5 Best Sights in The Fairy-Tale Road, Germany

Fulda's 18th-century cathedral, an impressive baroque building with an ornate interior, has two tall spires and stands on the other side of the broad boulevard that borders the palace park. The basilica accommodated the ever-growing number of pilgrims who converged on Fulda to pray at the grave of the martyred St. Boniface, the \"Apostle of the Germans.\" A black alabaster bas-relief depicting his death marks the martyr's grave in the crypt.

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Marburg's most important building is the Elisabethkirche, which marks the burial site of St. Elizabeth (1207–31), the town's favorite daughter. She was a Hungarian princess, betrothed at age 4 and married at 14 to a member of the nobility, Ludwig IV of Thuringia. In 1228, when her husband died in the Sixth Crusade, she gave up all worldly pursuits. She moved to Marburg, founded a hospital, gave her wealth to the poor, and spent the rest of her very short life (she died at the age of 24) in poverty, caring for the sick and the aged. She is largely responsible for what Marburg became. Because of her selflessness she was made a saint four years after her death. The Teutonic Knights built the Elisabethkirche, which quickly became a pilgrimage site, enabling the city to prosper. You can visit the shrine in the sacristy that once contained her bones, a masterpiece of the goldsmith's art. The church is a veritable museum of religious art, full of statues and frescoes. Walking tours (€14) of Marburg begin at the church on Saturday at 3, year-round. Tours inside the church are held Monday to Friday at 3 from April to October, and Sunday shortly after Mass (around 11:15). Due to major renovations of the interior, the choir and the nave are closed to the public until 2027.

This Romanesque-Gothic Roman Catholic church near the old town hall (Rathaus) was elevated to basilica-minor (small cathedral) status by the Vatican in 2004. It stands on the site of a chapel built by Boniface around 723. Built originally in the 12th century, the current church has been altered and renovated over the centuries. The basilica's library displays manuscripts from the 8th to the 17th century, as well as important church documents and incunabula (early printed books). The cathedral museum contains sacred relics (Eucharistic vestments, statues, and reliquaries). The highlight is the 11th- to 12th-century Emperor Henry Cross, adorned with gems and pearls. During the 90-minute guided tour, you'll discover the crypt with St. Wigbert's tomb, the cathedral library, the cloister, and the museum.

Construction of the cathedral began in the mid-11th century. Its two prominent towers, one of which can be climbed, are Gothic, but in the late 1800s the cathedral was restored in the Romanesque style. It served as the seat of an archbishop until the Reformation turned the cathedral Protestant. It has a small museum and five functioning organs. On Saturdays at 12:30 there are guided tours of the cathedral.