Highlights in the  Hass Mountain Region

Nature Park Hassberge

To discover Franconia's best sides, the Naturre Park Hassberge (840 sq.km), the Nature Park Steigerwald, and the Maintal (Main Valley), offer three distinct options. Grand townscapes invite you for a stroll.

Enjoy a variety of possibilities during your vacation: The rich heritage of monuments, churches, palaces, and castles; or the densely wooded or agriculturally shaped landscape, offering the perfect surroundings for hiking tours that are naturally relaxing.

Well-run taverns, hotels, and B&Bs cultivate Franconian hospitality. Those enjoying a glass of good wine or of flavorsome beer will find many „small paradises“ here. Local chefs spoil their guests with Franconian specialties.

Castle Ruins of Altenstein

One of Franconia's largest castle ruins, in the heights of 458 meters, near the vacation town of the same name above the Weisach Valley in pictorial surroundings. Altenstein once belonged to the Abbey of Fulda, for which is was kept as episcopal tenure. Parts of the castle date back to the 13th century. To save it, the County of Hassberge has acquired ownership of the ruins, thus making them accessible for the public again.

Palace of Eyrichshof

An impressive Palace complex amidst the town. An exemplary Renaissance-style structure; a harmonious composition of echelon gables, round towers, jutties, and different roofs. In the gable window of the stair tower, facing the courtyard, stands the wooden bust of a bearded man, lovingly called „Bartele (a regional diminutive of "The Bearded") of Eyrichshof“ by the locals: The figure is said to have been placed there by a former lord of the Castle as a warning supervision of the domestic servants.

In front of the palace lies a spacious garden complex. The palace church has a beautiful baroque entrance; next to it stands a charming orangery. The tavern „Wirtshaus Specke“ was a favorite place of the young poet Friedrich Rueckert: It was here that he met the patron's daughter Marielies Geuss; he fell in love with her and praised her as „Amaryllis“ 70 sonnets. In the forest (near the parking lot by the road to Kurzewind) lie the rock ruins of Rotenhan.