Büdingen - Living history

These are the words used by Albert Einstein, no less, to describe Büdingen following his visit to the town in May 1952. If this great scholar could see the historic town today, he would find little has changed. Although the historical centre of the town is actually in a better condition now, thanks to the extensive restoration work carried out over the last few decades.

Those who can see more in stones than just historical remnants and more in half-timbered frames than just wooden beams are sure to fall under the spell of Büdingen‟s charms. We would like to invite you to find out more about this perfect example of a historic German town. Let us take you on a journey through time in which you will appreciate what a community, aware of its traditions, has created over generations.

Büdingens motto, “living history” is fitting for a town which is so proud of its great historic inheritance and so conscious of its duty to preserve this inheritance for the enjoyment of its guests - whether this takes the form of individual round tours, guided special interest tours, celebrations, exhibitions, or festivities which celebrate ancient customs.

Whoever is interested in seeing and experiencing how a community has grown up, organically, over the centuries is in the right place in this town situated between the outer reaches of the Wetterau (the valley of the River Wetter) and the Vogelsberg mountain range. Büdingen is one of the rare towns in existence which has managed to survive the troubles of earlier times relatively unscathed. Today the safely preserved half-timbered buildings and stone buildings, the gables and dormers, the defiant walls and towers, all allow you to experience the living spirit of the past.

Visitors can learn how an aspiring civic society emerged under the protection of the moated castle of the House of Ysenburg. The town developed out of housing for courtiers and servants outside the castle and was protected by statutes and privileges. This was a civic society affluent enough to afford a grand town hall, the beautifully decorated Church of Our Lady, as well as prestigious half-timbered houses. In the late middle ages, at the high point of Büdingens period of growth, the early 14th century wall around the town was replaced by a mighty new fortification. This bastion is more than two kilometres long, has 22 towers and half towers, and is regarded nowadays as one of the best examples of the way defence architecture changed as a result of the invention of firearms.