7 Secret Small Towns in Germany

This vibrant university town is in Hesse, 90 km north of Frankfurt am Main. With half-timbered buildings and twisting lanes, Marburg’s Gothic Old Town retains the distinctive medieval character that made it a hub for Romanticism. The Brothers Grimm collated folk tales here and, fittingly, Marburg is on the scenic German Fairy Tale Route.

Places of historic interest include the hilltop landgrave’s castle and the ornate shrine of St Elizabeth within the Gothic, twin-spired church bearing her name. Additionally, Marburg’s botanical gardens offer moments of tranquillity.

Approximately 45 km west of Hamburg, Stade is a Hanseatic town in Lower Saxony. Once a trading city and well-placed to control shipping on the River Elbe, Stade flourished from the 13th into the 17th centuries.

Much of what you’ll see today is a legacy of three generations of Swedish rule. That ended in 1712, leaving the vast garrison storehouse, known as the Schwedenspeicher, the Zeughaus armoury and the moat around the town. Colourful facades and timber-framed buildings, including the Kunsthaus art museum, give the café- and restaurant-strewn harbour a unique character.

With a broad, sandy beach that’s lapped by the Baltic, Warnemünde is a seaside resort and cruise port on the northern fringe of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Gusting winds make the area popular for activities such as kitesurfing, windsurfing and sailing.

The artist Edvard Munch lived in one of the Old Town’s fishermen’s cottages and, as you might expect, fish-based dishes are popular in the waterfront restaurants of Alter Strom. Orientate by climbing the lighthouse’s 135 steps for views of the area, including the neighbouring Teepott pavilion.

This walkable town with more than 2,000 half-timbered buildings in Saxony-Anhalt is 110 km northwest of Leipzig. Its location in the foothills of the Harz Mountains provided a secure base for King Henry I, in the 10th century, and subsequent Holy Roman Emperors. Their castle and its twin-towered abbey church dominate the skyline, with the fortress walls providing fine views of Quedlinburg’s historic buildings.

Strolling through the Altstadt and up Münzenberg hill, you may well be able to imagine medieval Quedlinburg, when it was a member of the Hanseatic League.

This is a town of half-timbered buildings in Baden-Württemberg, 70 km northeast of Stuttgart. The lucrative salt trade – commemorated each spring during the four-day Cake and Fountain Festival –  helped finance Gothic, Baroque and Rococo buildings in what was one of the Holy Roman Empire’s free imperial cities.

Hearty Swabian delicacies, including Maultaschen, are available to fuel exploring Schwäbisch Hall’s highlights. They include St Michael’s Church, renowned for its medieval altarpiece and 53 steps that double as an open-air theatre. A reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre stands on Unterwöhrd Island in the Kocker River.

For peaceful, coastal charm, look no further than Husum. In this harbour town, life revolves around the North Sea, with pastel-hued fishermen houses lining the waterfront, housing local taverns and restaurants that serve the freshest of fish.

Best explored on foot, the pretty town boasts its own culture trail which connects 32 of its sites. Walk it for yourself to see some of the highlights including the Classicist facade of St Mary’s Church, the North Frisian Maritime Museum and the Husum Castle which is set in a glorious park.

With Roman origins, Augsburg is on medieval trade routes 65 km northwest of Munich. Merchant-banker families patronised the arts and the Fuggerei, the world’s oldest social housing, which is still used and visitable. Augsburg’s Renaissance-era wealth is evident in the grand facades of Maximilianstrasse and the marketplace – including the town hall, whose Golden Hall marginally surpasses the Schaezlerpalais’s opulence.

Surrealist artworks by Wolfgang Lettl are displayed in the Lettl Museum for Surreal Art. Meanwhile, the Glaspalast, a repurposed industrial building opened in 1920, showcases modern and contemporary art.