Landgasthof Saalburg

Bad Homburg, An der Jupitersäule 10

Lasting enjoyment: The extensive menu contains detailed information on the selected Hessian producers – from the well-matured Handkäs from the Birkenstock cheese dairy in Hüttenberg to game products from the Nöll family grounds in Treisberg.

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Cultural Exchange

Frankfurt

They are the cultural business cards of France, Spain and Italy: the Instituto Cervantes, the Institut Français and the Instituto Italiano di Cultura. With their programs of events and language courses they are centers of cultural exchange.
> www.frankfurt.cervantes.es
> www.institutfrancais.fr
> www.iicfrancoforte.esteri.it

English Theatre

Frankfurt

The musical “Hair”, the thriller “Gaslight”, the comedy “Educating Rita”: The English Theatre is the prime venue for English-language plays in FrankfurtRhineMain. With an auditorium seating 300, it is in fact one of the largest English-language theaters on the continent.

> Frankfurt, Gallusanlage 7
> Tel. 069/24231610

British Bookshop

Frankfurt

From classics, the latest novels and non-fiction, to verse, travel literature and children’s books, the British Bookshop has an enormous choice of literature in English. Also to be recommended: the bookshop Hugendubel on Steinweg.

> Frankfurt, Börsengasse 17
> Tel. 069/280492

Deutsches Polen- Institut

Darmstadt

This institute is a research, information and event center for Polish culture, history, politics and German-Polish relations. At the invitation of the institute famous guests also come to Darmstadt, like recently Lech Walesa.

> Darmstadt, Mathilden- Höhweg 2
> Tel. 06151/4202-11

Haus Burgund

Mainz

At its premises in Mainz the city’s partner region Burgundy welcomes visitors to exhibitions, readings, concerts and lectures.

> Mainz, Flachsmarkt- Str. 36
> Tel. 06131/234317

City of classics

Frankfurt

As of now, there will be a new place of pilgrimage for vintage car fans. On the grounds of the former agricultural machine factory Mayfarth in eastern Frankfurt on the Orber Strasse, a place where you can experience automotive culture is fast evolving. Whether restoration, repairs, buying and selling, or maintenance, in these landmarked buildings it’s all about historic cars. Undercover parking has also been provided to ensure your treasures on four wheels are always protected. Caterer Kai Exenberger provides visitors with modern Frankfurt cuisine. And what is particularly fascinating, due to the partially openworked and glazed walls, you can watch the operations in the vintage car workshops during your business lunch or expert talks about cars.

> Photo: Chris Spira/Klassikstadt

Das tolle Frankfurt – Children’s painting book

Frankfurt

We all know that Frankfurt’s beautiful. And with the new painting book it has become a whole lot more beautiful at that. Not only kids will have fun with this city guide with a difference. Anyone who has ever wanted to help plan their city will truly enjoy it too. Illustrator Claas Janssen takes you on an 80-page tour of the city. Visiting all the famous sights, such as Senckenberg-Museum, Palmengarten, the Zeil - and the one high-rise or another. And you can always paint the pictures, cut things out, stick things in, and so on … A book for any young creative mind aged six or over. //
> Das tolle Frankfurt-Kinder-Malbuch
> B3 Verlag, 9.90 euros

Michael Quast reads works by Friedrich Stoltze

Frankfurt

The one: Friedrich Stoltze was a keen-eyed observer of the old world of Frankfurt, he published the satirical weekly “Frankfurter Latern”, was a political journalist who was at one point wanted by the police, and had a brilliant aptitude for language. The other: Michael Quast, a sharptongued cabaret artist, actor and director. In his unmistakable way, Quast declaims 17 poems by Stoltze on the CD “Es will merr net in mein Kopp enei!” and actually offers a lot more besides, as he verily absorbs the poems and imbues them with new life. A special audio experience even for people who aren’t locals. //
> CD “Es will merr net in mein Kopp enei!”
> Verlag Waldemar Kramer
> 14.80 euros

Onkel J.

