Ladenburg

Yesterday we went to Ladenburg. Ladenburg was an important administrative center under Heidelberg during the Palatinate, and is only about fifteen minutes away from where we live. Ladenburg is now perhaps most famous as being the hometown of Carl Benz, the maker of the first automobile.

The original patent for the automobile.

The Marktplatz in Ladenburg

It was a city that was founded by the Romans. The Roman city is mostly buried and Ladenburg is built on top of it. We were told that when they build a house they hope they do not dig up any pottery or anything or else they have to do an archaeological expedition.--Noel

A nicely maintained and displayed archaeological dig.

These are the remains of the Roman period (2nd century AD) basilicum. The current Roman Catholic Church was built on the remains.--Dad

The Lobdengau-Museum

We visited the Lobdengau-Museum in Ladenburg, which is dedicated to the local history and only open on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The museum is excellent, as were the guides.--Dad

Almost all of the fancy designs on it are just painted on.--Noel

The bottom floor is dedicated to the Roman period settlement. The displays of archaeological artifacts is excellent; one of the best I have ever seen. The display of the coins is really good. The first floor is dedicated to prehistory. The upper floors are dedicated to the middle ages through about World War II.

Ladenburg

Our guide at the museum was extremely well informed and nice. One of the exhibits was a dollhouse donated by her aunt that she had played with as a little child.

A fully stocked kitchen is an essential element in any household.

The dishes are about 3 centimeters across. The intricate detail was amazing. The museum has some local folk art that is as good as the material in Sachsen.

The saying translates: "A good neighbor near at hand is worth more than friends across the land."

The central part of Ladenburg is still surrounded by a medieval wall. Many of the Fachwerkhäuser have dates on them (unfortunately most of them were a little after the death of Johann Sylvanus, the superintendent of Ladenburg who was martyred in 1572).

The Ladenburg town square

As you can tell by the architecture, the building straight ahead obviously houses a Chinese restaurant.

The citizens obviously take pride in their town and its history. Everything was clean and well-kept.--Dad

The Ladenburg Stadtmauer

Along the city wall makes a great spot for running a race.

We had delicious Döner and actual salty fries. You don't get those in America.--Noel

We had the best Dönerkebab we have found in this area at a place called the Amed Döner Kebabhaus. It was so much better than what is available by where we live, that it might be worth the trip.--Dad

I think that it was a lot like other cities that we have been to but different in its own way. It was different because it was smaller and calmer than the other cites we have been to and it wasn't as crowded which made it a lot calmer.--Noel

I loved it when I saw the lake.--Jacob [It was actually a park by the Neckar river.]

This little town is definitely worth another visit.