Where to Stay in Hanau am Main, Hessen

What is Hanau am Main known for?

Jakob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm were born here, and the GrimmsMärchenReich turns that inheritance into an attraction of its own, while the Historisches Museum Hanau handles the documentary side. Goldsmithing runs deeper still, a trade the town has kept since the 16th century, and the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus exists to show it. Heraeus is based here.

The Papiertheatermuseum Hanau is the specialist among the collections.

What are the main landmarks in Hanau am Main?

Two castles and a palace. Hagen castle and the Altenburg carry the defensive record, while the Skulpturenpark Schloß Philippsruhe sets sculpture into palace grounds rather than a gallery. Churches account for much of the rest, among them the Marienkirche Hanau, the Walloon-Dutch Church Hanau, the Reinhardskirche and the Gustav-Adolf-Kirche.

The Ehrensäule stands in the open. Hochgericht Hanau and the Ghetto-Mauer Hanau record harder chapters, and the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus, the Papiertheatermuseum Hanau and the GrimmsMärchenReich divide the museum visits between craft, paper theatre and fairy tale.

What is the history of Hanau am Main?

Two castles predate the fame. The Altenburg and Hagen castle belong to the period when the ground here was held from fortified points, and the Marienkirche Hanau served the settlement that followed. Refugees changed it next.

The Walloon-Dutch Church Hanau records a congregation that arrived from elsewhere and stayed. Precious metal has been worked here since the 16th century, and the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus exists because of it, a museum given over to a single trade rather than to the town at large. Hochgericht Hanau names the older justice.

Jakob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm were born here, and Franciscus Sylvius as well, which gives one town an unusually long entry in other people's biographies. The GrimmsMärchenReich makes the case in public. The Ghetto-Mauer Hanau survives from the ghetto that once stood in the town, and the Historisches Museum Hanau carries the record that the standing buildings cannot.

Industry and the river follow. Heraeus grew into one of the largest family-owned companies in Germany from this base, and the port on the Main and the railway junction gave it the connections to do so. Museum Großauheim and Museum Steinheim Castle keep the local records of two outer districts, each with a history of its own.

Hanau counted as the largest city of the Main-Kinzig-Kreis before it became a district-free city.

Where is Hanau am Main?

The Main runs through it. Hanau sits east of Frankfurt am Main, inside the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region, with a port on the river and a railway junction that together make it a transport town as much as a historic one. Großauheim and Steinheim lie outside the middle.

Main-Kinzig-Kreis spreads around the city, and the built-up ground gives way to it quickly once the last of the church quarters is behind.

What is the climate of Hanau am Main?

The Main sets the terms. River air keeps the valley damp in the cold months, and the lowland that Hanau shares with Frankfurt am Main warms early and holds that warmth well into the evening. Summer suits the parkland.

The Skulpturenpark Schloß Philippsruhe and the river bank are warm-season ground, while the Historisches Museum Hanau and the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus take the wet afternoons that the rest of the year supplies.

How do you get to Hanau am Main?

The railway does the work here. Hanau station is a major junction, which puts the town within an easy run of Frankfurt am Main and on the through routes to everywhere the region reaches. A port works the Main.

Once inside, the Marienkirche Hanau, the Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus and the Historisches Museum Hanau are walkable together, while Großauheim, Steinheim and the Skulpturenpark Schloß Philippsruhe each need transport of some kind.