Knittlingen: Hometown of Alchemy and Schlager

Knittlingen is a tiny town in the Kraichgau hills. Judging from ist size, you would call it a village - but for almost 200 years it has had the status of a town. Located between Bretten and Maulbronn, Knittlingen is an easy stopover along the way between them. The town is quite rural in its appearance. Many residential houses are old farmhouses. Its historical centre has several dozens of fine half-timbered houses, some well restored, others not so.

Knittlingen claims to be the birthplace of Doctor Faustus, the real Doctor Faustus, who was an alchemist in the early 16th century. However, there are three other towns and villages that also claim to be his birthplace. Who knows.

However, and that's for sure, Knittlingen is also the birthplace of Die Flippers, one of Germany's most successful Schlager bands, who started their big career in 1969. Two of the three band members are still living here. Their music fits into this place. Somehow time stood still here, in particular if you decide to go shopping...

Knittlingen's historical centre covers a hill, not too high but the ascent is notable. It used to be surrounded by a wall and moat to protect the town from attacks. Both are gone, but the oval ground plan of the town centre still reflects where it was. The church, the old town hall and the wine press(!) occupy the highest point of the hill. Knittlingen is a wine town. In the middle ages it belonged to Maulbronn Abbey. Later it became property of the Duchy of Württemberg.

The old town can be explored on foot in half an hour. Its dimensions are small. Despite several destructions in the wars of the early modern era, quite a number ofhistorical stone buildings and half-timbered houses are preserved. The place is entirely untouristy, though. They try a bit of marketing, but I don't think that the town gets too many visitors. If you want to see „authentic rural Germany“, here it is.

The old town extends along the streets Marktstraße and Kirchplatz, Untere Gasse, Pfleghof, Fauststraße, Seestraße, Brunnenstraße and Gaisbergstraße. As I said, it is small...

In the 18th century houses were marked with signs that represented the owner's profession. I found these here in Untere Straße but I am sure that there are more in other streets, too.

The first two photos belong to the same building, a large winery and a cooper's workshop. The tools compass, hammer, and two others I can't identify, together with a barrel - indicate, I think, a cooper's business. Above the cellar door on the side, there is a barrel depicted: Does it translate to, „The wine goes in here“? Jacob Plag, whose front door you see in the third photo, surely was a butcher.

The most central building in Knittlingen is neither the church nor the town hall, but this rather plain stone building. It was constructed by Maulbronn abbey, the owner of the village, in the middle ages as part of the Pfleghof, i.e. their economical estate within the (then) village. T

his building hosted the wine presses. The size indicates that large amounts of grapes were harvested here and brought in for pressing.
We are in a wine region - priorities must be set!

The town's parish church has its origins in the middle ages, probably in the 13th century. The late gothic choir dates from the 15th century. The wars of the early modern era did not spare the church, though. Repairs and refurbishments were necessary more than once. The village being property of Württemberg after 1504, the reformation was introduced and the church became Lutheran.

To the west, the hill suddenly makes a rather steep descent, so from that side the steeple appears most impressive and higher than it actually is. Unfortunately the church was not open (I wonder if it ever is outside services), so I cannot tell you anything about the interior.

Every year on May 1, a May Tree is set up in the centre of the town, which then remains over the summer and fall. It is a high tree trunk crowned with a fresh spruce or fir tree. The trunk is decorated with little scenes from daily life and professions in former times. These here look rather home-made, really cute. I am not sure what the dolphins on the top bar are referring to, though. The May Tree adds that little extra that makes the ensemble of church,. old town hall and wine press the perfect postcard puicture.

This photo, the one at the top, must have impressed the photo people here on Travellerspoint, as it was one of my first pics that got featured... Who would have thought that this little place would receive so much honour and attention.

In the Footprints of Doctor Faustus

Johann Georg Faust, the real Doctor Faustus, is said to have been born in a house next to the church in Knittlingen around 1480. He became a (in)famous alchemist, astrologer, healer and magician. His death occurred under mysterious circumstances in Staufen im Breisgau around 1540 - legends tell that the devil came to collect him. Most likely one of his alchemist experiments went sadly wrong.

The historical figure inspired Goethe to write his most famous drama, Faust I.

The half-timbered house on the corner of Kirchplatz is known as Faust's birthplace and marked with plaques. This is not the original house, though. The present building probably dates from the 16th century.

The baroque building next to it used to be Knittlingen's Latin School. Nowadays it hosts the Faust archive and library, which can be used for research. The house is also used for temporary exhibitions, concerts and lectures.

The old town hall is the most beautiful half-timbered house in Knittlingen. Its present shape is owed to repair and rebuilding in the early 18th century after it had suffered substantial damages in the wars of the 17th.

In modern times it became too small for aven a small town's administration. In the 1950s the new town hall was built on the grounds of the former Thurn und Taxis post station at the opposite end of Marktstraße.

Since then the old town hall has been the seat of the Faust museum. The museum shows, according to the desciption on their website, a permanent exhibition on the life and myths of the historical Faust. We came at lunchtime on a weekday, though, so we could not visit the museum.
Opening hours: Tues-Fri 09.30 - 12.00 and 13.30 - 17.00, Sat, Sun and holidays 10.00 - 18.00
Website: http://faustmuseum.de

Shopping like in the 1970s

We laughed our heads off when we found this shop window in the centre of Knittlingen. The goods on display look as if they have neither sold anything nor received anything new since about 1985, and many pieces are even much older. The shop sells various stuff including papetries and school supply, books and maps, some clothes and swimwear, toys, bags and suitcases, household items, and model trains.
The board games looked familiar to me - I actually owned one of them in my childhood, in exactly the same box. One of the schoolbags, the orange one, reminded me very much of my own that I had when I started school in 1972. Or do you need a road map of Yugoslawia…?
Swimwear fashion has also changed *a bit* in recent decades. The books in the window are self-help books for parents of schoolkids (it was September and the new schoolyear just about to begin); they also look very much 1970s. At least, prices are already in Euro.
The shop was closed and no one there, so we did not offend anyone with our laughter. One of our party later went back when the shop was open. He returned very happy, having found some items for his model train that weren't available anywhere else any more. He said the shop is owned by a very old lady who probably keeps the business running after the death of her husband, and who has somehow lost contact with modern times.