Mainz, 2 hotéis

Characterised by its half-timbered houses and winding laneways, Mainz’s Old Town invites you to linger. A variety of wine-bars, cafes and restaurants reflect the personality of the Old Town, along with a smattering of small shops and boutiques, which will quicken the pulse of shopaholics. The baroque Augustinian Church, the picturesque cherry orchard and the St. Ignaz Church are particularly worth seeing.

Mainz’s High Cathedral is the culmination of 1,000 years of architectural history, from the Romantic to the present day and reflects the face of the city. Built along the lines of St Peter’s Basilica, the St. Martin Cathedral has survived numerous destructions and reconstructions in the course of its history, and it is the resultant combination of architectural styles that makes the Cathedral so interesting. If interested, you can visit the museum during its regular opening hours, or attend one of its regular events. Guided tours can also be booked. Attached to the cathedral is the Episcopal Cathderal and Diocesan Museum, which exhibits various stone fragments, sculptures, paintings and other objects from a sacred context.

The parish church of St. Stephan is located at the highest point in Mainz City Centre. It is particularly famous for its choir windows, designed by Marc Chagall, which illuminate the church’s interiors with a special blue light. Guided tours can be booked through the Mainz tourist information centre, as well as through the parish office.

Built at the instruction of Emperor Napoleon in the early 19th century, the Mainz Staatstheater is among the city’s highlights. The theatre’s wide-ranging program offers something to appeal to every cultural taste. Operas, plays, concerts, ballet performances, children’s theatre as well as traditional antics during carnival time. The main hall seats 1,000 people, the smaller hall has 500 seats and the studio stage ‘Deck 3’ seats around 90 people. Anyone who would simply like to take in the views of the theatre can take a seat at one of the many cafes or restaurants in the immediate vicinity.

As the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the moveable type printing machine, Mainz is home to the Gutenberg-Museum. The museum of printing, books and the history of script occupies an area of 2,700 metres square, housing vast numbers of historical manuscripts, prints, graphical illustrations, printing presses and typesetting machines. Highlights include a copy of the famous Guttenberg bible, which can also be viewed here. Daily demonstrations are held in the Gutenberg-workshop, to give visitors an impression of how printing was done in Gutenberg’s time. Interested parties in small and larger groups can have a turn in the workshop and try their hands at the printing process.

Carnival and Mainz are inseparable, as visitors to the Mainz Carnival Museum will quickly come to realise. The carnival archive, which contains more than 22,000 exhibits, forms the basis of the museum, located in the Old Town. Vaulted sections represent distinct periods, including the present day, the period between the world wars, and the period leading up to the First World War. You can admire various costumes, uniforms, the minutes of meetings and all many of other things related to the carnival. Take part in an earlier Mardi Gras parade or televised parade. Various other special exhibitions are also on display.

The 60km long Rhine terrace runs between Mainz and Worms along the Rhine. On a hike through the Rhine Hesse vineyards, you can discover countless historic cities and villages! Alongside the walkway, there is a train line which makes it easy for you to travel back to your starting point. One of the stages will take you from Bodenheim, via Mainz-Laubenheim and on to the state capital itself. The Zöller Kreuz viewing point offers a particularly fantastic view across the entire area. Enjoy a day in the wine mountains and on the banks of the Rhine.