Wetterau

Family, football, and the Wetterau – that’s the world into which Andreas Maier repeatedly whisks his readers in his debut novel “Wäldchestag”. And this continues to be the case in his new volume “Onkel J.”, which features texts that all begin with the sentence “Neulich”. It’s less a collection of columns and more a tale of the locality. As the subtitle reveals. A history of people and society, spiced with comedy and tragedy, as refreshing and tangy as the Wetterau, and now available as a paperback. //
> Andreas Maier: Onkel J.
> Suhrkamp Verlag, 7.95 euros

“Green Sauce” seeds

Hessen

Salad burnet, chives, parsley, borage, chervil, sorrel, and cress, so the good old tradition has it, are what you need to make Frankfurt ‘green sauce’. But opinions differ on how you then prepare it: be it with a mayonnaise base, with vinegar and oil as a marinade, or, for the very healthy, with quark and crème fraiche. Traditionally the refreshing dip is eaten on Maundy Thursday, but a real citizen of Hessen eats it all year round. //
> Samen Andreas
> Töngesgasse 27, 60311 Frankfurt

Apple brandy

Fürth/Odenwald

Apart from apple wine and juice there are lots of other lovely things that apples can be used to make. Apart from sparkling wine, vinegar, and liqueurs, Dieter Walz from Edelbrennerei Walz in Fürth im Odenwald, for example, also produces high-proof liquor. For these he only uses fruit from his own orchards and from the region, with which he produces, among other things, unblended brandies such as that made with the Bohnapfel variety (40% vol.), which he refers to as the “Riesling among apples”, as it has a strong, lasting taste. For his creations Walz regularly receives top awards both from the DLG German Agricultural Society and in international competitions. In 2007 the distillery was the first to receive the Honorary Prize of the State of Hessen for fine fruit brandies. Guided tours of the facilities and tasting sessions provide up to 20 visitors at a time with an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the company and its products. //
> Apfelwalzer, Dieter Walz, Edelbrennerei
> Tucholskyweg 6 64658 Fürth/Odenwald
> Tel. +49-6253 23 280

Wine

Bensheim

“Strata Montana” is what the Romans called the “Bergstrasse” or mountain road – but they were impressed with its mild climate. They were the ones who planted the first vines. This is how there comes to be a wine-growing area measuring just 450 hectares on the slopes of the Odenwald forest, and it has not only superb wine, but also picturesque medieval towns to offer. The wines from the “Bergstrasse” are known for being refreshing and exhilarating. The “Kirchberghäuschen” overlooking Bensheim is a wonderful place to enjoy them. The walk there takes you through vineyards and from the top there is a marvelous view of the Rhine valley, across Bensheim as far as Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Apart from local wines there is also hearty fare from the region. The walk back to digest your meal is included in the price, as fortunately you cannot get to the Kirchberghäuschen by car. //

> Kirchberghäuschen
> Außerhalb 2, 64625 Bensheim

Burg Frankenstein

Darmstadt / Mühltal

Frankenstein – a word that to this day prompts goose-bumps and horror. We have a vicar’s son and alchemist to thank for this: Johann Konrad Dippel (1673-1734), whom locals decried for being a sorcerer and who lived in the castle. He was rumored to have signed a pact with the devil and to have created a new being using bits of corpses. English writer Mary Shelley heard this grim tale and she then wrote a ghost tale called “Frankenstein: Or, The Modern Prometheus”, one of the most fascinating and exciting novels in the history of English literature. Each year in the fall the castle is turned into a house of horror, when the oldest and largest German Halloween Party takes place: with no less than 99 living monsters. //

Burg Ronneburg

Ronneburg

The bastion in the Main Kinzig district is widely considered one of the most important hilltop castles in Germany. In the castle, which is preserved in its original state, visitors gain a good impression of life in the Middle Ages. The association of friends of the castle not only organizes many major events, seminars and workshops all year round (e.g., the major jousting tournament for knights at Whitsun, the Medieval theater festival in early fall, or the historical Christmas market on three weekends before Christmas), but is also responsible for management of the ancient heritage. There’s much to be discovered in the grounds: the museum, the well (more than 96 meters deep) and the reconstructions of Medieval catapults and siege equipment. Then there’s the falconry, where you can see raptors close up and learn a lot about their habits and how they are bred and trained. //

