About this place
The Kirschgarten is the romantic heart of Mainz's Altstadt, a small triangular square ringed by warmly painted timber-framed houses that have been leaning over its cobbles for centuries. Documented in the city's records since 1329, the square takes its name not from cherry trees but from the Kirschborn, an old spring that once flowed here. Its most famous building, the Haus zum Aschaffenberg, is the oldest surviving half-timbered house in Mainz and carries a direct link to Johannes Gutenberg himself. At the center stands the Marienbrunnen, a Madonna fountain surrounded by flower boxes, terrace cafes, and gabled facades that still bear the quirky medieval house names Mainzers once used to find their way before streets were ever numbered.
Key facts
- 1329 year — The earliest date the Kirschgarten square appears in the written records of Mainz
- 1450 year — Approximate date the Haus zum Aschaffenberg was built, making it the oldest half-timbered house in the city
- 3.7 meters — The width of the tiny House of the Little Elephant, the narrowest home on the square, though it runs twelve meters deep
📍 Kirschgarten 5, 55116, Mainz