Tübingen is Germany’s two-and-a-half river city but any resemblance to Pittsburgh stops right there.
There are no steel furnaces in two-and-a-half rivers Tübingen, no ketchup factories (labeled H. J. Heinz or otherwise) and no world-famous sports clubs – Tübingen’s soccer team plays all the way down in Germany’s sixth tier.
Instead, you will get plenty of this …
… and this …
… and that.
Not a bad trade-off, you will agree.
Any exploration of Tübingen’s treasures should start with a stroll past the city’s main waterway, the Neckar, …
… which is the largest river not only in Tübingen but in the entire state of Baden-Württemberg (in Germany’s southwest, wedged in between France and Switzerland).
The Neckar is the second most important tributary of the mighty Rhine and famous mainly for the large number of globally renowned companies that were built elsewhere overlooking its banks (such as Mercedes-Benz, Heidelberg Cement, and Lidl).
Although some sections of the Neckar are also lined by castles and vineyards rather than by smokestacks and chimneys, I bet there are not many stretches as scenic as the one that frames the old town of Tübingen.
The best way of experiencing Tübingen’s stretch of the Neckar is a walk down the Plataneninsel in the middle of the river. Just walk down the bridge that you will pass on your way from the train station to the town centre.
The river island trail is a little under 1 km long, and while it starts as a gentle promenade, …
… you will, towards the end, have to manage your way through a surprisingly dense forest.
Second on the list of rivers, there is the Ammer. The Ammer – which joins the Neckar in the eastern suburbs of Tübingen after a total run of a mere 22 km – is a tiny rivulet by comparison, but it has played an important role in the city’s history.
In 1493, its waters were deviated to power Tübingen’s inner city mills and copper factories, and this “New Ammer” has marked the northern frontier of the Old Town ever since.
Mostly straightened and rather charmless, it may not be much to look at, but there is a scenic little riverside footpath just to the west of the bridge on Rümelinstrasse which is well worth the detour.
The New Ammer, meanwhile, has a twin, not surprisingly called the Old Ammer, which more than makes up for the lack of photogenic motives that are provided by its sibling.
For most of its run, the Old Ammer is a kind of ghost river, flowing underneath rather than through Tübingen in a subterranean river bed, but occasionally, it peeks out ….
… to wind its way between shops and houses.
The stretch down the Ammergasse in the town centre is particularly picturesque …
… and leads to the charming Krumme Brücke, the “crooked bridge” where the Ammer scenically flows – or rather, trickles – around a 90-degree corner.
By the way, have you noticed that flowers seem to be everywhere in Tübingen – certainly near every motive at which visitors may point their cameras?
The locals appear to know how to present their town and how to make sure Tübingen will always look good on any photo that enthusiastic amateurs may be taking and subsequently spreading on the Internet.
But with flowers or without, wherever you walk to explore the urban territory between Tübingen’s two-and-a-half rivers, you can be sure to come across something beautiful.
The city has managed to remain up-to-date with modernity – Tübingen certainly does not feel like the living corpse of a museum town whose only purpose is to let visitors wallow in nostalgia – while at the same time keeping out all the ugly by-products of post-WW-II urban renewal projects: large chain stores and supermarkets (instead, every other street corner appears to accommodate a farmer’s market), …
… cookie cutter architecture …
… and car traffic: this was the largest car park we saw all day in the town centre.
And if you know where to look, you will even find proof that graffiti was better in the old days.
So whenever you find yourself in the state of Baden-Württemberg, either for business or for pleasure: take a punt on Tübingen. You will be richly rewarded.
