Nördlingen is surrounded by Germany’s only completely preserved town wall on which you can walk right round. If you climb up the clock tower of St. George’s church, fondly called in local speech the ‘Daniel’, you will have a wonderful all-round view of the crater, formed some 15 million years ago by the impact of a meteorite. Still unique today is the tower keeper on the ‘Daniel’, whose call reverberates across the roofs of Nördlingen all year round in the evening hours, ‘So G`sell so‘.
15 million years ago, there was a huge “bang” in the Nördlinger Ries: a rock from outer space hit with great force and created a gigantic crater – today’s Nördlinger Ries.This region has since been designated the first National Geopark in Bavaria. The new Geopark also includes surrounding areas of the Franconian and Swabian Alb.The center of the Geopark is the town of Nördlingen.It is located right in the impact crater. The Ries Crater Museum in Nördlingen provides information about the interesting geological past of the Ries. Here, the geological history becomes an experience for the visitor and geoscience becomes comprehensible.
When it comes to eating and drinking, the Ries region features traditional dishes and fresh, regional products. A typical gourmet dish is ‘Rieser Küchle’, dough cooked in deep fat, coated with powdered sugar.
