Spalt

Spalt is a town in the district of Roth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 19 km southwest of Schwabach. The city of Spalt is famous for their growing of hops for beer.

Geography

Spalt is situated between Nuremberg, Ansbach, and Treuchtlingen in the north of the Franconian lakelands. In the southwest of the city is the Great Brombach Lake and its dam. The Fränkische Rezat flows through Georgensgmünd into the Rednitz.

Neighboring communities

(starting in the north and going clockwise)

• Abenberg
• Georgensgmünd
• Röttenbach
• Pleinfeld
• Absberg
• Haundorf
• Mitteleschenbach
• Windsbach

Division of the town

The following places belong to the community of Spalt:

Egelmühle, Enderndorf, Engelhof, Fünfbronn, Großweingarten, Güsseldorf, Hagsbronn, Heiligenblut, Hohenrad, Höfstetten, Hügelmühle, Kaltenbrunn, Keilberg, Massendorf, Mosbach, Mühlreisig, Nagelhof, Ottmannsberg, Schnittling, Steinfurt, Stiegelmühle, Stockheim, Straßenhaus, Theilenberg, Trautenfurt, Untererlbach, Wasserzell, Wernfels

Politics

The city's current mayor is Udo Weingart, a member of the CSU political party. Since 1972, it has had a twin town relationship with the Austrian town of Bad Sauerbrunn, and since 2006, another one with St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Culture and sights

Spalt has two museums: the Hops and Beer Museum, and a fire station museum.

The end of August is celebrated by the annual Hopfenzupferfest, during which a girl is crowned the "Hops Queen."

Every two years, the Funsport Challenge Madmud (well known throughout Europe) is held here.

Planetenweg (Planet Path): In the Summer of 2000, a 1:1 billion scale model of the solar system was constructed between Spalt and the neighboring town of Georgensgmünd. The model begins with a globe representing the sun behind Georgensgmünd's town hall. A 7km bike path leads one through Rezat valley towards Spalt, where Pluto (now considered a dwarf planet) is represented at the train station of the town. Each planet model has a chalkboard nearby with facts about the planet.

Spalt is well-known nationally for its beer. Throughout the surrounding area, it is nearly impossible to find any brand of beer other than "Spalter". The town has a saying about its beer: "In Spalt, in Spalt, dou wern di Leit gor alt; sie kenna nix dafier, dös macht ös goute Bier" (In Spalt, people grow very old; they do not contribute to that, it's done by good beer.)

Spalt is the middle of one of Germany's hops cultivation zones, having grown hops since 1341, with the hops seal since 1538.

Famous people

• Georg Spalatin, a sympathetic supporter of Martin Luther. He named himself after his hometown.
• Hubert Schwartz, an extreme athlete
• Wolfgang Spann, a coroner

External links

• Official site