Memmingen - Old Town

On the southern edge of the old town in Memmingen is the Gothic Frauenkirche, which is first mentioned in the records in 1258, with fine cycle of frescoes (school of Bernhard Strigel) in the nave and choir.

South of the Kinderlehrkirche is the Fuggerbau (1589), the Memmingen agency of the Fuggers, the great merchant dynasty of Augsburg. During the Thirty Years War Wallenstein stayed here in 1630 and Gustavus Adolphus in 1632.

Southwest of St Martin's Church in Memmingen can be found the Kinderlehrkirche (originally an Antonian monastic church; 14th-15th C.), with frescoes.

The central feature of Memmingen's old town is the Markt, with the Renaissance Town Hall (1589; Roccoco stucco decoration of 1765), the Steuerhaus (arcades of 1495; facade rebuilt 1909) and the Grosszunft (1453; remodeled in Baroque style 1718), the town's patrician club.

In Ulmer Strasse, north of the Markt, are the Parishaus (1736), now housing the Municipal Gallery, and the Grimmelhaus (18th century stucco decoration). At the Ulmer Tor (Ulm Gate; 1495) Ulmer Strasse leaves the old town.

On the north side of St Martin's Church in Memmingen is the Hermannsbau, a Late Baroque mansion (1766) now occupied by the Municipal Museum (prehistory and the early historical period, pictures, furniture, faience, etc.).

To the west of the Markt in Memmingen stands the Gothic St Martin's Church, with its 66 m/217ft high tower it is the town's principal landmark. The church contains fine Gothic choir-stalls (1501-07) by the Memmingen school of wood-carvers.

To the east of the Fuggerbau in Memmingen, beyond the Stadtbach, lies the Weinmarkt with the guild-houses of the weavers and the shopkeepers. Here, in 1525 during the Peasant War, the rebellious peasants drew up their "Twelve Articles".