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Miltenberg Introduction Walking Tour, Miltenberg

Miltenberg Introduction Walking Tour (Self Guided), Miltenberg

Miltenberg, nestled along the banks of the Main River in Bavaria, is a picturesque town known for its half-timbered houses, medieval charm, and well-preserved old town. A walk through the historic Market Square (Alter Marktplatz), often called the “Schnatterloch,” reveals some of the town’s most iconic architecture, with centuries-old buildings creating a fairy-tale atmosphere. Another highlight is the Gasthaus Zum Riesen, one of Germany’s oldest inns, which has welcomed emperors and kings since the Middle Ages. Nearby, the WĂŒrzburger Tor, a former city gate, stands as a reminder of the town’s medieval fortifications.

For those interested in history and culture, Mildenburg Castle offers panoramic views over the town and houses an art museum with religious and modern works. The Main Promenade provides a scenic riverside walk, perfect for enjoying the surrounding vineyards and landscapes. Miltenberg is also a gateway to the FrĂ€nkischer Rotwein Wanderweg (Franconian Red Wine Hiking Trail), where visitors can combine hiking with tasting the region’s renowned wines. Together, these attractions make Miltenberg a perfect blend of history, culture, and natural beauty for travelers seeking an authentic Franconian experience.
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Miltenberg Introduction Walking Tour Map

Guide Name: Miltenberg Introduction Walking Tour
Guide Location: Germany » Miltenberg (See other walking tours in Miltenberg)
Guide Type: Self-guided Walking Tour (Sightseeing)
# of Attractions: 11
Tour Duration: 1 Hour(s)
Travel Distance: 1.7 Km or 1.1 Miles
Author: DanaOffice
Sight(s) Featured in This Guide:
  • Main Bridge and Gatehouse
  • Staffelbrunserbrunnen (Fountain of the Staircase Urinator)
  • Brauhaus Faust (Faust Brewhouse)
  • St. Jakobus Kirche (St. James' Church)
  • Alter Marktplatz (Old Market Square)
  • Miltenberg City Museum
  • Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall)
  • Apothekenmuseum (Pharmacy Museum)
  • Zum Riesen (The Giant)
  • Hauptstraße (Main Street)
  • WĂŒrzburger Tor (Wurzburg Gate)
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Main Bridge and Gatehouse

1) Main Bridge and Gatehouse (must see)

The Main Bridge links the historic old town on the river’s left bank with the district of Miltenberg North, serving as a vital thoroughfare for locals and visitors but also offers wonderful views of both river and town. The gatehouse, standing at the entrance of the bridge on the left bank, adds an architectural flourish, making the crossing as much a visual highlight as a practical one.

Before there was a permanent structure, crossings over the Main were managed by ferries. By the late 19th century, funds were raised through a bridge-building association, and in 1900 a beautiful stone arch bridge with six arches and the gatehouse on the left bank was opened. But during the final months of World War II, the bridge was destroyed in 1945 by retreating forces - the pillars and the gatehouse survived the destruction, though the spans were lost.

The present bridge was reconstructed between 1947 and 1950, using the surviving foundations, piers, and the gatehouse as touchstones to the past. It was reopened on 22 April 1950. While the new structure is built of reinforced concrete, its façade uses sandstone cladding, preserving much of the appearance and atmosphere of its predecessor. The Modern Main Bridge has a wide road for vehicles, and walkways on both sides.
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Staffelbrunserbrunnen (Fountain of the Staircase Urinator)

2) Staffelbrunserbrunnen (Fountain of the Staircase Urinator)

The Fountain of the Staircase Urinator is a playful and unusual fountain that never fails to draw smiles and raised eyebrows. Though not centuries old like many of the half-timbered houses nearby, this modern fountain has become one of the town’s beloved landmarks-seen by both locals and visitors as a symbol of Miltenberg’s sense of humour.

Designed by the sculptor Helmut Kunkel, the Staffelbrunserbrunnen features three bronze figures of boys in the act that gave the fountain its name-each figure with a slightly different character or pose.

The fountain takes its name from a local well called the Staffelbrunnen, literally meaning “stair fountain”, which was accessed by steps. People who fetched water there were once known as StaffelbrĂŒnnler. Over time, colloquial speech transformed the name into Staffelbrunser, with “brunsen” being a regional dialect word meaning “to urinate”. To celebrate this funny and cheeky nickname, the town commissioned a fountain in homage.
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Brauhaus Faust (Faust Brewhouse)

3) Brauhaus Faust (Faust Brewhouse)

The story begins in 1654, when Kilian François Mathieu Servantaine, a brewer from what is now Belgium, founded what is today known as Brauhaus Faust. Over time it won the distinction of being the oldest brewery in the Rhine-Main region. Since 1895 it’s been owned by the Faust family, and today the fourth generation carry on the traditions.

