Pictures of Freudenberg's snow-covered, 17th century houses have drawn fans from around the world, especially visitors from Japan. DW visited the German town to find out what it's like living in a tourist attraction.
Image: DW/R. Staudenmaier
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After climbing the steep stairs to reach a hilltop overlooking Freudenberg, it's easy to see why tourists from around the world come to visit the western German town, located in a rural area about a 90 minute drive away from Frankfurt am Main or Cologne.
Down below, over 80 timber-framed houses are perfectly aligned in the panoramic view from the city park. Their black and white facades and snow-covered rooves look as though they've jumped out of the pages of a fairytale.
It's wintry images like these that have made Freudenberg a star on Instagram, with the town tagged in over 11,000 posts on the photo-sharing social media platform.
The pictures of Freudenberg's old town, dubbed the Alter Flecken, have "caused an avalanche" of interest, the town's mayor Nicole Reschke told DW.
"In the past six months, the images of the Alter Flecken, with or without snow, have spread through social media and other media platforms to such an extent that interest has risen — and we've already seen more tourists," she added.
Most of the people who live in the historic houses don't mind all the attention, one resident told DWImage: DW/R. Staudenmaier
Although there's already been a boost in the number of tourists coming through the town, the full extent of Freudenberg's Instagram-boom will likely only become clear within the next three years, Reschke said.
"We are curious to see whether this will continue."
A rise in Japanese visitors
Busloads of tourists, many from Asian countries, regularly roll into Freudenberg, parking at the base of the stairs that lead up to the panoramic city views.
Besides snapping pictures from the city park, visitors also take advantage of the town's open-air stage, the Technology Museum and the local hiking trails.
Freudenberg hosts around 30,000 overnight guests a year, although the actual number of tourists is likely to be much higher.
Many groups, especially those that arrive on bus tours, only spend a few hours in town — making it difficult to get an accurate count of the people coming through Freudenberg, mayor Reschke explained.
Freudenberg published a tourist brochure in Japanese last yearImage: DW/R. Staudenmaier
The number of tourists from Japan in particular has spiked in the last three or four years after a report about the town was shown on television in Japan, said Bärbel Bäumer, an employee at Freudenberg's tourist information office.
"I think that Freudenberg is a now a fixed stop for tour groups," she added.
Interest has increased so much that the city had a flyer with a map of the old town translated into Japanese.
Tourism and city officials have also specifically designed new souvenirs to make them more lightweight and convenient for tourists with long flights back home.
The black and white patterns of Freudenberg's 17th century, timber-framed houses have been incorporated into modern bags, sleek keychains and decorative slate plates that also seem destined to catch the eye of Freudenberg's Instagram-savvy visitors.
Although the houses look uniform from above, each one has a unique feature (like green doors and shutters) that sets it apart from the other buildingsImage: DW/R. Staudenmaier
Looking to the future
As more tourists make their way to Freudenberg, local officials have announced plans to improve the Kurpark, the city park that offers the best views of the old town.
The €2 million ($2.29 million) project will include improvements to the park, such as constructing either a cafe or kiosk at the top of the hill, according to mayor Reschke.
In the future, visitors will be able to enjoy a cup of coffee and piece of cake while taking in the view of the Freudenberg's Alter Flecken.
The project will also help to make the viewing platform more accessible by installing disabled parking spaces on top of the hill and improving the stairs to make the ascent less steep.
Eventually, Reschke hopes to have a small, self-driving electric bus to help ferry visitors from the town center to the viewpoint in the park but said "that most of that was still up in the air."
Freudenberg's beautiful 17th century houses have been attracting people from around the world for years, even before the Instagram-boom, mayor Nicole Reschke told DWImage: DW/R. Staudenmaier
A balancing act
With visitors constantly snapping pictures and strolling through Freudenberg's narrow streets, especially between May and September, how do residents feel about living in a tourist attraction?
"You live with it. Many of the tourists are very sweet," said Ms. Bäumer, who lives in one of the timber-framed houses.
