Oestrich-Winkel Travel Guide

Vineyard above the city
[ source: Flickr]

Oestrich-Winkel Overview

Oestrich-Winkel is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt (Darmstadt vacation rentals | Darmstadt travel guide) in Hesse, Germany. Oestrich-Winkel borders in the north on the town of Lorch and the communities of Welterod (Rhein-Lahn-Kreis in Rhineland-Palatinate), Heidenrod and Schlangenbad (Schlangenbad vacation rentals | Schlangenbad travel guide), in the east on the town of Eltville, in the south, across the Rhine, on the town of Ingelheim (Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate) and in the west on the town of Geisenheim.

This is a young town with roughly 12,000 inhabitants, having come into being in 1972 through the merger of the until then self-governing communities of Mittelheim, Oestrich and Winkel; it was further enlarged by Hallgarten’s amalgamation into the town in 1977 as part of municipal reform. The coördinates 50°N, 8°E lie right in the constituent community of Winkel, whose name, coincidentally, is German for “angle”. The town lies 17 km west of Mainz (Mainz vacation rentals | Mainz travel guide).

Things to See in Oestrich-Winkel

Oestrich-Winkel is characterized by winegrowing. In Oestrich: Lenchen, Doosberg, Klosterberg, Pfaffenberg; in Mittelheim: Edelmann, St. Nikolaus, Goldberg; in Winkel: Dachsberg, Hasensprung, Gutenberg, Jesuitengarten, Bienengarten, Schloß Vollrads; in Hallgarten: Jungfer, Würzgarten, Schönhell, Hendelberg, Mehrhölzchen

The Oestricher Kran, Oestrich’s main landmark, is a former wine-loading crane from the 18th century for loading and unloading ships. Completed in 1745, it was working until 1926. Inside the crane are found two treadmills in each of which two men used their body weight to work a winch, which could then lift loads onto or off ships. It is the last preserved wine-loading crane on the Rhine’s right bank.

In Mittelheim is found one of Germany’s oldest stone churches, St.-Aegidius-Basilika

In Winkel stands Germany’s oldest stone house, the Graues Haus (“Grey House”). For a long time it was believed that Rabanus Maurus lived and in 856 died there.

Schloss Vollrads, outside Winkel, with its ancient watertower likewise belongs among the noteworthy sights. On the town’s northeast limit near Hattenheim (Hattenheim vacation rentals | Hattenheim travel guide) stands Schloss Reichartshausen (founded in the 12th century) with its outbuildings, which about 1900 were remodelled to look like follies. It nowadays houses the European Business School.

In the middle of the community stands the Brentanohaus. Here, Goethe spent some time in 1814 as a guest of the Frankfurt (Frankfurt vacation rentals | Frankfurt travel guide) banking family Brentano. The family’s children were Clemens, Gunda and Bettina Brentano. Karoline von Günderrode, a poet and one of Bettina’s friends, stabbed herself here in Winkel in 1806 on the Rhine’s bank out of lovesickness and life weariness.

In the barn across from the Brentanohaus has been found since 2003 the cultural and event venue Brentanoscheune

Regular festivals include the Lenchenfest (a wine festival), the Dippemarkt (a market with a funfair), the Christmas market (Weihnachtsmarkt) and Jazz Week (Jazzwoche).

[ source: wikipedia ]

Oestrich-Winkel lies right on Bundesstraße 42, which is particularly well developed towards the east, and which seamlessly feeds into the A 66 near Wiesbaden. The town lies on the Frankfurt am Main–Wiesbaden–Oestrich-Winkel–Koblenz railway line and belongs to the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund. Furthermore, between 6:00 and 21:00, a ferry shuttles across the Rhine between Mittelheim and Ingelheim, where there is a link with the A 60.