As in many cities, the museums in Wolfenbüttel are closed on Monday. But that’s no reason to bury your head in the sand and avoid the city on that day, because even on a Monday you can make some really great discoveries in Wolfenbüttel. I was out and about in the city on a Monday and went in search of clues for you.
Jägermeister Monday with factory tour
Monday is Jägermeister Day! The Tourist Information Wolfenbüttel always offers visitors to Wolfenbüttel a great city tour combination on Monday. First a tour of the Jägermeister factory, then a short walk to an Italian restaurant for lunch and finally a short tour of the town. The whole event lasts a good 5 hours and can be booked for participants aged 18 and over.
I got the chance to try this offer and I have to say it’s worth it. But let’s start at the beginning:
Factory tour at Jägermeister
The meeting point for the factory tour is directly at Jägermeister on Monday morning. The first thing you do is register in the large, light-flooded entrance hall. A short entry in a list and the subsequent locking away of all bags, mobile phones, cameras and jackets in the lockers is obligatory before the tour can begin.
We were divided into two small groups. I found that very pleasant, so we could understand everything well and look everywhere.
First topic of the guided tour – the history of the factory! In brief for you:
The recipe for the herbal liqueur dates back to 1934, and sales began in Germany one year later. Today, Jägermeister is exported to over 130 countries around the world. The production of the basic ingredient is still located in Wolfenbüttel, only in Austria and Saxony is Jägermeister bottled locally.
The enthusiastic hunter and company owner Curt Mast chose the name, he chose the logo that still exists today, the stag and the shining cross (reference to Saint Hubert, the patron saint of hunting).
Today, there is still a poem by Oskar von Riesenthals (1830 – 1898) on the label of the bottle that reminds us of hunting:
This is the hunter’s shield of honour,
that he protects and cherishes his game,
hunts in a manner befitting a hunter,
Honours the Creator in the creature.
Das ist des Jägers Ehrenschild,
dass er beschützt und hegt sein Wild,
weidmännisch jagt, wie sich‘s gehört,
den Schöpfer im Geschöpfe ehrt.
Jägermeister consists of 56 herbs, 25 of which were revealed during the tour. We were able to look into the laboratory for quality assurance, see various tanks with individual extracts and large barrels with stored Jägermeister. On the whole, the production process was explained to us in an understandable way without going into too much detail. We were able to see some information in small films, which were very informative.
I found the small factory tour very interesting. For all those who expect factory tours with tasting – there is no tasting here. But I was able to take a small bottle of Jägermeister home with me.
Short city tour
After lunch, the city guide took us on a short walking tour of Wolfenbüttel’s old town.
The focus of the city tour is the beautiful half-timbered houses of the city. 600 half-timbered houses can be discovered and each one offers something special.
Some houses have been beautifully renovated, such as the narrowest house in Wolfenbüttel.
In a former fire protection gap between two half-timbered houses is one of the narrowest houses in Germany. On the street side, the house is only about 2.20 metres wide; on the garden side, it is a good 3.50 metres wide. The house was built in 1751.
But we also passed some churches and took a look at the beautiful buildings from the outside.
I really like the church of St Trinitatis, for example.
The baroque church now stands on the site where the Cort Menge (armoury) used to be, a two-storey building with a courtroom. After the Thirty Years’ War, this had become useless from a military point of view. And so, from 1655, part of the building was then used as a prayer room, while the rooms in the basement continued to be used for the garrison. After the building had become too small, a new church was built. From the outside, I think it looks more like a theatre or a stately home. The typical steeple is missing.
We continued through the pedestrian zone of the old town. We stopped for a while at the model of the city. Here you can see the city’s structure very well and the city guide told us something about the city’s history.
I particularly enjoyed being made aware of small hidden details during the walk. From the different design of the half-timbered façades to a picture in the gable of a house that gives clues to the former use of the house.
After a look at Little Venice and the castle, the city guide took us past the ancestral home of the Mast family, the “birthplace” of the master hunter, thus creating a link to our guided tour in the morning.
For me, it was an all-round successful Monday, which showed varied insights into the city and is the ideal prelude to further great visits.
Accommodation tip: Parkhotel Altes Kaffeehaus
The Parkhotel “Altes Kaffeehaus” is only a few minutes’ walk from the historic old town, right next to the Lessingtheater. We spent one night here in a double room on the 3rd floor.
If you arrive in time, you can still park your car in the small free car park in front of the house. If you can’t find a space here, you can use a free car park about 400 metres away.
Our room on the 3rd floor was very quiet. The rooms are furnished in a country house style, the bathroom is equipped with a shower. There was good and free Wi-Fi reception in the room.
The breakfast was really great, the selection very large and varied. I discovered everything from fresh fruit and muesli to fresh rolls and a large selection of different types of cheese and sausage, even salmon, which makes my breakfast heart beat faster.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to use the in-house sauna. But it was definitely not our last visit to Wolfenbüttel.
Disclosure: Our hotel stay and participation in the Wolfenbüttel Jägermeister Tour was made possible for us free of charge by the tourist information office in Wolfenbüttel as part of a research trip. Many thanks! This report was written independently.
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