Kandel city route

At the eastern edge of the marketplace is the Ludwig Riedinger Elementary School. It was built in the years 1845/1847 according to plans by Ferdinand Jodl from the Bavarian state government and was later extended several times. The school was constructed by the Kandel master builder Ludwig Riedinger, whose father had built the nave of St. Georg Church a few years earlier. The fountain on the display side of the building was donated in 1910 by Mayor Otto Just.

On the north side of the nave there are steel bells, which were replaced in 1996 by new church bells.

In the square in front is the "Friendship Statue", a work by the Landau sculptor Volker Krebs. It symbolizes the two long-standing town partnerships of Kandel with the communities of Reichshoffen (Alsace) and Whitworth (England) and is framed by three sandstone blocks bearing the names of the partner towns. The wings are a symbol of freedom and peace.

We turn left and walk along the church to the Plätzel. Directly at the corner is the former Protestant parsonage, a half-timbered house built around 1750.

Opposite stands the war memorial known as the "Lion of Kandel", in memory of the fallen of the First World War. It was erected in 1927 based on a plan by government architect Max Schön from Munich. The execution was entrusted to the sculptor Heinrich Huber from Kaiserslautern.

We cross the Plätzel and reach the main street via the idyllic Turmgasse. A look back shows the St. Georg Tower again from an attractive angle.

At the main street, we turn left, pass the Bienwald Pharmacy, and arrive at the historic town hall of Kandel. The baroque building was constructed between 1773 and 1783 according to plans by the Palatinate-Zweibrücken bridge and road construction inspector Christiany, who had also planned the Catholic parish church St. Michael in Kandel’s French partner town Reichshoffen in 1771. The representative building served for a long time not only as town hall. The upper floor once housed the peace court, and the judges lived in the attic dormers. The ground floor housed the municipal administration from the beginning. Here was also the guardroom of the village policeman. For a long time, the large foyer was used for "fruit and grocer markets" and the calibration of scales was checked. But the post office, savings bank, and tax and municipal revenue offices were also temporarily accommodated here.

Today, the listed building houses, in addition to the large council chamber used for exhibitions and other representative occasions, the city library and the office of the Kandel adult education center.

We continue straight ahead to the Schafhaus with the so-called Dampfnudel gate. The impressive building was supposedly built in 1660 in Minderslachen on the "Cepeles or Sheep farm". The house was dismantled there in the 18th century and rebuilt at its current location. The property also includes the "Dampfnudel gate", so called because the shape of its stones resembles the "Dampfnudel", a specialty of the southern Palatinate cuisine.

We cross the main street and turn into Bismarck Street. On the left side, we reach the Saubrunnen, a fountain designed by the Palatinate sculptor Erich Sauer, which recalls the pig market that used to be held here. The seating around the fountain invites you to take a short break.

We continue our city walk through Bismarck Street and pay attention to some especially beautifully designed Gründerzeit houses.

At the end of the street, we turn left into Georg-Todt Street, named after a great benefactor of the town. In the large building on the right was the former station hotel.

Through the underpass, we reach the European Cultural Park at the Swan Pond, which is worth a detour with its numerous sculptures.

However, we follow Georg-Todt Street straight ahead and see the classicist station building on the right. On March 14, 1864, the "Winden-Rhein Railway" was opened. Since that day, Kandel has been connected to the rail network. In the building to the right of the station towards the tracks is the tourist information of the Bienwald region Kandel.

Now we turn left into the path "Im Stadtkern", pass the municipal administration, and at the end of the path reach a small rest area with a public bookcase. Straight ahead is the Bärenhof passage, which leads directly to the main street. We turn right, cross Garten Street straight ahead, and walk along Dierbachweg until we reach Bahnhofstraße.

Here, on the opposite side, we see the Hotel zum Rössel, one of the oldest inns and one of the most beautiful half-timbered buildings in the town. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Rössel still consisted of three separate buildings. Only in 1907 were these joined by a classicist connecting building. Two of the original buildings are still clearly recognizable today: a half-timbered building from the 18th century in the north and a younger one in the south, built in the 19th century as a counterpart.

We walk back a bit to the Frankenhof passage, which we cross. The Frankenhof is an old Franconian farm complex built in the mid-18th century, whose main building is equipped with an oriel (see also its counterpart on the opposite side of the street). Now we are back on the main street.

We cross it at the traffic light and follow Bahnhofstraße to Marktstraße. On the opposite side, the "Hotel zur Pfalz" catches the eye with its beautifully blooming wisteria in spring and lovely flower decorations.

We follow the street until we pass the posts of the former tax office and after a short walk arrive back at our starting point, the marketplace.