Route 5 - Offenbach upstream

Isenburg Castle, one of Offenbach's most important cultural monuments, is located a little way upstream on Mainstraße. The medieval Isenburg dynasty, who chose Offenbach as their residence and seat of state administration, had it built in the 16th century. Due to its different design, the castle is considered a remarkable object not only by art historians - and one of the most beautiful Renaissance buildings north of the Alps. While the north side facing the River Main has a fortified façade made from parts of the older building fabric, the south side facing the town, which was built after 1564, has a more relaxed Renaissance façade with graceful galleries.
After the Counts of Isenburg were elevated to princes in 1748, they no longer used the castle as their residence but more comfortable houses in the town center. In 1816, they lost control of their principality and Offenbach fell to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt.
Since the beginning of the new millennium, young creatives from the Offenbach University of Art and Design have been studying in the venerable red building. In addition to the painting and photography departments, the computer workroom is also located here; the first floor is kept free for events.

The exciting contrast between modern Offenbach and its roots continues in the inner courtyard of the renowned university. Here, the Renaissance façade meets today's main HfG building: the technical teaching facilities built between 1910 and 1913. Different railings and capitals in the building, which have been preserved to this day, served as models for the architecture students at the time. The Ludo-Mayer fountain, named after a leather manufacturer and patron of the arts who made the construction of the new educational establishments possible at the time, sits enthroned in the middle of the historical field of tension. This Art Nouveau fountain on the campus, created by sculptor Prof. Heinrich Jobst, is one of Offenbach's few art-historical symbols.

Back by the river, the path leads past the Mainuferpark to the Main foreshore in the Offenbach district of Bürgel. Here, near the St. Pankratius church, there is a playground that is popular with young children and teenagers alike. The playground, which was partially renovated in 2007, has everything from a sandpit to a rope circus and a football pitch. And while the youngsters let off steam, parents can enjoy the idyllic location by the river.

Freshly fortified, the cycle tour continues to the nearby Schultheisweiher pond. This idyllic body of water is located in a nature reserve, and even though swimming is not always permitted here - depending on the concentration of blue-green algae (the current situation can be found at www.offenbach.de, Environment section), it is worth taking a detour to the beautiful sandy beach. Animal lovers are advised to take binoculars with them so that they can better observe the birds.

Along the Mainbogen and the allotment gardens, the cycle path continues to one of the oldest documented villages in the Main region: Rumpenheim was first mentioned in the "Lorsch Codex" on June 1, 770. The town, which has belonged to the city of Offenbach since 1942, has around 4,000 inhabitants. Some of them now live by the river, where Austria's Emperor Franz Joseph and Russia's Tsar Alexander III once stopped by: in the venerable Rumpenheim Castle.

The building bears witness to Rumpenheim's courtly era, which began after the village fell to the House of Hesse-Kassel along with the County of Hanau-Münzenberg in 1736. The landgrave's family acquired a manor house in Rumpenheim and converted it into a palace. Between 1770 and 1805, a classic three-winged complex was built, the original core of which is still preserved in the central wing. In the middle of the 19th century, the European aristocracy met at Rumpenheim Castle - in addition to Denmark's regents Christian IX and Frederick VIII, England's Queen Mary and King Edward VII were also guests before their coronations. In 1863, the people of Rumpenheim witnessed a special spectacle: a Greek delegation appeared in national dress to offer Prince Wilhelm of Schleswig-Holstein-Glücksburg the Greek royal crown in Rumpenheim. He accepted it and traveled from the Main to Hellas.

At the end of the 19th century, the courtly splendor faded. In 1866, Prussia annexed the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel, and Hanau and Rumpenheim found themselves in a Prussian province. In 1902, the last princely owners left the castle to live in the inherited Kronberg Castle in the Taunus region. In 1943, the building was damaged in an air raid and in the 1970s, the demolition of the castle was under discussion. However, thanks to a specially founded citizens' initiative, an investor was finally found who rebuilt the central wing from 2000 onwards in accordance with the preservation order - the castle's appearance today corresponds to that of around 1805. Since 2003, families have been living here in bourgeois comfort.

The adjacent Rumpenheim Palace Park with its shady trees invites you to stroll and relax. But the park also reflects a piece of cultural history: it was created from around 1780, when gardens were no longer trimmed with rulers and hedge shears as they had been in the French Baroque period; they were now based on English landscape gardens. Winding paths and varied garden architecture were intended to ensure that walkers could stroll through landscapes of varying character, emphasizing different human moods - serene or melancholy. In Rumpenheim Palace Park, the best-preserved feature from this period is the Monopteros, under whose dome the Electorate of Hesse-Great Britain alliance coat of arms is emblazoned.

The Offenbach Office for Urban Planning and Building Management is planning a series of measures to emphasize the character of the English landscape gardens. For example, the former tree hall at the northern end of the park was recultivated with the support of the Rumpenheim citizens' initiative: Those responsible planted 43 winter lime trees and laid out new paths. It will be many years before visitors can walk here under a closed canopy of leaves, as European kings once did - but the boules players already enjoy meeting here.