It blends time-honoured brewing methods with careful attention to regional quality. They still brew according to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516. Old techniques like open fermentation are preserved, along with long maturation times, gentle filtration, and careful bottling practices. The beer specialities include a wide range-traditional ones like Light Beer, Dark Lager, Pils or Schwarzviertler.

Visitors can join guided tours and tasting sessions that open up the world behind the brewery doors. These include a look at the brewing process, a descent into the vaulted treasure cellar carved into the sandstone cliffs, and a walk through the storage and fermentation areas. At the brewery shop, you’ll find bottles to take home, along with souvenirs and the chance to try limited or seasonal brews.
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St. Jakobus Kirche (St. James' Church)

4) St. Jakobus Kirche (St. James' Church)

Saint Jakobus is the main Roman Catholic parish church of Miltenberg, dedicated to Saint James the Elder. Though the church’s roots go back to the 13th century, much of what you see today reflects renovations and stylistic updates over several centuries.

Saint Jakobus combines Gothic foundations with a classicist redesign. Key features include its three-aisled nave, a three-sided apse, and twin towers added between 1829 and 1831, with their onion domes and lanterns. A major rebuilding of the choir occurred in 1862, and later restorations have shaped much of the interior.

Inside, there’s rich ornamentation and historic art. The baptismal font by Michael Juncker, from 1608, sits beneath a large wheel chandelier. The church also houses a pulpit carved by Zacharias Juncker the Elder in 1635, several Baroque statues, a Three Kings group from around 1400, an alabaster Marian altar from 1624, and other works from the late Gothic, Baroque, and classicizing eras. It also includes the venerated “Staffelmadonna”, an image of the Madonna that earlier stood in a now-demolished pilgrimage chapel.
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Alter Marktplatz (Old Market Square)

5) Alter Marktplatz (Old Market Square) (must see)

A first stop in Miltenberg is the Old Market Square-locally called “Schnatterloch”, tracing to the medieval word “snade”, meaning “snare”, and is thought to reference a drainage channel that once ran beneath the square. It offers a remarkably intact glimpse of medieval Germany, with half-timbered fronts, narrow side lanes, and the low hush of the Main not far away.

The square is ringed by carefully restored timber-frame houses from the 15th to 18th centuries, each distinguished by its own colors, proportions, and decorative details. At its center stands a sandstone fountain, created between 1583 and 1589 by the sculptor Michael Juncker. Today the scene is still lively, with cafés, craft shops, and seasonal markets animating the cobbles.

Historically, the square sat close to the town’s former boundary, near the Schnatterloch Tower, where runoff flowed toward the Main and a border line was marked. Because Miltenberg escaped the large-scale destruction of the world wars, much of this historic fabric survives, preserving the square’s enduring medieval character.
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Miltenberg City Museum

6) Miltenberg City Museum

Stepping into Miltenberg City Museum is like opening a carefully illustrated chronicle of the town and its surrounding region. The museum occupies three carefully restored half-timbered buildings, among them the historic House Miltenberg, completed in 1541. Over the centuries, these structures have had many lives, serving as administrative offices, wine storage facilities, and clergy residences, before taking on their present role as a cultural museum.

Inside, the permanent exhibition extends across 44 rooms, guiding visitors through the story of Miltenberg from its earliest traces to the modern age. The journey begins with the Stone Age and Roman era, highlighted by archaeological discoveries from Roman forts, carved stone monuments, coins, and everyday tools. The town’s medieval foundation, its long connection with the Archbishopric of Mainz, and its later shift into Bavarian territory in 1816 are also vividly represented.

Among the highlights are the museum’s varied thematic sections. The Matters of Faith gallery presents Judaica and Christian artworks, most notably the original Torah ark gable from Miltenberg’s former synagogue. Exhibits on crafts, folk traditions, and aspects of spiritual life round out this section.

Equally engaging is the Everyday Life display, which portrays local domestic culture across centuries through glassware, ceramics, toys-including steam engines and railway models-as well as fishing, shipping, and household practices. Adding to the experience is the Renaissance garden adjoining the museum.
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Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall)

7) Altes Rathaus (Old Town Hall)

First recorded in 1379, Miltenberg’s Old Town Hall ranks among the city’s oldest and most important medieval civic buildings. Constructed from the region’s characteristic red sandstone, its outer walls bear visible flood marks, reminding visitors of the many times the Main River has overflowed and reshaped life in the old town.

Over the centuries the building has played many roles. Originally, it functioned as a weighing house, important for trade, and the upper floor was used as a council and dance hall. The ground floor served as storage, a warehouse, and a marketplace where traveling merchants displayed their goods.