Schloss Johannisburg

Aschaffenburg

The majestic landmark of the City of Aschaffenburg is visible from afar: the four-winged Renaissance palace Schloss Johannisburg, which served the bishops and count electors of Mainz as a second home until 1803. In a gallery that is a satellite of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlung, Europe’s most important collection of works by Lucas Cranach the Elder is on display, along with the world’s largest collection of architectural models made of cork, models faithful down to the small details of the most famous buildings in Ancient Rome. Moreover, it is also home to Städtisches Schlossmuseum with artworks from the Medieval times through to the 20th century. And the “Carillon”, a glockenspiel with 48 bells, is worth seeing, and very much worth hearing; it is located in the top of the eastern tower and rings three times a day. The largest of the bells weighs a mere 271 kilos . . . //

Apple wine

Frankfurt

Everyone knows that in FRM nothing at all or at best very little is possible without apple wine. But how does a crunchy apple become the heavenly golden tipple that sparkles so magnificently in the typical ribbed glasses? You can find out at close range on a guided tour of the Possmann family-run pressing plant. The enormous white tanks in the basement, which were actually originally intended to be giant submarines, are particularly impressive. Hitler had them built shortly before the end of the War for use as a retaliation weapon. After the War they were kept in Westhafen docks in Frankfurt, before Werner Possmann bought them off the U.S. army and turned each of them into 418,000-liter tanks made of the finest Krupp steel. There are weekly guided tours, dates and times can be agreed on an individual basis. //
> Erlebniskelterei Possmann
> Eschborner Landstrasse 156–162, 60489 Frankfurt

Foto: picture alliance / dpa

Burg Friedberg

Friedberg

Taking up a full 39,000 square meters, Burg Friedberg in the Wetterau is one of Germany’s largest castles. It is presumed to have been built by Kuno von Münzenberg between 1171 and 1180 at the behest of Kaiser Friedrich Barbarossa. It was strongly fortified and designed to protect the Wetterau against attack by the enemy. Originally there were two keeps, although only the 58-meterhigh Adolfsturm has survived, the landmark of the City of Friedberg. The double ring of 14th-16th century walls has survived intact, as has a part of the interior of the castle. Inside the grounds there are still various original houses that were home to the men who manned the castle as well as the Protestant castle church build in 1775 by Franz-Ludwig Cancrin and Johann Philipp Wörrishöfer. There are guided tours of the castle and the old town of Friedberg every Sunday, starting at 2 p. m. from the Wetterau-Museum. //

Foto: Stadtarchiv Friedberg/Hessen-Hochbildservice Lotz

Tutankhamon

His Tomb and His Treasures

19. November 2011 - 29. June 2012

1922 witnessed one of the magic moments of archaeology when after five years of searching England’s Howard Carter finally uncovered the tomb of Tutankhamon. Ever since, the 3,000-year-old treasure of the boy Pharaoh has been considered one of the most astonishing finds of archaeology – the contents of the tomb, the golden coffins, shrines, masks and Tutankhamon’s jewelry continue to exert an unabated fascination on viewers. The sensational finds from the Valley of the Kings are now on show in Frankfurt in 4,000 square meters of mobile exhibition space with 1,000 replicas (no original items will be on display) offering a profound insight into the high culture of the pharaohs. And anyone who once wished to spend a “Night with Nefertiti” should embark on a daring trip into Ancient Egypt: The accompanying program includes a play and lectures by experts that introduce you to the mysteries of Tutankhamon and his gold crypt.

> Frankfurt, mobile art gallery on the grounds of Mainzer Landstrasse/Güterplatz
> Nov. 19, 2011 – Summer 2012

> Photo: Semmel Concerts

Making History

Frankfurt

30. April 2012 - 8. July 2012

Ray Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt/ RhineMain is an initiative launched by Kulturfond Frankfurt RheinMain. Nine renowned institutes have ganged up for this unique collaborative effort: Art Collection Deutsche Börse, Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie, DZ Bank Kunstsammlung, Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Marta-Hoepffner-Gesellschaft für Fotografie e. V., Stadtmuseum Hofheim, MMK - Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, Städel Museum and Stiftung Opelvillen, Rüsselsheim. International positions in contemporary photography and video art on the theme of “time” will be shown. Center stage will go to the main exhibition “Making History” at MMK, MMK Zollamt and Frankfurter Kunstverein.
//

