Raven Guides: Germany - Fussen
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Füssen<br />
A mix of Gothic and Baroque<br />
streetscapes and some of<br />
<strong>Germany</strong>’s most photographed<br />
locations make this Allgäu<br />
lakeland spa town a favourite of<br />
tourists, cyclists and hikers.<br />
Füssen is two hours by train from Munich<br />
at the foot of the Alps in one of <strong>Germany</strong>’s<br />
most beautiful landscapes. The triskelion feet<br />
on the town’s arms pun on its name, which<br />
most likely refers to the gorge and cascade<br />
Lechfall just south of the old town. The<br />
striking metallic blue-green of the river Lech<br />
may be due to dissolved limestone but against<br />
the Alpine backdrop adds to the town’s famed<br />
romantic quality.<br />
Stone age and Celtic settlers inhabited the<br />
area but when the Romans arrived in 15BCE<br />
Italian influences first began flowing north<br />
over the Alps to the Danube along the military<br />
road Via Claudia Augusta. St Magnus, known<br />
locally as St Mang, died in Füssen about 750<br />
and his cult grew around the town’s church.<br />
The Italian links were renewed through the<br />
medieval period and are evident in their<br />
Baroque architectural legacy.<br />
The south end of the Romantic Road is at<br />
the arch of the Bleichertörle off Stadtbleiche<br />
on the north bank of the river Lech near<br />
the Franciscan monastery of St Stephan. A<br />
surviving stretch of town wall is nearby on<br />
the east edge of the old town, with the last of<br />
the town gateways in original condition. More<br />
recent is the Allgäu custom of adding paintings<br />
to houses’ outer walls.<br />
In the mid 19th century the castle Hohenschwangau<br />
was updated and Neuschwanstein<br />
was built nearby as a medieval pastiche based<br />
on drawings by a set designer for Wagnerian<br />
opera and matching the Bavarian king Ludwig<br />
II’s wildest fantasy.<br />
Ludwig has accumulated stories – not<br />
least about his mysterious death in a nearby<br />
lake – but he remains a symbol of Bavaria’s<br />
last defiance of the Prussian juggernaut that<br />
created modern <strong>Germany</strong> and the last link<br />
with the receding past of princes and hilltop<br />
castles. His real legacy is the afterglow of<br />
the Romantic movement, his extravagant<br />
residences and the operas he patronised.<br />
Information<br />
Tourist Information Füssen is at Kaiser-<br />
Maximilian-Platz 1 and online at www.<br />
fuessen.de. For a good selection of maps look<br />
in G. Bruhns Buchhandlung at Reichenstraße<br />
10.<br />
Transport<br />
Regional trains run from Munich (six times<br />
daily, about two hours) and Augsburg (direct<br />
trains about 10 times daily, one hour 50<br />
minutes). Other connections from Munich<br />
are available by changing from Lindau-bound<br />
services at Buchloe.<br />
The Deutsche Touring Romantische Straße<br />
bus service (daily, mid April-mid Oct) arrives<br />
from Munich at 20.20 and leaves next morning<br />
at 8.00 for the run north toward Frankfurt.<br />
The charms of Füssen are its compactness<br />
and postcard location.<br />
RAVEN QUICK GUIDE<br />
Tourist information & accommodation service: Kaiser-Maximilian-Platz 1<br />
(tel 08362-93850, email tourismus@info.fuessen.de, M-F 9-18, Sa 10-14, Su 10-12).<br />
Money: HypoVereinsbank, Augsburger Straße 1 (M-W & F 9-12.30, 14-16, Th 9-12.30,<br />
14-17).<br />
Lockers: Bahnhof (€4/2 per day).<br />
Post: Bahnhofstraße 10 (M-F 8.30-12.30, 14-17.30, Sa 8.30-12).<br />
Police: tel 110; Herkomerstraße 17 (tel 08362-91230).<br />
Pharmacy: Stadt-Apotheke, Reichenstraße 12 (M-F 8-18.30, Sa 8-16); Bahnhof-Apotheke,<br />
Bahnhofstraße 8 (M-F 8-19, Sa 8-13).<br />
Ambulance: tel 112.<br />
Hospital: Kreiskrankenhaus, Stadtbleiche 1 (tel 08362-5000).<br />
The bus also stops at Wieskirche (15-20<br />
minutes) and Hohenschwangau both ways.<br />
OVG network buses for the castles and<br />
Wieskirche (generally operated by RVA, see<br />
the Neuschwanstein entry below) also depart<br />
from the rail station.<br />
Bicycle hire at Radsport Zacherl (tel<br />
08362-3292, M-F 9-12.30, 14-18), Kemptener<br />
Straße 26, costs €10 per day or €25 for three<br />
days (mountain bikes €15 or €40).<br />
Activities<br />
Touring both romantic castles and taking in<br />
the separate museum will occupy much of<br />
a day. Unless included in accommodation<br />
packages, tickets for the castles and museum<br />
(see below) are available only at the ticket<br />
centre in Hohenschwangau (tel 08362-<br />
930830, info@ticket-center-hohenschwangau<br />
.de, www.hohenschwangau.de). There are<br />
open-air pools for bathing in nearby lakes – at<br />
Weißensee west of the town there is no cost.<br />
Touring the town attractions is easier using<br />
posted English texts or the mobile information<br />
service (tel 08122-999955920 plus the digit<br />
matching the number listed for the sight). The<br />
tour is explained on the town map outside the<br />
tourist office.<br />
Lake cruises on Forggensee (Jun-mid Oct,<br />
one or two hours, €8/4 or €11/6, tel 08362-<br />
© 2014 RAVEN TRAVEL GUIDES GERMANY<br />
RAVEN TRAVEL GUIDES GERMANY - Füssen 1