Though the Old Town Hall is no longer the seat of municipal government, it hasn’t fallen silent. In modern times it can be rented out for a variety of public and private events - concerts, exhibitions, meetings - keeping it alive as a cultural and communal hub within the city.
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Apothekenmuseum (Pharmacy Museum)

8) Apothekenmuseum (Pharmacy Museum)

A visit to the Pharmacy Museum takes you into more than five hundred years of pharmaceutical tradition. It is located in the old town pharmacy Zum Einhorn - meaning “At the Unicorn” - which first opened in 1514 as Miltenberg’s official apothecary and ranks among the oldest in the area. After serving the community for centuries, the Old Town Pharmacy was carefully restored and converted into a private museum.

The museum’s displays live in the original rooms of the Pharmacy. You can see carefully preserved and restored instruments, containers, and documents that bring to life the story of pharmacy from the Middle Ages through to modern times. Among the highlights are historic glass and wooden receptacles from Renaissance-era Italy, France, and Spain, prescription books and wooden boxes for dried herbal medicines, as well as old laboratory tools and distillation apparatus.

Together with the objects, the museum also illustrates the broader evolution of health‐care: how pharmacists sourced and prepared medicines, which plants were used in traditional remedies, the shift toward more formal pharmaceutical practice, and how regulation and materials changed over centuries. For example, the “physic garden” behind the building showcases medicinal herbs much as they would have been grown centuries ago.
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Zum Riesen (The Giant)

9) Zum Riesen (The Giant) (must see)

The Giant is among Germany’s oldest guesthouses still in operation. Its first documented mention appears in 1411, when Conrad Trestram was noted as the innkeeper, though the building likely stands on earlier Gothic foundations. Over the centuries, it has undergone numerous reconstructions, renovations, and expansions, blending historical authenticity with enduring character.

The current visible structure dates from 1590, when the inn was reconstructed in a Renaissance half-timbered style under the direction of carpenter Jacob Stoer. Earlier, in 1589, the owner at the time, Jost Virnhaber, was granted 100 oak logs by the city council for renovation of the building. The timber framing, decorative woodwork, and the overall construction reflect the regional Renaissance craftsmanship.

It has played host to a surprising roster of famous visitors. Rulers, kings, emperors, military leaders, and artists have passed through its doors. Names include King Ludwig of Bavaria, Holy Roman Emperors such as Frederick Barbarossa and Karl IV, and more modern figures including Elvis Presley. The inn has also been known as a “royal inn”.

For today’s visitor, it continues to function as a hotel and tavern with a restaurant, where you can enjoy local Franconian fare and regional beer, often in settings that evoke its medieval and Renaissance past. It’s also notable for its preservation efforts: owners over the years have undertaken renovations in close coordination with historic-monument authorities, ensuring the half-timbered façades, interior decorations, and structural character remain intact.
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Hauptstraße (Main Street)

10) Hauptstraße (Main Street) (must see)

The Main Street is a pedestrian zone where much of the town’s character, beauty, and history are on full display, forming a natural walking route through centuries of architecture, commerce, and culture. Along the street you’ll also find a number of landmarks, for example the Old Town Hall or The Giant Inn.

One of the things that strikes visitors most on the street are the dozens of well-preserved half-timbered houses dating mostly from the 15th to the 18th centuries. These wood-framed façades, many brightly painted or carefully restored, show off a variety of styles and details. The oldest surviving half-timbered house in the pedestrian area was built around 1339.

The ground floors of many of the old buildings are occupied by boutique shops, artisan workshops, cafes, and restaurants serving Franconian food and drink. There are also museums along the route. Despite its many centuries of life, it has avoided wholesale destruction in modern times, so what you see is largely authentic. The street is narrow, cobbled in places, and parts of it-especially in the Black Quarter-still feel like you’ve stepped into a painted postcard of medieval Germany.
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WĂŒrzburger Tor (Wurzburg Gate)

11) WĂŒrzburger Tor (Wurzburg Gate)

The Wurzburger Gate is one of the first historic monuments many visitors encounter. Dating back to at least 1379, this late-medieval gate tower has witnessed centuries of change in Miltenberg-from ramparts and town defences to the bustle of tourism today.

Originally, the tower served a defensive function. It was built with a gun platform and crenellated battlements because the eastern side was considered especially vulnerable to attack. Over time, as military threats receded and the character of city gates changed, parts of that defensive structure were altered: by the early 15th century the battlements were removed and the tower was roofed over.

Architecturally, it shows many of the features typical of medieval gate towers. Look out for the remnants of the portcullis mechanism-stone slots both inside and outside the gate through which a draw-gate would once have slid up and down. Also notice the mix of simple defensive architecture with later modifications that make the gate more decorative.