Витлих

Wittlich roasts pigs in honour of a legendary security failure. The Säubrennerkirmes — the "sow-burners' fair" — commemorates the town's favourite tale: with the gate bolt missing, a citizen plugged the gate with a turnip, a hungry sow ate the turnip in the night, and the enemy walked in; the town has been cheerfully roasting pigs in expiation ever since, whole ones on spits through the August fair that ranks among the region's largest folk festivals, self-irony as civic institution.

The serious town is the Eifel--Mosel hinge: seat of the district, set in the warm Wittlich basin where tobacco once ripened between vinefoot and volcanic hills, its old centre gathered around the Baroque parish church of St Markus and the Renaissance town hall on the market. Culture holds two distinguished addresses: the Georg Meistermann Museum honours the Wittlich-born master of modern stained glass — his windows transformed postwar German churches — and the former synagogue, restored as a cultural centre, keeps concerts and remembrance in dignified balance.

Around town, the choices fan out: the Mosel's loops and wine villages minutes south, the Vulkaneifel's maars north, the Lieser valley's trails between, with the A1 and the Säubrenner's hospitality collecting travellers. A turnip in the gate, glass in the churches, wine over the hill: Wittlich closes this German journey with a feast.