When I began doing research on the town of Ehingen the first thing that popped up in Google was “beer culture.” Right away this intrigued me since in Germany beer is king. Don’t get me wrong,…this wine girl loves her wine, but I know for a fest or for Schnitzel, any German beer is best.

Town of Ehingen

Nestled in what is considered “Upper Swabia,” the town of Ehingen lies between the “holy mountain” of Bussen and the Swabian Alb. It was settled along the Danube river and has been critical for industrial development between the Bodensee and Munich. Founded in the 13th century, the town center still has some towers, churches and architecture that identify the Baroque period of prosperity during the 17th century.

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Ehingen is known for their breweries. There are over 43 different beers and four breweries all in this one city. Their town motto is “beer culture.” If beer is your passion or if you just like drinking it, this town is definitely worth a day trip or better yet, an overnight. Be safe! We thoroughly enjoyed our day trip but feel like we could see so much more too.

Brew Week and Fest

When I heard about Ehingen’s beer week and festival, I just had to write about it. Berg Brauerei Ulrich Zimmermann and the Gasthof Brauerei Schwanen are two of the four breweries that celebrated “the Night of Open Breweries” held on April 22. The festivity also included tours of the breweries.

The city has an e-bike tour and a “Bierkultur-bike” tour available for those who like to bike and beverage together. For more information on e-bike tours click HERE.

Over 500 years ago, Germany’s purity law went into effect on April 23rd. Every year there is a small celebration. Because beer is so important to this town, there is also a “Beer course” that you can take to learn all about the true brewing process.

The city website is incredibly helpful with a multimedia tour map to help anyone navigate their way through the town even after having a beverage or two.

Sites to See

Besenmuseum im Schloss Mochental (castle and art museum) is located right outside of town. This Baroque castle is one of the largest in the area and is home to a modern art gallery. For €5/person we toured the exhibit and walked the grounds. Although our favorite was the broom (Besen) museum on the top floor. If you like modern art and sculpture, then you will like it here. Pictures were not allowed for internet use inside the gallery, so I took what I could outside.

It was market day on the square for our day trip; it was conveniently located near the tourism office in the Rathaus. Parking was easy and very inexpensive .50 €/hour in Parkplatz 3&4.

We also visited the Parish Church of St. Blasius near the historical town hall and city center. There are several churches within walking distance of the city center including a historical Roman wall walk that leads to the Pfisterturm (tower.)

This region of the Swabian Alb has the largest collection of baroque castles in Germany. Unfortunately, we were not able to see them all. If you’ve been to the lovely Sigmaringen Castle, you’ve been to another one. Stay tuned this summer for blogs on a few more castles in this region that I will visit.

Lovely Rose & Sweets

There are many restaurants in Ehingen, but we found the Ehinger Rose, a local restaurant with exceptional food and service. During Spargel (white asparagus) season, be sure to ask for this if it’s a favorite. We saw a Speisekarte (menu) with seasonal specials, and they all looked mouth-watering. The chef comes out of the kitchen and walks the restaurant to seek customer satification; this really means a lot to me. You can tell that this family-run restaurant and hotel really train for perfection.

The atmosphere is cosy and the prices were great. I had a lentil vegetarian special and salad for under €11. My friend Shelly had the Shrimp Salad in which she raved on and on about it.Our favorites at Ehinger Rose were the soups. The two wonderfully delicious soups we had were crab and spinach cream.

We also walked by a chocolatier and gelato store which were located on the end of the city center. We knew we had to stop in for a sweet to finish off our nice day trip. Sometimes during the “cake and coffee” time of Germany, it might be hard to grab a table. Although the day we visited that was a school crowd enjoying ice cream, the service was really quick. With one scoop (Kugel), we were on our way.

Whether you decide to visit Ehingen on the Donau (Danube) for its architecture, castles or beer, it makes no difference. This quick drive through the Swabian valley makes a very nice day trip from Stuttgart.

How to Get There

By car Ehingen is about 1 hour and 30 minutes southeast Stuttgart, 3 hours and 30 minutes south of Wiesbaden and 3 hours and 15 minutes southeast of Kaiserslautern. Click on DB Bahn for train information.

Author’s Profile: Wendy Payne is a military spouse and lives with her family in Stuttgart, Germany. She is a freelance writer, blogger and photographer. She also enjoys gardening, hiking, yoga and sharing Europe with people.

Featured Image Photo Credit:  © Pixabay-Alexas_Fotos