Kulmbach is a city in Franconia. Its main claim to fame is a high brewery density, which albeit much diminished with economic consolidation was historically quite remarkable.

Get in

Plassenburg

By train

• 1 Kulmbach station. The sole extant rail line through Kulmbach leads from Bamberg to Hof and is not electrified through Kulmbach. It thus sees regional service only.  

By plane

Nuremberg Airport (NUE ^IATA) is the closest airport with scheduled flights

• 2 Kulmbach Airfield. A small airfield for general aviation  

By car

Kulmbach is easily accessible on the autobahn A70, approximately 90 km north of Nuremberg and 40 km south of Hof.

See

There are two main breweries in Kulmbach, the small Kommunbrau Brewery and the big Kulmbacher Brauerei.

• 1 Bavarian Brewery Museum.  
• 2 Plassenburg. The castle towering over the town (updated Jul 2018)
• 3 St. Peter's church (Petrikirche). The oldest church in town and perhaps the oldest in all of Upper Franconia (updated Jul 2018)

Do

Bierfest at Saturday noon

Events

• In March is spring market
• In April or May there is public celebration (Volksfest) at Schwedensteg.
• The annual Bierfest (Kulmbach Beer Festival) begins on the last Saturday in July and continues through until the first weekend in August. Getting accommodation might be a bit difficult at the time of the Bierfest. But not impossible, if you're early enough with for reservations.
• The Alstadtfest (Old Town Festival) takes place on the first weekend in July and is organised by the restaurants, bars and pubs in the old part of the town.
• Every other year odd-numbered years), Kulmbach hosts one of the world's largest model figure shows, Internationale Zinnfigurenbörse. Thousands of miniatures from exhibitors and retailers from around the world are on sale and display. Also visit the German Museum of Miniatures inside the Castle Plassenburg. Founded in 1929, the museum has more than 300,000 individual pieces.

Buy

The Farmers Market, in front of the Town hall, takes place every Wednesday and Saturday 07:00-12:00, and sells fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, sausages and flowers.

Eat

Best of Kulmbach are fried sausages (Bratwurst) and beer.

Budget

• 1 Imbiss Metzgerei Kleinheinz, E.-C.-Baumann-Str. 17A, 95326 Kulmbach, ☏ +49 9221 87485. The snack bar is popular with craftsmen, it is still cooked by hand and nothing comes from the bag. If you come outside business hours, you will find a vending machine that offers everything from sausage to ready-made pastries in glasses to barbecue. Schnitzelburger €4.20. (updated Apr 2017)
• 2 Zum Gründla, Am Gründlein 5, 95326 Kulmbach, ☏ +49 9221 823884. M 16:00-23:00, W-Su 11:00-23:00. Kulmbach's youngest brewery, with an inn with good and inexpensive Franconian food. Main courses €4 to €10. (updated Apr 2017)

Mid-range

• 3 Schweizerhof, Ziegelhüttener Straße 38, ☏ +49 9221 92830, fax: +49 9221 928360, info@schweizerhof-kulmbach.de. Former brewery with good Franconian dishes and beer garden 
• 4NOT EXISTING LISTING IMAGE Zum Seelöwen, Grünwehr 32, ☏ +49 9221 84200, fax: +49 9221 8215724, info@zum-seeloewen.de. Tu-Su 10:00-13:30 and 17:00-24:00. Traditional restaurant founded 1898, with Franconian dishes and beer garden. Meats and sausages from own butchering. 
• 5 Hagleite, Matth.-Schneider-Str.6, ☏ +49 9221 4231, info@hagleite.de. Tu-Sa 17:00-23:00, Su 10:00-14:30 and 17:00-23:00. Good Franconian dishes 
• 6 Zum Mönchshof Bräuhaus, Hofer Straße 20, 95326 Kulmbach, ☏ +49 9221 80514. Tu-Su 11:00-close. Restaurant of the biggest brewery, near Brewery museum, with the largest beer garden in town. Try the museum beer 

Drink

Kulmbacher Kommunbräu

Kulmbacher Eisbock, ice bock, is a dark, tasty beer speciality with 9% alcoholic content. Overall Kulmbach is famous for its beer and several breweries still operate in town, though diverse factors have lead to a consolidation and reduction of independent breweries, with many either bought up by bigger companies or driven into bankruptcy.

• 1NOT EXISTING LISTING IMAGE Kulmbacher Kommunbräu, Grünwehr 17, ☏ +49 9221 84490. 10:00-24:00. The last brewpub in Kulmbach, founded in 1994 as brewing cooperative . A small group of townspeople decided to open small brewery where they could make traditional, unfiltered beer. They offering a light “Hell” and a dark beer “Bernstein” and every month a special beer. The first taste of the new brew is every first Wednesday in month. It’s in a nice location, the building is an old water mill, but it’s the in-house brewery that sets it apart. 
• 2 Zunftstube, Obere Stadt 4, ☏ +49 9221 83377. M-Sa 10:00-24:00, Su 10:00-14:00. Oldest pub in town, interior furnishing from 1938. 

Sleep

Hotels

• Hotel an der Eiche, Pörbitscher Platz 9, info@eiche-kulmbach.de. Single from €62, double from €84. 
• Weisses Roß. 
• Hotel Purucker. 
• Hotel Ertl. 
• Hotel Kronprinz. 

Bed & Breakfast

• Pension Maintal, Kirchweg 33a in 95336 Mainleus, ☏ +49 9229973750, kontakt@pension-maintal.info. Single from €49, double from €64. 
• Pension Hilde, Mangersreuther Str. 37, ☏ +49 9221 7244, fax: +49 9221 7261. 

Go next

Visit Bamberg to see the medieval town and try the local smoked beer (Rauchbier) or to Bayreuth, is famous as the host of the Richard Wagner Festival, furthermore the Markgräfliches Opernhaus is listed on the UNESCO World Heritage List