Beer

Pfungstadt

1. May 2012 - 30. September 2012

Business might have been small and manageable when the company started up back in 1846, but how things have changed: more than 300,000 hectoliters of beer were made here last year. Nowadays “Pfungstädter” is Hessen’s largest private brewery and is still in the hands of the founding family. There have been lots of new developments over the years: numerous specialty beers and mixed drinks with beer that offer enthusiasts a huge range of different beers. And yet one thing has always remained the same: the original recipe which is still used today to brew the classic dry “Pfungstädter” beer. Though the master brewers do not divulge their secrets, they have nothing against visitors looking over their shoulders on the guided tours. //
> Privatbrauerei Pfungstädter
> Guided tours from May to September: Mon.–Fri. from 10 a. m., latest tour 4 p. m.
> Tel. + 49 6157 802-101

A House full of Music

Darmstadt

13. May 2012 - 9. September 2012

Like no other before or since John Cage, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday this coming September, explored the lines dividing music from other art genres. And it is in light of his oeuvre that this major interdisciplinary exhibition (it runs parallel to documenta 13 in Kassel) highlights 12 basic strategies in music and art since 1900 – in the form of fascinating and insightful aural experiences, projections, sculptures, scores, paintings and installations by no less than 110 artists, musicians and composers. Among others, composer Heiner Goebbels has created a sound and video installation for the water reservoir on Mathildenhöhe that is strongly inspired by Cage. //

29th Vintage Car Rally

Wiesbaden

18. May 2012 - 20. May 2012

Originally, the Vintage Car Rally in Wiesbaden was supposed to be a one-off event. Now taking place for the 29th time, it has become an absolute must for all friends of old cars. From May 17-20, in Wiesbaden all eyes will once again turn to watch the rare automobiles. On the opening day, things will kick off outside the Kurhaus, where the vehicles will be tested for roadworthiness – and all fans get a chance to see the classic cars close up. The rally proper will commence on the second day, with the start outside the Kurhaus. During the “Concours d’Élégance” in the Kurpark on the final day, the focus will be on the beauty of the older and younger vintage autos. //
> May 18: start: 9.01 a. m. of the Rheingau Rallye
> May 19: start at 9.01 a. m. of the Taunus-Rallye
> May 20: from 11 a.m.: “Concours d’Élégance”, 12.30 p. m. prize-giving ceremony in front of Kurhaus Wiesbaden

Schlossgraben - fest

Darmstadt

24. May 2012 - 27. May 2012

Hessen’s largest music festival takes place this year for the 14th time. The focal point this year is on France. During the Whitsun weekend, Darmstadt the City of Science will morph into one large stage around the Residenzschloss: over 90 music acts, from Rock through Pop, Alternative, Crossover, World Music, Cover and Tribute, Disco to a Poetry Slam, there’s something there for every taste. And more than 150 mobile restaurants will make certain no one has to go home hungry or thirsty.

Foto: Karsten Rohrbach

China on Main

Frankfurt

25. May 2012 - 31. May 2012

This year, Frankfurt will host a major China festival over Whitsun. Between Eiserner Steg and the Untermainbrücke there will be a whole raft of stands presenting Chinese history and traditions. In the purpose-built tea-gardens, Frankfurt’s Confucius Institute will host a cultural dialog program that will be attended by public celebrities from China and Germany, who will discuss matters such as civil society and the Internet, cultural diversity, the culture of the teahouse and cuisine, architecture and urban planning. Moreover, a colorful Chinese market with many a marvelous morsel, arts and crafts, information, and a diverse theater program will foster the Eastern atmosphere. The festival will climax in a dragon boat race on Whit Sunday. //

Red Bull Flying Day

Mainz

28. May 2012

Unknown flying object in Mainz’s customs harbor basin?! Quite possible, as it is here that on May 28 one of the zaniest flying competitions will again be held. Be it DIY-ers or magnificent men in their flying machines, a total of 40 teams will have a license to take off. And the winner is decided not just by how far he flies, but by the uniqueness and creativity of the home-grown flying object devised for the day. The objects launch into the air from a sixmeter-high ramp – and the soft (albeit wet) Rhine serves to cushion their landing in Mainz’s harbor basin. Go for it! //
> May 28, entry from 10.30 a. m.

Concerts at the Schloss

Weilburg

1. June 2012 - 28. July 2012

The famed international music festival will celebrate its 40th anniversary this year. Making it one of the oldest festivals in Hessen. And this year, visitors can once again look forward to the highest-quality musicians playing a capella in the Renaissance courtyard, in the vaulted chambers of Alte Hofstube, in the castle’s Baroque church or at night to candlelight in the Lower Orangerie. The latter venue so thrilled listeners last year, that in 2012 no less than 10 concerts will be performed here. There will be small ensembles and large orchestras, and there’s much for jazz lovers to look forward to as well. //

Theatrium

Wiesbaden

1. June 2012 - 2. June 2012

The Theatrium has been celebrated annually for 35 years now – round Hessisches Staatstheater, on Wilhelmstrasse, the Bowling Green and at Warmer Damm. Each year, a good 250,000 visitors arrive to enjoy summer, the beauty of the city of Wiesbaden, and to have a good time. The first Theatrium back in 1977 marked the reopening of the then freshly redecorated Hessisches Staatstheater. Four stages, spaces for music and performances, comedians, acrobats, and street musicians will turn the whole area round the theater and the Kurhaus into a fascinating and lively stage. //

SkyRun

Frankfurt

1. June 2012

Going up stairs is healthy, as every doctor will tell you. And it’s the motto of the 6th SkyRun in Frankfurt’s Trade Fair Tower, the Messeturm: the highest staircase race in Europe. Competitors have to run up 1,344 steps, 61 stories’ worth, gaining 220 meters in altitude in the process. And the runners will not just be doing something for their fitness, but also supporting the “Arque” charity, which helps care for paraplegic children and young people. Incidentally, the day will mark the first European Tower Running Championships. The 12 best athletes have to conquer the Messeturm three times. Pretty damn sporting! //
> Start: June 1, from 10 a. m.

50 Years of Fluxus

Wiesbaden

2. June 2012 - 23. September 2012

“The most important thing about Fluxus is that no one knows what it is. There’s at least got to be something the experts don’t understand. I see Fluxus wherever I go,” wrote American artist Robert Watts. Wiesbaden is considered the birthplace of Fluxus, as it was here that the world’s first Fluxus performance took place as part of the “Fluxus Festival of the Latest Music”. To mark the jubilee, the city’s Cultural Bureau and 12 other institutions has devised a wideranging program. For example, Museum Wiesbaden is planning a jubilee festival that sheds new light on Fluxus from the vantage point of artistic and musical performances. //

Romantic Theater Picnic

Friedberg

3. June 2012

The motto of the event is: “Curtain up for the Friedberg Poet and Novelist”, with the Burggarten castle gardens serving as an atmospheric setting for actor Mathias Hermann. The castle in Friedberg dates from the middle of the 12th century and is one of the best preserved in the whole of Germany. In the 18th century the outer ward was laid out as a Baroque and English-style garden, but it was only in 1918 that the park was opened to the public. Until then it was the Grand Dukes of Hessen, who spent the summer months at the castle, who enjoyed the pleasure garden. //
> June 3, from 2 p. m.

Festival of Roses and Light

Frankfurt

7. June 2012 - 10. June 2012

Since 1931 Frankfurt has feted its “Flower Queen” in Palmengarten. At the rose show, over 12,000 cut roses are presented in marvelous arrangements, a swirl of colors and rose types; and there are countless guided tours, lectures and arts and crafts relating to the rose. Things climax with the Festival of Light on the Saturday, accompanied by music, dance and thousands of tea lights that set a Romantic tone to the evening, which closes with fireworks. //

German Choir Festival

Frankfurt

7. June 2012 - 10. June 2012

In June Frankfurt is set to become Europe’s choir capital. Then, for four days, some 400 choirs with almost 20,000 singers from all over the world will assemble to fill the city with sound. Among them, the Rias Kammerchor, jazz-Pop choirs such as Vocal Line from Denmark, and Acappella legends such as Wise Guys. With just a few exceptions the concerts are free, and there are also numerous workshops and events at which anyone can join in the singing. Hessen will be getting in the mood for music before the Choir Festival though: Until June 3 in the six-concert series “Auftakt Romantik”, top choirs will be singing June 19-20throughout the Rhine-Main region.
//

Mein Kampf

Aschaffenburg

12. June 2012

Aschaffenburg’s Stadttheater is considered one of the most outstanding classicist theaters in southern Germany. The program includes theater, concert, dance theater and cabaret performances. “Mein Kampf” by George Tabori, a guest performance by Schauspiel Frankfurt, presents the young Adolf Hitler, who travels to Vienna in 1907 in order to apply to study at the art academy there. In vain, prompting his many suicide attempts, all of which come to nothing. In Tabori’s play it is a Jew named Schlomo Herzl (a writer) of all people who works writing his magnum opus “Mein Kampf”. . . //
> Stadttheater

Leonce and Lena

Frankfurt

15. June 2012

It is now 175 years since the death of Georg Büchner, that remarkable author, scientist, revolutionary and major playwright, who died before turning 24. Theater Willy Praml is producing his complex comedy “Leonce and Lena”. A story without morals, a political satire, a critique of the society and politics of his day. Directed by Joanna Praml life seems to be a supermarket where you can buy everything and where there’s a solution for everything, entertainment for all forms of boredom. And that itself is boring. Behind this seemingly trivial surface lurks a play that remains disquieting to this day, a play that cannot be captured in so many words. //
> Theater Willy Praml

Jeff Koons. The Painter & The Sculptor

Frankfurt

21. June 2012 - 23. September 2012

In summer 2012, Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung and Schirn Kunsthalle will be devoted to the oeuvre of US artist Jeff Koons, born in 1955. The parallel exhibitions on Koons oeuvre, and this has been a trailblazing role in contemporary art since the 1980s, consciously distinguish between the sculptural and painterly aspects of his work; these are therefore presented separately, each in its own separate context. Thus, Liebieghaus will exhibit world-famous sculptures as well as brand new Jeff Koons pieces in dialog with the historical building and its collection of sculptures, which spans 5,000 years. At the Schirn, by contrast, the focus will be on the structural emergence of Jeff Koons the painter. //

Foto: Jeff Koons

„Blaue Blume längst verschollen . . .

Friedrichsdorf

24. June 2012

 ... bebt und duftet mir im Herzen”. (Blue flower, long since gone, quivers and smells sweet in my heart). With Romanticism nature lost its threatening element and was portrayed for the first time as comforting and beautiful. Terms such as “the mysterious”, “enchantment”, “friendship”, “night” and “day” play a major role. The many gardens and parks in the region seem, as it were, to be ideal, man-made settings, which arouse and maintain a longing for a lost paradise. In the garden of the former girls’ boarding school Moritz Stoepel will recite poetry and prose from the Romantic era. To accompanying music. //
> June 24, 11 a.m.

Woyzeck

Darmstadt

24. June 2012

In Büchner’s fragmentary outline, the protagonist of a social tragedy is for the first time in theater history a member of the proletariat. Woyzeck is paid a pittance by the doctor and captain – for the one he is a guinea pig for dubious medical experiments with peas, the other he has to shave. In his efforts to feed his beloved Marie and their son, he increasingly finds himself persecuted by circumstance. He is dogged by hallucinations, and in the end he stabs Marie, who has been having an affair with the drum major. In their production, Robert Wilson and Tom Waits turn Büchner’s tragedy into a off-beat musical that combines Jazz, Pop, Rock and Blues and is highly entertaining while nevertheless horrific. //
> Staatstheater, Kleines Haus

Foto: Barbara Aumüller

Via Brentano – The Romanticism Route

FrankfurtRhine Main

30. June 2012 - 25. November 2012

The “Via Brentano” is the first joint project by the Cultural Fund and the Cultural Region. The long term plan is for the route to become established in the region and enable visitors to enjoy Romantic spots along the Rhine, Main, and Kinzig rivers. //
> June 30: On the trail of the Brentanos with a “Romantic” park festival in Brentanopark in the Rödelheim district of Frankfurt
> October 27, 28: The fall event is devoted to the Brothers Grimm hometowns of Hanau and Steinau an der Strasse and leads to Trages, where both the Grimms and the Brentanos were guests on the estate of their friend Carl Friedrich von Savigny
> On November 24 events in the castle in Alzenau-Wasserlos are devoted to Ludovica Brentano, who lived and performed good deeds there
> November 25: A walk through the town of Aschaffenburg on the trail of “Aschaffenburg Brentanos”, where Clemens von Brentano spent the last months of his life and is buried in the “Old Town Cemetery”

