Mainz travel guide

Mainz has always been a media city: the very city where Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1450 now boasts major television and radio stations like ZDF. That the city, which is so often on the cutting edge, still clings to a dusty image probably has to do with its long history, to which the magnificent monuments bear witness. Before the birth of Christ, Romans who had stopped on the Rhine set up a legion camp. Later, Mainz became the home of the bishop -- mighty Mainz Cathedral no doubt attests to its importance -- and then the imperial center of Frederick Barbarossa. Mainz experienced its heyday but only as a "free city" in which the middle class and commerce were booming -- a walk through the streets of the old town with their half-timbered houses gives the impression that it has since done nothing. Of course, this is a illusion. The Gutenberg Museum, a must stop for any visit to Mainz, teaches today in multimedia display how the letters once learned to walk.