Through the village to the castle park
Suddenly I find myself in a different world of half-timbered houses that are partly rural, partly stately, lovingly landscaped front gardens and small driveways. Mittelstraße forms the heart of the old Kesselstadt, which was threatened with demolition and so-called surface redevelopment in the 1960s and was to be replaced by a large residential complex. The resistance of the residents was successful and today the old town of Kesselstadt is a prime example of so-called careful urban renewal.
At the level of the Friedenskirche, the Mittelstraße bends slightly to the right and Philippsruhe Palace comes into view. I cross Philippsruher Allee, go through the wrought-iron gate to the palace, walk around the large fountain and walk along the right side wing into the palace park. Here I step onto the flight of stairs from which one overlooks the park and then walk through the park to the left of the castle pond. Before I leave the park towards the Main, I take a look back across the pond at the castle, whose Renaissance lightness shines through under the façade of the neoclassical conversion. A ramp along the mighty retaining wall that borders the heaped-up park area on the banks of the Main leads me down to the river and to the last sequence of my hike.