I’ll need to readjust, very gradually. Time to explore out of town first, I decide, then make my leisurely way back. The highlight of my day is a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle (www.neuschwanstein.de).A meandering 65km drive through typically beautiful countryside brings me to what can only be described as a real-life fairytale castle. Reputed to be the most photographed architecture in Germany, the 19th-century castle makes for an unforgettable spectacle. Complete with towers and spires, and perched on the side of a rugged hilltop, the architecture is a deliberate throwback to the Medieval era, and looks as if it should be in a Disney film.
In a way it is; the building was the inspiration for the castle in Walt Disney’s Cinderella. On the way back to Memmingen, I drop into Swabian Farm, Germany’s first open-air museum (www.bauernhofmuseum.de), just 10 minutes out of town, in Illerbeuren. The museum is regarded as “a village within a village”, hosting over 30 different buildings that cover 400 years of rural culture and history. Fascinating stuff.
Tuesday
The morning is off to a slow start after a little too much Gemütlichkeit (good cheer) the previous night. Beer is big in Memmingen, and the town’s Memminger Brewery (www.memminger-brauerei.de) is among the 100 largest in Germany and producing 18 different beers. I make a note to try as many as possible during my brief visit.
Time to get out and about. A 15-minute drive from Memmingen brings me to the Ottobeuren Abbey (www.abtei-ottobeuren.de) founded back in 764 AD and rebuilt in its current splendour in the early 18th century.
The interior of the basilica is nothing short of jaw dropping – intricate sculptures and beautifully painted frescos merge together. The style is Rococo – a mix of French 18th-century art and interior design, with a Baroque twist. The focus is on presenting the whole room as one piece of cohesive art. Beautiful is an understatement.
Back in town I take a pre-dinner stroll along the picturesque Stadtbach (town river) that runs through the Old Town. Rather than over indulge in local hospitality, I stay fresh for a full day ahead…
Wednesday
Today I’m having a green day – a chance to explore Memmingen’s relationship with nature and history. The town is blessed with parks and country areas littered with monuments and wild life. A stroll to Zollergarten is a great way to start. Once a private garden belonging to the Zoller family, the land is now a public access oasis of horticulture, planted on the site of the filled in town moat, within the oldest remains of the town wall dating to the 12th century.
From there it’s a mere short stroll to the Neue Welt, the largest park in town consisting of 18 hectares of well-manicured parkland resulting from a major Millennium country show that transformed the area. Streams, lakes, woodland and parks; I’m far removed from my natural habitat and yep, it feels great.
In the evening I visit Grünes Haus (www.grueneshaus.com). The family-run restaurant specialises in seasonal produce with an ever-changing weekly menu. Specials include Fresh Chanterelle Mushrooms in cream sauce with pretzel dumplings. Delicious!
Thursday
An overindulgence of food and German hospitality has left me wih a cloudy head, so I need to let the fresh air do its thing.
A brisk mid-morning trip to the Old Town brings me to the scene of a living Christmas card. The Memmingen Christmas Market is in full swing. Running for a month from mid November until late December the traditional themed market attracts visitors from all around the region, tempting the Christmas faithful with arts and crafts, olde-worlde décor and more tasty treats than Santa himself could digest.
The afternoon is spent exploring the Old Town. Large parts of the town survived World War II unscathed, with numerous historical gates and towers and over two kilometres of city wall dating back to the Middle Ages just waiting to be photographed. Times flies, I’m pleasantly surprised.
Friday
My last day in Memmingen and after four days of open air markets, abbeys, parks, castles and rural museums I can almost feel my heartbeat settle into a slower pace. The weather has been cold but kind, the scenery nothing short of stunning.
I decide to stay local today. I take one last stroll to the central Marktplatz plaza and enjoy a mid-morning coffee while lazily watching the world go by. During the afternoon I take a look around the many craft workshops dotted around the side streets to pick up a few unique souvenirs for the folks back home before visiting the popular Piano Bar on Ulmer Straße 7 to hear a little live music and sample a bit more of the local firewater, reminiscing on what an unexpected pleasure this trip has been.
