There’s a lot to discover, experience and marvel at in southern Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony)’s largest city by area, idyllically located at the edges of the Weser Uplands, the Harz mountains and the Solling. The historical city centre of Einbeck has retained its picturesque woodcarving and magnificent half-timbered houses, which in some places adorn entire streets. The best example of this is Tiedexer Straße, which boasts one of the longest contiguous ensembles of half-timbered architecture in Germany. All these ornately decorated half-timbered houses date from the time after the great fire of 1540 and bear testimony to the former wealth and prosperity of the city of Einbeck.
Eating and drinking in Einbeck
The craft of brewing beer is a centuries-old tradition in this former Hanseatic city. In the 13th century, Einbeck’s brewers invented a method of making the tasty but perishable beverage more flavourful and durable by adding hops. That made the Ainpökisch beer transportable, and Einbeck beer was exported to many parts of Europe. Soon after that, ‘bock’ beer became the talk of the town, which experienced an upward economic trajectory. In 1616, 742 houses were authorised to brew beer in Einbeck! This cultural heritage is still firmly rooted throughout the city today in the form of the Einbecker Brauhaus AG brewery. No less an authority than Martin Luther showed his appreciation of Einbeck’s beer: ‘The best drink known to man is called Ainpökisch beer.’
Mustard production is another tradition in Einbeck, where stone mills are used in the old city centre to produce a wide variety of mustards using locally available ingredients.
Attractions in Einbeck
A visit to the Einbecker Blaudruck will have you seeing blue. Using traditional methods and historical printing processes, typical patterns and an illustrated city history are conjured onto fabrics. This 380-year-old traditional craft has been recognised as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage since 2018.
With exhibits about beer brewing, indigo dyeing, the German mail-order pioneer August Stukenbrock and much more, the StadtMuseum Einbeck offers plenty of history to marvel at. In the RadHaus exhibition, you can delve into the history of mobility in Einbeck in one of Germany’s most modern bicycle museums.
There’s a lot more horsepower in the PS.SPEICHER, where an interactive exhibition in the former granary provides insights into the past, present and future of mobility across a space of some 5,000 square metres. And since the summer of 2020, PS.SPEICHER has had the biggest public collection of classic vehicles of its kind in Europe. But you can’t see all of them at the PS.SPEICHER exhibition: there are now four depots in Einbeck where PS.SPEICHER presents its exhibits.
You can also enjoy the outdoors in Einbeck. Both the Einbeck City Forest (Einbecker Stadtwald) with its many walking and woodland trails and the Märchenwald (fairy tale forest) are inviting places for extended rambles. Take in the view of the city from the Altendorfer Berg or enjoy outstanding natural wonders in the Leinepolder nature reserve.
Einbeck also has plenty to offer art lovers! Dispersed about the city are works of street art large and small that together form an unrivalled open-air gallery. Nearly 60 works by artists from all over the world can now be seen on façades and in other spaces around Einbeck. Holidays in Einbeck? They’re worth it!
