Friedberg

Friedberg is a historic town in the Wetterau region of Hesse, laid out as a planned Staufer town and presumed to have been founded on the orders of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa between 1171 and 1180; the castle is first documented in 1216 and the town itself in 1219. As a Free Imperial City and trading-fair town, medieval Friedberg was one of the most important cities in present-day Hesse. From the 12th century until 1806 its castle was the seat of an unusual Burgraviate, and from 1431 it was a territory answerable only to the Holy Roman Emperor. Friedberg also has significant medieval Jewish heritage: the Judengasse (Jewish street) contains a monumental ritual bath (Mikwe), built in 1260 by the same stonemasons who built the town's Gothic church, reaching roughly 25 metres underground — the deepest such bath known in Germany.

Friedberg is in the Wetterau region north of Frankfurt and is reached by road or regional/S-Bahn rail connections from Frankfurt.

Friedberg's old town, castle grounds, and Judengasse are compact and walkable.

Friedberg Castle (the former Reichsburg) covers about 3.9 hectares, making it one of Germany's larger castle complexes; its keep, the Adolfsturm, is roughly 58 metres tall and dates to around 1350. The old town's Gothic city church and the medieval Mikwe in the Judengasse are also notable historic sights, alongside a mix of Gothic, Romanesque, and Renaissance buildings.

The Adolfsturm can be climbed on weekends and holidays between April and October for views over the town.

• Frankfurt — Hesse's largest city and financial hub, reachable by regional train
• Nearby towns in Hessen — explore the surrounding region