Cultural walks along the Bergstrasse
- Cemetery and city tours
- Cultural history & personalities
- Northern Hessian mountain road
Cultural walks along the Bergstrasse
- Cemetery and city tours
- Cultural history & personalities
- Northern Hessian mountain road
The mountain road!
There is a magic in the word
who captures everyone to whom it sounds.

With the Bergstraße cultural walks, I would like to bring you closer to the Bergstraße, which is not only praised by Ernst Pasqué, and which leisurely stretches along the Odenwald slope, but also to invite you to take a closer look at the diverse natural and cultural landscape that has grown over the centuries. With the attention to detail, detached from the standard program, you explore the sights along the Hessian Bergstrasse with me.
Which highlights are hidden away from the usual tourist routes? Which historical personalities lived and worked here? How were they connected to each other? Follow the paths of Benno Elkan, Ernst Pasqué, Dr. Rudolf Laudenheimer, Franziska Countess zu Reventlow, Dr. Ignatz V. Weil, Johannes Scholl, Dr. Otto Krebs, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and Grand Dukes of Hesse and the Rhine as well as Counts von Katzenelnbogen, Hedwig Kubin, Hugo Rabus, Abraham Samuel Ben Isaak Bacharach, Julius Lazarus Mombach, ... from place to place.
Find out more about the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in Germany: cemetery culture and midwifery as well as the new world cultural heritage: the Darmstadt Mathildenhöhe (since summer 2021).
I research archives and bequests for you, read various literature and am always on the lookout for the icing on the cake.
For those who do not know the mountain road: In the Geo-Naturpark Bergstrasse-Odenwald, in a scenic and quiet location, people like to take time out from the hustle and bustle of the Rhine-Main and Rhine-Neckar regions. Almond and fruit trees blossom on the mountain road early in the year thanks to the mild climate. As if strung on a string of pearls, castles are enthroned on the hilltops, from which one has a magnificent view of the Rhine plain, among other things. Medieval towns, tranquil communities and the two university towns - Heidelberg and Darmstadt - shape the region. Germany’s smallest wine-growing region is also located on the Hessian Bergstrasse, with numerous grape varieties.
With my guided tours you will (re) discover the northern mountain road - Alsbach-Hähnlein, Darmstadt and Zwingenberg.
Your Nicole Rieskamp
An overview of my cultural walks

Alsbach-Hähnlein -
Jewish Cemetery: Sights at a glance
There is a special cultural monument in Alsbach: the largest Jewish Orthodox country cemetery in Hesse. The culture walks see themselves as a bridge between Jewish and Christian burial culture in order to achieve a better understanding and togetherness. In addition to the history of the cemetery, design features of the cemetery and tombs (symbols, inscriptions) are explained on all tours.
This 405 year old association cemetery was the burial place for 32 surrounding cities and communities. The history of the region and its coexistence can be traced just as well as individual life stories of the 2100 tombstones that still exist today.

Alsbach-Hähnlein: Alsbach - From mammoth to sanatorium
We explore the center of the former farming and craftsmen’s village that developed into a sanatorium around 120 years ago.
At the time of the mammoth there was neither a village nor traditional festivals (Schlossfest, Kerb, Fastnacht). Find out how Alsbach developed in the years that followed. What role did tourism play from the end of the 19th century? Discover the (former) village bustle - retail trade, craft shops, restaurants - coupled with the quieter sanatorium and villa area. (Jewish) memorials and works of art also line the path.

Alsbach-Hähnlein
Alsbach villas: artists and doctors
Alsbach has both a village character and a bourgeois flair on the slope below the Alsbach Castle. From the 1870s to around 1930s, the urban bourgeoisie who had arrived began to build country houses and villas as well as a sanatorium for the mentally ill above the village center.
Walk in the footsteps of the (Jewish) bourgeoisie of the 19th and 20th centuries. See their villas and country houses as well as catch a glimpse of the gardens. Learn more about the coexistence of the villaowners and the villagers. The neurologist Dr. Rudolf Laudenheimer ran a sanatorium in which well-known patients and visitors such as Franziska Countess zu Reventlow, Hanna and Karl Wolfskehl, Hedwig and Alfred Kubin gathered. Musicians and writers like Ernst Pasqué and the sculptor Benno Elkan lived in the neighborhood.
Impressions of my guided tours

Get in touch with me
Are you interested in a tour or do you have any questions?
Then the easiest way is to send me a message using the contact form below or to give me a call: 0157-3379 6863