First Impressions

As you approach Mühlhausen by car you see first the tall spire of the Marienkirche, St. Mary's Church, then several more church spires (there are eleven churches just in the old centre), and then you come face to face with the high stone walls and towers that run right round the city. If you drive in through the Frauentor, the gate pictured in the introductory picture, you find yourself at once in narrow, stone-paved streets of timber-frame houses. Get out of the car and look to your left where you will see a flight of stone steps. Go up the steps onto the wall and up the fine tower, the Rabenturm, right next to the gateway. From the top you get a wonderful view of a perfect mediaeval city.

Note the house in the foreground with plastic sheeting against its wall. That's where I built my house. Since I took this picture St Mary's Church has lost the scaffolding, been extensively restored and is now quite stunningly beautiful.

Mühlhausen is right in the exact middle of Germany, in Thüringen (English: Thuringia), one of the five East German federal states. Mühlhausen is one of its oldest and historically most important cities, though as a casual visitor you might miss the many clues to its exciting past. We certainly did.