Ulm's Town Hall

You will learn about: * The history of the city * The most crooked house in the world * The leaning tower of Ulm * The highest church steeple in the world * one of the most beautiful fountains of Germany * Albert Einstein * Guinness Book of Records building You will see: * Town Hall * Cathedral Ulm Minster * The Dolphin Fountain * Butchers Tower * Fishermen’s Quarter * The Crooked House * Neu Ulm We’ll start the tour with a view of the Town Hall and it’s bright colored murals and it’s 16th century astronomical clock. The very impressive exterior murals were extended to the older part of the building and illustrate virtues, commandments and vices. Prepare your cameras for our next point of interest: Ulm Minster, which is the world’s tallest church and was the 4th tallest building until the 20th century. It took around 500 years for the church to be finished and now it’s one of the most important landmarks of Ulm. Close by we will stop for some pictures at The Dolphin fountain. With its complex structure, stems from the 52 inter-crossing jets of water and the reflections of the wet metal this fountain is considered one of the most beautiful fountains from this whole are of Germany. The charming “water display” of this fountain is particularly attractive when floodlit at night. If you thought that the leaning tower of Pisa was one of a kind, think again. We will get a chance to see the “leaning tower of Ulm”, The Butchers Tower that used to be a part of Ulm´s fortifications. The tower leans 2.05 meters in a northwesterly direction, by 3.3° (unlike Pisa's 5.1°). We continue our tour to the most romantic part of Ulm: Fishermen's Quarter. Follow us through its narrow streets, streams, bridges and old houses. Don't be fooled by the name of the area. The owners of the houses were not some poor fishermen, trying to make a living but merchants and ship owners who made money trading goods along the Donau. The old houses show the wealth of their former owners. Then we will also reach the most famous site of Ulm: the Crooked House. Its rooftop is leaning at an impressive angle of 9 to 10° over the river Blau and because of that, in 1997, the Guinness Book of Records lists it as the world’s most extremely leaning hotel. The construction of the house – narrow at the bottom, wider in the upper stores - can be explained by its purpose as a building for fishing, repair of nets, and fish storage. There was a boat landing at the base of the house, the upper stores serving as a kind of roof. Our tour ends on the other side, at Neu-Ulm side with a nice walk along the river for a breathtaking panorama view of the old town.