What will strike visitors to the Franken most is just how much locals enjoy their wine. Whereas Germany and Germans are often thought of as nation of mostly beer-drinkers (even though the country makes some of the world’s greatest white wines -the sweet ones, in particular), more or less everybody in the Franken seems to have, come aperitif or dinner time, a glass of wine in hand. A good example is provided by the pedestrian bridge in pretty Würzburg, the Franken’s most important city, where locals gather in the evenings to talk and enjoy time together while drinking glasses of local wine served directly from small wine kiosks that dot and line the initial sections of the bridge. Apparently, modern-day Franconians aren’t the only ones who greatly enjoy their wines, but many past greats liked the wines of the region too. For example, the famous writer Goethe wrote to his wife in 1806: “Send me some more Würzburger; for I have no taste for any other wine, and I become irritable when I must do without my favorite drink.”
