Tourist Information

I have been asked numerous times where a Fritz Wunderlich fan should go when travelling Germany. This list surely is not comprehensive, but gives a start. For more information, have a look at the Links Page!

Kusel

How to reach Kusel

• By train
  • Kusel is connected hourly to major railway lines by Kaiserslautern and Landstuhl. For details see Deutsche Bahn.


• By car
  • from Koblenz: A 61 to Bingen, then B 50 to Bad Kreuznach, then B 428 to Frei-Laubersheim, then B 420 to Meisenheim, Lauterecken and Kusel
  • from Mainz: A 63 to Wörrstadt, then B 420 to Meisenheim, Lauterecken and Kusel
  • from Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern: A 6 direction "Saarbrücken" until "Autobahndreieck Landstuhl", then A 62 direction "Trier", exit for Kusel
  • from Trier: A 62 direction "Landstuhl", exit for Kusel

• Click here for a more detailed map about how to reach Kusel.
• Kusel Tourist Information: Trierer Straße 41, 66896 Kusel. Telephone: +49 (63 81) 42 42 70, Fax: +49 (63 81) 42 42 80.

Where to go

• First, you should visit the Museum at Marktstraße 27, just opposite the church, which has a special Wunderlich collection maintained by the Fritz-Wunderlich-Gesellschaft. For details and a picture see F. W. Societies page. There are always some special souvenirs available such as postcards, booklets and some CDs. The museum is open daily (except of Mondays), 2 - 5 p.m.

• Nearby, there is the Rathaus (town hall) with its Glockenspiel. The melody played is the "Kusellied", written and composed by Fritz Wunderlich (see also discography entry for his own recording of the song).

• The house where Fritz Wunderlich was born is the former "Emrich's Braustübl" inn at Trierer Straße 27. Look for the commemorative plaque.

• There is a Wunderlich monument at the Benzinopark.
• Another, older, monument is to befound near the VDK-Heim.

• In the hills above Kusel, there is the Fritz-Wunderlich-Halle, a modern multi-purpose hall.

• A wandering trail, leading from Kusel to St. Wendel, is called "Fritz-Wunderlich-Weg". Please follow the links for a map or more detailed info about the trail (in German language).

• If you want to have a personal souvenir, simply tank up your car at the BP gas station. The receipt has "Fritz-Wunderlich-Strasse" on it, which is a main thoroughfare road. :-)

Munich

• Fritz Wunderlich's last resting-place is to be found at the Waldfriedhof. Enter through the main entry (Fürstenrieder Straße). At the first junction, turn left (follow the sign "Italienischer Militärfriedhof"). Now, you are crossing the sections 142-144, with graves of priests and nuns. At the beginning of section 150, turn left. After 15 meters, Fritz Wunderlich's grave lies on the right. (Thanks to Ursula Roeser for the information and to Arno Brijoux for the picture.)

  Click for a larger picture (217k) in a new window

  If you go there, you might also want to visit the graves of

  • Karl Amadeus Hartmann, composer (1905-1963)
  • Paul Heyse, poet (1930-1914, Nobel Prize 1910). You may know his work from Hugo Wolf's "Italienisches Liederbuch" which is based on Heyse's translations of Italian songs. Wunderlich recorded some of these during a radio recital at Mainz in 1955.
  • Max Reger, the famous organ composer (1873-1916)
  • Franz von Stuck, painter and sculptor (1863-1923). Important representative of Munich Jugendstil (Art Deco), amongst his pupils at the Academy were Kandinsky and Paul Klee.
  • Frank Wedekind, poet and playwright (1864-1918). Alban Berg's opera "Lulu" is based on his plays "Erdgeist" and "Die Büchse der Pandora".

• The Bayerische Staatsoper Portrait Gallery (shown in the foyers of the Nationaltheater, Max-Joseph-Platz 1) dipslays busts and paintings of great directors, conductors and singers of the past. A painting in the "3. Rang rechts" foyer, painted by Prof. Kurt Huber in 1976, shows Fritz Wunderlich in the role of Palestrina.

• There is a Fritz-Wunderlich-Platz (square) at 81243 München.

Fritz Wunderlich Homepage