Büdingen is one of the rare towns in existence which has managed to survive the troubles of earlier times relatively unscathed. Today the safely preserved half-timbered buildings and stone buildings, the gables and dormers, the defiant walls and towers, all allow you to experience the living spirit of the past. Visitors can learn how an aspiring civic society emerged under the protection of the moated castle of the House of Ysenburg. The town developed out of housing for courtiers and servants outside the castle and was protected by statutes and privileges. This was a civic society affluent enough to afford a grand town hall, the beautifully decorated Church of Our Lady, as well as prestigious half-timbered houses. In the late middle ages, at the high point of Büdingens period of growth, the early 14th century wall around the town was replaced by a mighty new fortification. This bastion is more than two kilometres long, has 22 towers and half towers, and is regarded nowadays as one of the best examples of the way defence architecture changed as a result of the invention of firearms.
