Schwetzingen is a really pretty little town 'just outside of Mannheim'. I use the quotes because it is 3 stops and a grand total of 11 minutes on the train from Mannheim Hauptbahnhof. Where Mannheim ended and Schwetzingen started was not exactly clear to me, but I can only believe what I'm told. Schwetzingen is famous for Schloß Schwetzingen (Schwetzingen Castle) and the Castle Gardens. Tip: Schwetzingen Castle Gardens are big and beautiful and open all year round, but if you want to go into the castle, you have to go on a Friday afternoon and join a tour. Entry to the grounds is 4 Euro and you can expect to spend a while there. We were there for about an hour an a half and it was 0*c, I can imagine taking longer in warmer weather. The Schwetzingen Castle was built in the early 1700s and is surrounded by a moat, which is quite quaint. The gardens were originally planted in the mid-1800s and are enormous. Even in winter they were very pretty, in spring and summer they must truly be something to behold. In the gardens there is a 'Mosque'. I use quotes again as it is actually a Mosque-style building, built in the 1780s. It has never been used as a mosque and was never intended to be. It was built by a very worldly Prince at the time in order to open the minds of the German people to other cultures, and Der Turkei (Turkey) was the absolute height of fashion in the late 1700s, apparently all the cool monarchs were doin' it. According to the nicest tour guide in the world (who wasn't even meant to be a guide, he just worked there and was keen to tell us about it), after the 2nd World War, the conquering American military set up shop in the castle and the soldiers turned the mosque into a Jazz Club and held the swingingest parties there. BTW, if it happens again just like it did in Speyer, and you have to wait 5 minutes for the next train, straight opposite the Schloß is the Schwetzinger Brauhaus zum Ritter (Schwetzinger Knight's Brewery). Go in there and check out the restaurant. It is downstairs in an old tunnel/wine cellar/air-raid shelter. I've put some photos here, but they really don't do it justice, you need to see it for yourself. (And if you have another spare 5, you could do worse than a 'Wilder Ritter', that's their in-house Pilsener. MWAH! Delish!)
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