Alsfeld

En route back to Berlin, Easter holiday weekend traffic--the Germans celebration begins on Friday and continues through Monday--forced us to take a serendipitous detour to Alsfeld. It was first settled in 1069.  Very storybook.  Literally.

The Rathaus is a sterling example of half-timber medieval architecture.

None of my guidebooks mentioned Alsfeld which gave it the thrill of discovery.  Local legend has it that Little Red Riding Hood lived here before the Brothers Grimm scared children with her tale.  She stands atop the fountain.

Florian, of course, knew all about Alsfeld.  He couldn't wait to go wurst shopping.  Again.

The building with the steeple houses the local historical society, open only on Thursday afternoons.  Two archivists, one of whom spoke excellent English, were delighted to answer our questions about a community that has seen it all:  the Thirty Years War, plague, starvation and the steam engine, which put it back on the map again after centuries of hibernation.