A modest, laidback city just an hour from Frankfurt, Fulda has a welcoming small town feel that contrasts with the bustling metropolis nearby.
Excellently connected to many other major cities, Fulda is a tranquil spot in the midst of a busy nation. Just three hours from Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, and within an hour of Frankfurt and Kassel, the city also benefits from direct connections to Copenhagen, Warsaw, Minsk, Moscow, Vienna and Basel, making it a true European hub. While Fulda lacks the ornate, Baroque grandeur visible elsewhere in the region, it has a more gentle, serene and calm ambience, making it the perfect place to relax and unwind.
Head for the cityscape’s most iconic feature: Fulda Cathedral. A former abbey church and the burial place of St. Boniface, this has been the cathedral of the Diocese of Fulda since 1752. The cathedral has ten bells hung in its two towers, a great organ dating back to the early 18th century and a neighboring priory, St. Michael’s, which has been the bishop’s residence since the 1830s.
Concerts regularly take place on the Square in front of the cathedral, while the adjoining museum contains liturgical exhibits dating back hundreds of years, including the dagger with which St. Boniface was murdered.
Across the street from the cathedral is the Schlossgarten, or palace garden, which offers vibrant colour and a delightful spot to wander in the heart of town. On one side of the gardens you’ll find the Orangerie, a building often used for festivals, as well as the Baroque Floravase sculpture.
The Stadtschloss next to the garden, from which the garden also takes its name, was once the royal apartments and Episcopal palace. Some parts of the building are today open to the public, with the hall of mirrors and old apartments particularly popular among visitors. A large collection of Fulda porcelain is on display, as is an exhibit on the local-born Nobel Prize winner Karl Ferdinand Braun, who invented the cathode ray tube used in televisions and electronics.
Fulda may be a place to relax and unwind, but it isn't short on things to see.
