Driving through Franconian Wine Country, first Sommerhausen, then Ochsenfurt. Both towns are only a ten minutes drive apart. Close by is Baldersheim, where I spent the first three years of my life.

Sommerhausen has been an important municipality on the Main river since the Middle Ages. This area was mainly catholic, the inhabitants of Sommerhausen acknowledged the Reformation in 1600’s. Sommerhausen is now a Protestant enclave in the predominantly catholic Mainfranken.  The place, embedded in the Valley of the Main among vineyards, has been the hanger for Frankish romanticism for decades. The medieval city wall has been preserved. All buildings in the town center in the narrow, winding streets look back on several hundred years of history. The town hall dates from the 16th century.

Sommerhausen, Lower Franconia Guesthouse build out of stone centuries ago

Sommerhausen village fountain

Sommerhausen, Lower Franconia sidewalk art

Weingut Schloss in Sommerhausen

Old medieval border wall with watch tower

An Italien Restaurant with Court yard in Sommerhausen

Café in Ochsenfurt

Cityhall in Ochsenfurt. Ochsenfurt is a charming Frankonian township whose origin dates back to early the Middle Ages. a wooden bridge constructed around 1200 helped the town to gain an importance. Fascinating half-timbered houses attract the eye at once. The Market place is dominated by the “New Townhall” from which Ochsenfurt has been ruled almost a thousand years

Ochsenfurt half-timbered homes