Nackenheim

This wine village is the birthplace of the writer Carl Zuckmayer (1896–1977), who immortalized the town in his farce Der fröhliche Weinberg (The Merry Vineyard) in 1925. He described Rheinhessen wine as "the wine of laughter . . . charming and appealing." You can put his words to the test the last weekend of July, when wine festival stands are set up between the half-timber town hall on Carl-Zuckmayer-Platz and the baroque Church of St. Gereon. The church's scrolled gables, belfry, and elaborate altars are worth seeing.