3rd Bad Homburg Poetry and Literature Festival

Bad Homburg

2. July 2012 - 7. July 2012

Air that sparkles like champagne and historical pearls are the two main items with which spa town Bad Homburg woos visitors. Not to forget the literary giants who are associated with the town: Both Dostoyevsky and Oscar Wilde took the waters here, while others such as Kleist and Goethe created literary monuments to the town, with “Prinz von Homburg” and “Pilgers Morgenlied”. Yet again others such as Friedrich Hölderlin lived and worked for years in the pretty town in the foothills of the Taunus. Hölderlin is to be encountered in all aspects of Bad Homburg cultural life, and the renowned literature prize awarded during the festival is named after him. //

The Miser

Frankfurt

8. August 2012

Now in its 9th year, “Baroque on Main” is a firm fixture in the Hessen cultural calendar. Witty theater spoken in Hessen dialects against the backdrop of the picturesque Bolongaro Palace in Höchst: this is the idea driving the ensemble built up by Michael Quast, who this year will again play the main role in the place. The 2012 choice is “The Miser”. Following the death of “Hessen’s Molière”, Wolfgang Deichsel, last year, the play has been reworked by Rainer Dachselt who last year translated “Schorsch Dandin – the duped husband” into colorful and expressive Hessen dialect. This year, Michael Quast plays a tragicomic “bean counter” and “spendthrift” who only recognizes his money as God – given the debt crisis and stock market woes what play could be more topical. //
> Baroque on Main
> Premiere: August 8, 8 p. m.

Museumsuferfest

Frankfurt

24. August 2012 - 26. August 2012

It’s not just one of Frankfurt’s greatest festivals, but one of the most important art and cultural festivals in Europe. Each year up to three million visitors flock to the event – to enjoy all manner of offerings along the museum mile. There are artistic projects and exhibitions, as well as a diverse accompanying program with street theater, open-air concerts, cabaret, acrobatics and much more besides. Not to mention arts and crafts and culinary delights from all over the world. And it’s crowned by a dragon boat race on the Main River followed by the closing fireworks display on the Sunday evening. //

Foto: ©Tourismus+Congress GmbH Frankfurt am Main

Mainland Games

Rüsselsheim

1. September 2012 - 2. September 2012

Fame, honor, strength and courage is what the Highland Games in Scotland are all about, and the same holds for Rüsselsheim, where the event follows the Scottish model. Meaning, for example, that the rivaling participants wear kilts. Alongside competitions in tossing the caber, weight throws and weight-over-the-bar throws, the Farmer’s Walk, stone puts, a slalom run with cabers, dragging cabers, rolling barrels, archery, sheaf tosses, carrying stone balls, piggybacking and a tug-of-war, there’ll be music and dance, as well as lots of market fun with Scottish meals and drinks and more than 100 different sorts of Scottish and Irish whiskies. //
> Sept. 1 and 2, from 10 a.m.

Foto: Mainland Games

Goethe Festival Week ffm

Frankfurt

13. September 2012 - 23. September 2012

The Goethe Festival Week takes place in Frankfurt every second year. Small wonder that this time everything revolves around “Goethe and Money”, which is also the name of the major special show at Goethe-Haus. Moreover, not one but two theater directors have set their sights on “Faust” and staging parts of the famous drama: Stefan Pucher stages “Faust. Part I”, with Marc Oliver Schulze as Faust and Alexander Scheer as Mephisto. Benedikt von Peter, who won the 2011 German Theater Prize for the best opera director, is audaciously debuting as a theater director with “Faust. Part II”. //

The Park at Friedrichshof Castle

Kronberg

29. September 2012

Friedrichshof Castle was built between1889 and 1894 in the neo-Gothic Tudor style as the residence of the dowager Victoria, the widow of the German Kaiser Frederick III. She lived there in the spring and summer until her death in 1901. The Empress left the castle and its entire contents, art collections and her correspondence to her youngest daughter Margaret, who married into the House of Hessen-Kassel. After World War II the building was seized by the US occupying forces and used as an officers’ club. Since 1954 the Hessische Hausstiftung (Foundation of the House of Hessen) has run it as a luxury hotel. The guided tour is devoted to the history of the family and park from Victoria to the Landgrave of Hessen. //
> September 29, 4.15 p. m.