From Winterhausen to Sommerhausen

From the railway station, turn left into Hohlweg via Schützenstraße and Fuchsstadter Straße.

Now follow the markings with the yellow EU boat. After a slight incline, you will reach the viewing point with the "Kulturlandschaft Würfelleite" station.

At the "Mondguckerin" viewing platform, the changes in the cultural landscape over the centuries are illuminated. The trail continues in the direction of Goßmannsdorf - if you are lucky, you will come across a shepherd with his flock at the remains of a canteen in the Großmannsdorf quarry.

The stonemason's path leads down to Goßmannsdorf in a romantic location on both sides of the Schafbach stream and with an almost completely preserved village wall.

Shortly before leaving the village, we come to the former synagogue.

From 1510 until the spring of 1938, Gossmannsdorf had a Jewish religious community with a synagogue built in 1765, a community centre with classrooms and a ritual immersion bath, the mikvah. The interior of the synagogue and the rituals were destroyed in 1938. Shortly afterwards, the community bought the building. Today, fragments of the synagogue at Zehnthofstraße 29 have been preserved and is now privately owned and has been converted into a home. Some original wall sections, remains of walls and windows are still visible from the outside. The synagogue's Jewish writings from the 16th to 19th centuries are now on permanent loan to the Ochsenfurt town archives.

The synagogue is privately owned and can only be viewed from the outside.

Directly opposite the synagogue, at Kapellengasse 1, on the corner of Zehenthofstraße, stands the Kreuzkapelle - a jewel of Gothic architecture.

The Chapel of the Cross has been documented since 1451, but was altered and refurnished in the 17th century. The chapel consists of a nave with a gabled roof and a recessed choir with a three-sided end in the east. Parts of the original furnishings can still be found in the choir, such as the iconostasis made around 1400 and the Gothic choir stalls. However, most of the furnishings date from the Baroque period. The high altar with Jesus on the cross and Mary Magdalene was created around 1750, the two side altars, on the left with the image of the Virgin Mary and on the right St Valentine, a little later in the rococo period. There are three tombstones on the floor dating from 1519 to 1707 that are well worth seeing.

The key to the chapel is held by the Düll family, Domherrenviertel 3a.

You now cross the Main. Ascend along the Sommerhäuser Panoramaweg and enjoy the view over the Main.

Above Sommerhausen, turn off to the former "residential village" with its castle at Hauptstraße 25.

The impressive Sommerhausen castle and vineyard is located in the centre of the village. The current manor house was built between 1546 and 1575. Above the entrance portal to the snail tower and the relief with the Limpurg and Rhine Counts' coat of arms, you can probably see the image of Karl Schenk von Limpurg, the builder of the castle, who was married to Adelheid, the daughter of Hans, Count of Wild and Reing.

However, the winery was founded as early as 1435 by Schenk Konrad IV von Limpurg (1396-1482). As the "Kellerey" of the hereditary prince of the Holy Roman Empire, the coronation wines of German kings and emperors were produced here for centuries. The Steinmann family acquired the old castle estate in 1968 and renovated it true to the original. Today, the estate is run by Martin Steinmann, now in the 15th generation. The vintner family's wines grow on shell limestone soils around Sommerhausen, focussing on the classic grape varieties Silvaner, Riesling and the Burgundy family. Wine lovers can purchase the fine wines in the castle, and when the weather is fine, the cosy beer garden invites you to take a refreshing break.

Open in good weather: Thursdays 11 a.m. - 6 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 11 a.m. - 8 p.m. Sundays and public holidays 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

You cross the Main again and walk along the Mainlände, a recreational area by the river, towards Mauritiusplatz.

You walk along Wehrweg past a charming ensemble of houses, including the 19th century merchant's hipped roof house at Fährweg 3 and the two-storey half-timbered house from 1747 at Fährweg 14. We follow Wehrweg to Mauritiusplatz.

The Mauritius Church with Romanesque and Gothic elements was built around 1300 as the parish church of the village. No other area of Winterhausen has undergone as many changes in its history as the old town centre around Mauritiusplatz. Situated directly on the River Main, flanked by the parish church, rectory and schoolhouse, and as an episcopal property unprotected outside the town walls, it was particularly exposed to flooding and was abandoned in 1463. The parish rights were transferred to St Nicholas' Chapel, but the bells remained in the tower of St Mauritius' Church until 1737.

At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, the former nave was converted into a single-storey, plastered residential building with a mansard hipped roof. The vicarage became an inn; the name Zum Goldenen Löwen can still be found on the spacious new building. The former schoolhouse with stepped gable was built in 1493, but was abandoned when the Kantorat was built next to the town hall in 1510. The former Mauritius Church is currently being renovated and converted into a residential and office building.

From Mauritiusplatz, the route leads through the old town centre and then right along Hauptstraße to Rathausplatz.

The town hall square offers a beautiful backdrop with a view of the town hall and cantorate, watched over by the steeple of the elevated St Nicholas church. After the parish church and school were moved from Mauritiusplatz to the town hall, the new town centre was built here. In 1738/39, the town hall was built in the Baroque style on the site of the previous building from 1558. The Kantorat from 1510 with its neat half-timbered façade served as a replacement for the previous school building on Mauritiusplatz and housed two classrooms on the ground floor. In 1542, with the introduction of the Reformation, the church became Protestant.

Inside, St Nicholas holds numerous treasures: a late Gothic carved altar from the school of the important Franconian sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider, an octagonal baptismal font from 1571 and an 18th century confessional that is well worth seeing.

Follow Bucksweg along the railway tracks for a short distance to reach the station again.