On a voyage of discovery in Bamberg's Garden City

Bamberg railway station was put into operation in 1844. The historic building, designed by the architect Georg Friedrich Christian Bürklein, has been preserved except for minor changes. In front of it you will find one of the steles marked in green, which will enrich your walk through the Garden City with information. Read about the light but also the dark sides of the railway connection for the gardeners of Bamberg.

From the station forecourt, turn right into Ludwigstraße. Following Klosterstraße, you will come to an approximately 700-year-old sacred place that was an important attraction in the early days of the Gardener's City, the Dominican Monastery of the Holy Sepulchre.

Originally, the Corpus Christi Chapel was open to the faithful of the surrounding area for their services. On 12 February 1352, the wealthy Bamberg couple Kunigunde and Franz Münzmeister donated the monastery of St. Catherin zu dem Heiligen Grab. This made it possible to build the monastery church, which was consecrated in 1356. The Cross of Grace of Divine Help, also donated by the Mintmasters, subsequently became a popular pilgrimage destination.

The Peasants' War and the Thirty Years' War left their destructive marks on the monastery. The secularisation, however, had a drastic effect. In 1803, the monastery was declared abolished and passed into military administration. A garrison hospital was built. The church served the military as an equipment and clothing store until 1918. In 1926, the convent was re-founded and eight Dominican sisters from the St. Ursula convent moved in. More recently, the sisters have taken up the monastic tradition of making sacred textiles.

The convent opens some rooms to the public on "open days".

From the monastery, walk back a little. Follow the Spiegelgraben and pass the traditional Schumm market garden at no. 10 on the right. The Schumm family has been growing vegetables since the 19th century. The family business therefore has old local varieties on offer, which have been propagated over generations.

The next destination is a highlight in the truest sense of the word and awaits you directly at the Böhmerwiese market garden in Heiliggrabstraße. The nursery has been family-owned since 1913 and is now run by siblings Sabine Gründler and Ralf Böhmer. The business is not only known for its floristry and horticultural work, but also for successful cultural and tourist events. The Bamberg Garden Fair and the Onion Festival are held here every year.

The architecturally specially designed viewing platform on the Böhmerwiese is also part of the gardening business.

The imposing glass viewing platform was erected by architect Stefan Giers on the occasion of the State Garden Show 2012 and included in the "Bavarian Architectural Tours" in the same year. The steel and glass construction is reminiscent of the classic greenhouse. Here is one of the few opportunities to pass through the almost completely closed perimeter block development of the Gardener's City into the interior of the city block and to get a glimpse of the agriculturally influenced historical city structure.

The glass building is irritating at first glance because it is slightly tilted. This initially caused discussion, but also earned the viewing platform the affectionate nickname "Leaning Tower of Bamberg".

Continue through Heiliggrabstraße and Spitalstraße to the Gardeners' and Hakers' Museum. It is a unique open-air and special museum and is still considered an insider tip among Bamberg's visitors.

On the way there, you will encounter another nursery beforehand. The Dechant family business has been delighting its customers for several generations, mainly with flowers and perennials.

An 18th century gardener would immediately find his way around the house and garden and be able to go about his day's work. The present museum building was erected in 1767 as a passage and stable house in a functional design for gardeners' houses of the time. The house belonged to the Kauer family, who lived in it until the 20th century and, thanks to a good economy, achieved some wealth. The last descendant of the Kauer family lived here until 1969.

A gardener's house with a well had already stood here around 1600. The museum's furnishings were modelled on the beginnings and development of Bamberg's gardening culture down to the last detail. The black kitchen is identical to those that existed around 1769 in the gardener families who lived here. The parlour is furnished in the style of the 19th century. The farmyard including the shed with all the utensils gives a clear impression of the way of life and work of the gardener families of the 18th and 19th centuries. In the kitchen garden at the house, too, everything is planted that was required in the kitchen at that time and that belongs to the Bamberg specialities. A separate part of the house and garden is dedicated to the life and work of the crofters. They originally worked as winegrowers on the slopes surrounding Bamberg, but during the Little Ice Age they had to switch to cold-tolerant crops, which included hops.

Visitors can discover the museum and garden on their own with an audio guide or book a guided tour.

After so much exercise, mental nourishment and fresh air, you will surely feel like a culinary refreshment. Then look forward to a visit to the Fässla brewery, which you can reach on a short walk through Letzengasse. You can find out interesting facts about the craft brewery in Bamberg on one of the green information pillars at the end of Letzengasse, on the corner of Obere Königsstraße.

