Every design for Esslingen Am Neckar

Esslingen am Neckar sits where the Neckar valley narrows, a short way upriver from Stuttgart, with its old town gathered on the north bank of the river. The Neckar runs straight through the city and gave it both its name and much of its trade. Recorded in writing as early as the 8th century, Esslingen became a Free Imperial City in 1181 and answered to no duke until it was absorbed into Württemberg in 1803. Industry arrived in the 19th century and changed the place again, but the medieval core survived, and the German Timber-Frame Road passes right through it.

Above the rooftops the land rises towards the Schurwald in the east, while to the south the slopes run out towards the Filder plain, and vineyards cover part of the hillsides. On the hill stands the Esslinger Burg with its Dicker Turm, the best place to see how the city fits into its valley. Down below, the Altes Rathaus, the Wolfstor and the Pliensauturm still mark the heart and the old edges of the free city.

Anyone who grew up here can trace their own route on the map: across the river, up through the vines to the castle and back down into the narrow lanes of the old town.