Over the years this modern square in the heart of the town has been used for a variety of purposes, including a monastery garden and a fairground. Today it is the site of the weekly markets. Next to the Town Hall annex there are shops, banks, restaurants and cafés.

The figure on the front of thebuilding opposite the Town Hall annex is doing what many citizens would like to do: on every quarter hour he taps his forehead in the direction of the Town Hall, the German way of suggesting they are not quite right in the head. The cobbler‘s lad is a reminder of Montabaur’s shoe-making tradition.

The town of Montabaur has always a held a strategic position on the main trade routes. With the granting of a town charter in 1291 Montabaur also gained the right to hold markets. Thus a foundation was laid for the development of the town as the centre of the whole region. Today the weekly market and several annual markets shape the town’s image.

The Kirchstraße is dominated by the half-timbered houses of the old patrician families. The timbered frames are typical of streets in the lower part of the central Rhineland. Most of the houses here, like those in the Großer Markt and Kleiner Markt, date back to the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century.

This is the oldest church in the lower Westerwald region. The first wooden structure of 940 was replaced in 959 by a second church on stone foundations, dedicated to Saint George and Saint Peter. Building on the present church was started at the end of the 12th century and completed in the middle of the 14th century. Later on it was repeatedly refurbished and rebuilt as a result of fires and structural damage. The last complete refurbishment was in 2003.

The scholar and educationalist Joseph Kehrein, who had a decisive influence on Montabaur’s education system was made a freeman of the town in 1873. He came to Montabaur in 1855 as Dean of the Catholic Teacher Training College and immediately embarked on an extensive programme of education in Montabaur. To this day Montabaur remains an important centre of learning for the whole region

The former cemetery chapel is in the group of half-timbered buildings next to the church. Also known as St Anna’s chapel, it was built around 1300. The other buildings here, which include the former rectory, were for a time used as a school for boys.

The ”Gebück“ – the slope behind the church was the impregnable hedge of thorns and brambles, which along with the Swedes’ Tower, was the first line of the town’s defence fortifications. The tower originally jutted out five feet from the edge of the precipice, delicately poised over the sheer drop to the Sauertal below

The Jews of Montabaur lived in this street in the Middle Ages. They left because they were persecuted after two outbreaks of the plague in 1348 and 1348, for which they were blamed. They later returned and settled around the Vorderer- und Hinterer Rebstock.

The ”Zum Heiligen Geist “ Inn was first mentioned in1476.. Later in 18th century, when offcers and nobles wishing to enlist soldiers for their regiments stayed there, it became known as the Werbehaus: “Werben” means to recruit, hence the name of the alley.

This is where the daily dairy market was held in the Middle Ages. It is nicknamed the Trichter (funnel), as it is so narrow because of the overhanging upper floor of the halftimbered building. The date on the facade is 1682. The slate facades, typical of the region, are always found on the weather side of the building.

There is some evidence that Montabaur had its own vineyard at the foot of Humbach Castle, which is one explanation for the name of this part of the town. (Rebstock =vine). Up to the time of the Nazi persecution many Jews lived in the Vorderer- und Hinterer Rebstock. They were often merchants or cattle traders. Vorderer Rebstock 26 housed the congregation’s prayer room until 1889 when a synagogue was built in the Wallstraße.

The yellow castle is Montabaur‘s most famous landmark and its impressive skyline and unusual colour it make it immediately recognisable. The present baroque castle was built between 1687 and 1709. Since 1969 it has belonged to the German Cooperative Bank Academy (ADG) and now houses a congress and conference centre as well as the ADG business school

The Wolfsturm was probably built in the mid-14th century and is the largest tower in the old town fortifications with a height of 20 metres (66 feet). For many years this two-storey tower was used as a prison. From 1628-31 men, women and children were imprisoned here and tried for witchcraft.

Montabaur is twinned with Tonnerre in Burgundy. The bronze sculpture combines the skylines of the two towns, thus symbolising their multi-faceted, long-standing bonds.

Part of the old wall can still be seen in the heart of Montabaur. In summer the small public garden with the “Frog fountain” is ideal for relaxing or a game of bowls. The garden and the wall are also used for exhibitions and installations by local artists.

The Lion’s head is a reminder of the original role of Montabaur as a seat of justice. The water in the fountain is drinkable but has a sour taste because of the high content of carbonic acid (2,000 mg/l) and iron. The water is very healthy and particularly effective in the treatment of a variety of ailments.

The Market Fountain stands on the site of an old well. On the central pillar the 13 town gates and the symbols of the 13 mediaeval guilds are depicted. There is also an outline of the history of the town. The carvings on the wall surrounding the fountain depict the town crest along with those of the neighbouring boroughs.

For many years (from 1589) this building was an important inn. In the middle of the 18th century an internal family feud ended in a case of manslaughter. Thereupon – on the order of the prince – the building was split into two, as you can tell from the double gable and the dividing wall on the ground floor. The loft was probably used to store the town’s salt reserves. The Prince Bishops of Trier, under whose tutelage Montabaur stood, held a state monopoly on the salt trade.

This imposing neo-Gothic redbrick building was built in 1870. It is the third Town-Hall on this site. The town hall is also referred to as The Red Lion – in the Middle Ages when trials were held here the lion was a symbol of jurisdiction. Today it houses the mayor’s offce.

The small half-timbered house on the left is thought to be the oldest in the town. A wooden beam inscribed with the date 1500 was found during renovation works.

The von Stein family, to whom the house belonged from 1678 to 1780, had the inscription painted above the baroque doorway. The family – local aristocrats- did not live in the house themselves but rented it to important offcials in the Montabaur administration.

Remains of the old town wall can still be seen in the Judengasse. Apart from its military function, the tower was also used as a jail for people who had committed minor offences.