European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 14, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse The towns of the twisting Mains amps photos by Dave Casey at left an old Tower stands out among the rooftops of Obernburg. Below Wertheim is one of Many attractive towns along the twisting main tributary an equal in natural Beauty by Norm Zeigler. Travel outdoor writer in terms of its International recognition Factor the Rhine dwarfs other German Rivers. Its major tributary the main pronounced mines a Mere undercurrent in the Public consciousness. But though the main May not get the press its history and natural Beauty make it every bit As attractive a travel destination As the Rhine. The German novelist and poet Ricarda Huch called it Quot the most Beautiful of Al German born in the Hills of East c ventral Bavaria the main winds its crooked Way Westward Tor More than 300 Miles before joining the Rhine at Mainz. Along the Way it flows through some of Germany s major commen Ial and Industrial centers set Hwei Turt Wurzburg ask flatten Burg Frankfurt. But the Way to explore the main is not by visiting its big cities. It is by driving its narrow byways wandering through its ancient towns my strolling its Grassy riverbanks. 1 he most attractive Sec lion of the River is the Middle portion starting about to Miles upriver from Frankfurt and ending below Schweinfurt. It is a stretch Best covered by car at a leisurely Pace with time out Tor Side excursions. The Best starting place is upriver from j Aschaffenbur where the first gently sloping tills begin to Edge in on both sides of the Broad Flat lower Valley. This is the natural Gateway to the Middle main. Entering it you leave behind the downriver world the sprawling megalopolis of Frankfurt Wiesbaden main stretched out North and West across the flood Plain. Upriver is a narrower More confined reality a world it it a Hills and forests where fishermen wait patiently on the riverbanks and shepherds stand watch Over sheep m Riverside Meadows. It is not a spectacular Region. There Are no lagged towering above the landscape. Nor is there an filled Tower a sistine Chapel or a hot Rauhaus. But this narrow Groove gouged through the German Countryside has some of the most pleasing scenery and friendliest towns in the c nun try. It is a world of its own with a life linked since prehistoric Lime s to the Evet flowing River. I he Tirol Slop on the1 middle1 Mam is Bern Lairg Urio ulv this town at the Valley s geologic Al Gateway is noted Tor its own Gates the hot or Ltd a Loranel the on terms for. Built up against the Valley s Western Hills Obernburg sits above and slightly Bac k from the River. Visually it is Only modestly Albrae live but historic ally it is a i it h town. I he site was a settlement As Lar Bac k As the Stone age and in the first Century Bee aim a roman fortress alter the departure of the legions it evolved into a c enter of c rafts and e of Marc a rec caving its c Ity i barter in my t Voclav it has Sam men to a Moi status. With slightly More than a , Fernburg is a Liny c Ompah t town that is easily explored on loot in an hour or two. I he two Gate s the opposite ends of Romerol russe its Cobblestone main Street. I Ive Stone Lowers remain to delineate the limits of the medieval Ltd Wall Whu h was largely dismantled in the last i in Tui no unpleasant Surprise about the town is the absent e of a pedestrian one m the downtown Aiea i lie steady St Ream of 11 Altu on rom Erst r Asse is a Haart i and a noisy dist a lion Lor those on loot Fernburg alternates Between e Are Lully restored and run Down i lie gleaming i Mac entry t it Hall and its Sandstone Loi Tam dominate the Mam sume. But Gist around the outer is a dilapidated House with e Lay and is Taw tailing out of its a rumbling Walls a number of i on Struc lion Sites Milt ate that the town is trying to sprue e up its image i he Rome Rha us on Maur to r is ear found the Comer irom the c Ity Hall Lea Luies exhibits and Artita is of Beinburg roman period i a r i he r Down main Strassl is a Bike a pedestrian Bridge that Lonnei is the town with i ise Telden on the of her Side of t he Mam. He Budge it lords i Good v Lew of the Low n will its Root tops and i animal d an / age november 14, 1991 stripes Magazine