"If you don't like it, then you should move, but most of the residents don't have any objections," she added.
Going forward, Reschke said it will be important to balance Freudenberg's tourism industry with the needs of its 18,000 residents — the majority of whom live outside the old town.
"I think you have to be careful that it doesn't turn into a mass tourism situation, because it's not a museum — it's a residential area," she explained. "But I think we are on the right track."
Germany boasts about two million historic half-timbered houses. Most of them can be found in these 10 towns.
Image: picture-alliance/H.-J. Rech
Quedlinburg
Quedlinburg, just north of the Harz Mountains, is Germany's largest half-timbered town, with more than 1,300 timber frame houses. Here, rows of these colorful buildings stand closely side by side as a testimony to civic pride and prosperity in times gone by. In 1994, Quedlinburg's old town center was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Image: picture-alliance/imagebroker/GTW
Celle
In Celle in Lower Saxony, rows of timber frame houses line the streets like pearls on a necklace. Celle boasts more than 500 elaborately restored and historically listed buildings. Some of these old houses still have passages to their courtyards, through which the town's farmers could bring their harvest. The most splendid, decorated with mythical creatures, is the Hoppener House, built in 1532.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. Hollemann
Fritzlar
Fritzlar's appearance hasn't changed much in the last centuries. There are still timber frame houses, narrow lanes and intricate details everywhere. Between them, small restaurants, ice cream parlors and cafes create a tranquil atmosphere. The jewel in this Hessian town's crown is the old market square with its glorious ensemble of individually configured timber frame houses.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Zucchi
Monschau
Monschau is called the "Pearl of the Eifel" thanks to its rich cultural treasures. In the old town center, quaint timber frame houses alternate with magnificent dwellings. Here, there are some 300 historically listed buildings. The facades along the narrow cobblestone lanes hide small art galleries and boutiques.
Image: picture-alliance/Dumont/R. Kiedrowski
Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel lies nestled between the Moselle and vineyards. It was united with Kues on the opposite river bank in 1905. Narrow, densely built-up lanes lead to the market square, which is surrounded by magnificent timber frame buildings. The pointed roofs here are striking. Due to the lack of space, the houses were built as tall as possible.
Image: picture-alliance/imagebroker/M. Moxter
Esslingen
Esslingen lies in the Neckar valley and is surrounded by vineyards. It boasts more than 200 timber frame houses, which date from the 13th to the 16th centuries. It also has the oldest connected row of half-timbered houses in Germany. The Pleghöfe, former monastic administrative buildings where the cloisters stored their wine, are typical of the town.
Image: picture-alliance/Arco Images/J. Pfeiffer
Tübingen
Medieval half-timbered houses in all shapes and colors, authentically preserved streets and narrow lanes make Tübingen, at the edge of the Swabian Jura in southwestern Germany, a popular tourist destination. It's a hilly climb from the Neckar River up to Hohentübingen Castle. In contrast to its buildings, Tübingen's residents are young: About a third of them are university students.
Image: picture-alliance/imagebroker/E. Bömsch
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Rothenburg ob der Tauber epitomizes German romanticism. It is arguably the best-known half-timbered town in Germany and, with two million visitors annually, is one of Bavaria's most popular sights. In addition to historical monuments, convoluted alleyways and timber frame houses, the medieval town wall with its 42 gates and towers has been preserved in its entirety.
Image: picture-alliance/imagebrokerW. Dieterich
Bamberg
There are a whopping 2,400 listed buildings in Bamberg. Its medieval center is the largest in Germany to have survived intact, and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993. Bamberg's town hall is a popular photographic subject. It was built on an artificial island in the middle of the Regnitz River. Behind it are rows of small timber frame houses in which fishermen once lived.
Image: picture-alliance/imagebroker/G. Lenz
Stade
Not far from Hamburg lies the half-timbered town of Stade. Like 100 other towns, it is located on the German Timber Frame Route. If you want to view more than one of them, just travel part of this route. It covers a total of 3,500 kilometers (2,174 miles) and runs from the Elbe River in the north to Lake Constance in the south.