The building in which the brewery in Obere Königsstraße was founded 350 years ago already dates back to the 14th century. One year after the Thirty Years' War, the brewer and cooper Hanß Lauer settled here with his brewery Fässla, which means "little barrel". The Kalb family has been running the traditional brewery since 1986, now already in the second generation. Seven widely appreciated beer specialities are brewed here with love and expertise in state-of-the-art facilities.

But Fässla does not only stand for excellent beer quality, the hospitality is also famous. In the rustic restaurants, of which the Fässla brewery operates nine, tourists feel just as comfortable as the local Bambergers, who come here for their beer or a meal at the end of the day. Franconian specialities such as Schäuferla and Bräten are popular and prepared with much love.

Well fortified, we now continue along the Obere Königsstraße towards Theuerstadt, once a suburb of Bamberg. A 700-year-old document mentions Bamberg's first gardener in Theuerstadt, his name was Fritz Pleinser.

In Obere Königstraße there is plenty to discover for connoisseurs, for example in the shop of "Müller Delikatessen", where you can buy delicacies from their own production. Maybe you left some room for a little dessert at the Wirtshaus Fässla, then you are sure to find something at "Müller Delikatessen".

At the church of St. Gangolf, dating from the 11th century and thus the oldest church in Bamberg, you will again find one of the green steles on which you can learn more about the district of Theuerstadt. You should definitely treat yourself to a look inside the church.

In 1063, the collegiate church in the Theuerstadt was dedicated to St. Gangolf. St Gangolf lived in Burgundy in the 8th century. He was a knight who, according to legend, was charitable and worked miracles. Through his prayers alone, he made a dried-up spring gush forth again. After he had forgiven his wife's adultery and given her half his property, he was murdered by his wife's lover. Miracles were said to have taken place at his gravesite. He was canonised and the former collegiate church of St. Gangolf is said to house part of the saint's head as a relic.

In the 12th century, the church was extended by the construction of two towers. Through the centuries, the church was more and more gothicised and added to. However, some wooden beams of the roof truss still exist from the 12th century.
Until the 19th century, St. Gangolf was the spiritual and also the legal centre of the village.

Today, the parish of St. Gangolf can once again point to a lively community life. Bamberg's oldest church keeps itself young in a creative way and, for example, also organises services especially for doubters under the motto "zweifelLOS".

Take your way in the direction of Egelseestraße. Take a look at the information pillars on the way and you will learn something about the vegetable seeds produced in the gardener's town, about the types of buildings in the gardener's houses or about religious times.

At Nürnberger Straße 86, you will find the Mussärol nursery - the last stop on your circular route. You have probably already solved the riddle of the meaning of the word Mussärol in the museum. In the Mussärol nursery, not only are herbs nurtured, cared for and processed, here you will also find the only professional licorice cultivation in Germany and Northern Europe. On Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the farm shop and show garden are open to you.

The nursery has been family-owned for six generations. In 1994, Gertrud Leumer converted it to organic cultivation of herbs and it was Bamberg's first organic nursery. It is run sustainably and as climate-neutral as possible.

The Mussärol Bamberger Kräutergärtnerei is a speciality nursery that offers visitors a wide range of plants and products three days a week. In the show garden, visitors will find over 200 different herbs and aromatic plants. Touching them is expressly permitted. Here you can simply give your soul a rest and open your senses. There are guided tours on fixed dates and, of course, the farm shop offers not only liquorice and herbal products but also seasonal plants that delight every gardener, such as seedlings of various vegetable plants in May, for example old tomato varieties. Or herbs from their own cultivation and refined herbal products, for example the popular lavender syrup.

Since 2020, the cultivation and processing of liquorice has been integrated into the Mussärol Bamberger Kräuter Gärtnerei as a further branch of production, making it unique in the whole of Germany. In the meantime, numerous sales outlets can once again be supplied with Bamberg liquorice products from local cultivation.

Your way back leads you through Nürnberger Straße and Josephstraße to Luitpoldstraße.

Green steles with information about the history of the place await you on this stage as well. On the way to the station, various bistros and snack bars, as well as restaurants, invite you to fortify yourself before heading home, or to reflect on your impressions with a glass of good wine. For example, you will find the Vegan Food Rebels Bamberg at No. 34 Luitpolstraße, the Lokanta snack bar at No. 39 and the Cocoon Restaurant with delicious Asian dishes at No. 55.

Rich in impressions and surely in possession of one or the other aromatic or eye-pleasing souvenir, you can comfortably start your return journey by train.