Fairy-Tale Road

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Hercules monument Kassel

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Overview

The 600km Märchenstrasse (Fairy-Tale Road) is one of Germany’s most popular tourist routes. It’s made up of cities, towns and hamlets in four states (Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine–Westphalia and Bremen), and isn't actually a single road: all its sites are connected by association with the works of Jakob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm (1786–1859) Grimm.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • A vertical shot of the Hercules monument in Wilhelmshoehe Castle Park in Kassel, Germany.

    Herkules

    Fairy-Tale Road

    Erected between 1707 and 1717 by Landgrave Karl and declared a Unesco World Heritage site in 2013, the 8.25m-high copper Herkules statue stands atop a…

  • The historical townhall and market place of Marburg, Germany.

    Altstadt

    Fairy-Tale Road

    One of the joys of Marburg is simply strolling around its steeply winding medieval core. Its focal point is the Marktplatz; on the southern side is the…

  • Old tree and roots at Edersee lake, at Kellerwald-Edersee National Park, Waldeck-Frankenburg, Hessen, Germany.

    Nationalpark Kellerwald-Edersee

    Fairy-Tale Road

    Hesse's first national park encompasses the Kellerwald, one of the largest extant red-beech forests in Central Europe and a rare survivor of the last Ice…

  • St. Michael's church in Fulda, Germany.

    Michaelskirche

    Fairy-Tale Road

    A living kernel of Fulda's long history, this early-9th-century church was once the cemetery chapel for the Benedictine monastery around which the town…

  • Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe

    Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe

    Fairy-Tale Road

    Situated 6.5km west of Kassel Hauptbahnhof, and 3km west of Kassel-Wilhelmshöhe station, in the enchanting Habichtswald nature park, this spectacular 560…

  • Stadtschloss

    Stadtschloss

    Fairy-Tale Road

    Fulda's spectacular Stadtschloss (town castle) was built from 1706 to 1721 as the prince-abbots' residence. Designed by famed baroque architect Johann…

  • Schloss Wilhelmshöhe

    Schloss Wilhelmshöhe

    Fairy-Tale Road

    Erstwhile home to Kaiser Wilhelm II, Wilhelmshöhe Palace (1786–98) at the foot of Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, today houses one of Germany’s greatest art…

  • Grimmwelt

    Grimmwelt

    Fairy-Tale Road

    Occupying a prime position atop the Weinberg bunker in the scenic Weinbergpark, the fabulous Grimmwelt could be described as an architect-designed walk-in…

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