One of the great joys of traveling around Franconia is the preponderance of stork nests. Hailing from North America, I’d never seen one before and only later learned that wood storks are the only ones which reside there and even then in a limited number of southern states. While they are fantastic birds, they are not the images of fantasy you conjure when thinking of babies being delivered. Those are the type you see here in Central Europe. Quite a sight in flight, the large birds glide effortlessly above but what really grabs your attention are their nests. They’re just massive and always perched precariously high and in the towns, on some man-made structure. My favorite is the chimney.
stork nests in Uehlfeld
Uehlfeld is a cute little town in the Aisch Valley. It’s a pretty rural area perfect for easy strolling and cycling due to its flat landscape. In spring, stork nest sight-seeing is as simple as taking a walk in the small compact village but venturing into the surrounding trails is well worth the effort. If all that weren’t enough, there are two excellent breweries with pubs serving up great value homey meals. If you come in months ending in ”r,” carp is on all the menus. It’s another specialty of the area. If you take a stroll outside of the village, you’ll also see tons of carp ponds.
don’t miss carp & the local brews & trails
While enjoying a meal at Brauerei Prechtel and Brauerei Zwangzer are not to be missed, if you come in the warmer months you can also check out the Voggendorfer Keller. It’s conveniently located on the Storchenlehrpfad (Stork Learning Trail). The small Bierkeller has fine views and is a real authentic slice of Franconian summer life.
scenes from the Voggendorfer Keller
The trail will give you a glimpse of life in countryside Franconia and there’s no better way to build up a thirst for Prechtel’s killer Kellerbier. You’ll even see the cellars where the beer was once stored in times before refrigeration.
some scenes from the Stork Learning Trail
If you spend the night (Brauerei Zwangzer conveniently has rooms!), you’ll have more time for stork nest spotting and of course, sampling the many beers on offer at the two pubs.
The Voggendorfer Keller is one of Franconia’s premier Bierkellers featured in Bierkellering by Numbers.
Uehlfeld lies in Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken in German). This is the only hike in this region in my book Beer Hiking Bavaria but there are 49 others from all over Bavaria. Each includes detailed descriptions of the hikes as well as information on the breweries along the routes plus some tasting notes on my favorite beers at each establishment.
It’s available in both English and German:
