If it's a sunny day on a trip to Frankfurt or the surrounding towns, why not visit the open-air museum in Hessen? An hour's drive will take you to Hessenpark. Here you can introduce your inquisitive little one to the rural life of local farmers over the last four hundred years.
They can meet people in period costume as they stroll along the many footpaths or go about their business at the local market, shops or even the tavern. Hessenpark is as much fun for children as it is for adults, with no less than a hundred different structures and historic buildings collected by exhibition organisers from all over the region. You can see what churches, forges, workshops, ordinary Hessian farmhouses, the schools their children went to, shops, stalls and even windmills looked like in the past.
The local inn and two markets, an agricultural market and a pottery market, are still in operation. If you visit Hessenpark at the end of December, around Christmas time, you'll find an interesting Christmas market with a wide range of food and souvenirs. At weekends, the Hessenpark workshops offer workshops on how to make broomsticks, clay objects and other useful items.
Just 4 km away you will find another interesting attraction - Saalburg
The landscape itself, historic buildings and people in period costume give an insight into the details of life in the region in past centuries. There are clear examples of how farmers lived 400 years ago, what they ate, how they slept, what they wore and how they brought up their children. You can also visit a field, a workshop or a smithy and see what hard-working and skilled people were capable of.
Local exhibitions are a special feature. They are the ones that help create the most complete picture of rural life in past centuries in a child's mind. A visit to a market is also very helpful in shaping a child's perception of the world around them. The aviary at Hessenpark is not to be missed — not only will you be able to see its characteristic species, but you will also learn how to care for and breed them.
At the local market square you can buy souvenirs for your family and friends. The shops in the square sell traditional local products and the souvenir shops offer a wide range of fun and unusual items at low prices. Tired and hungry for a bite to eat? The Alter Markt restaurant and the Zum Adler tavern serve delicious European cuisine.
