A desk for a day in Dinkelsbühl

Dinkelsbühl is one of the walled towns on the Romantic Road, halfway between Rothenburg and Nördlingen. If you are passing through and have a day of work to get done, there is a place for it: Traube Coworking, an open workspace in the old town at Spitalgasse 3, under a vaulted ceiling from the 16th century. Your first day is free.

The house was the bathhouse of the town's hospital for centuries, later an inn called “Zur goldenen Traube”, which is where the name comes from. Today people work here who would otherwise sit alone at their kitchen table, and travellers who need a proper desk for a few hours.

What you get

A desk in a quiet, open room with eight workplaces, two of them height-adjustable with a large monitor. Fast WiFi, coffee and tea, a phone booth for one person so your video calls disturb nobody and nobody disturbs them, sound panels on the walls, a printer, a 3D printer, and a courtyard for a break in the sun. The room is quiet enough to think and lively enough not to feel alone.

Music plays quietly in the background; it switches on when the door is unlocked in the morning and off when it is locked at night. Members open the door with a button in their online portal, where they also book their days, see who is coming and pay their invoices.

How it works

Everybody's first day is a free trial day, travellers included. You book it online in a minute: first name, last name, e-mail, pick a day. The form is in English when you come from this page.

You then get an e-mail with a button to confirm; the e-mail is in German, the button is the only thing to click. Click it, and the desk is yours for that day. Come from 9 am, somebody will be there to show you around. If you would rather write, send a short e-mail to traube.coworking@gmail.com, English is fine.

Staying longer? After the free day, a full day costs 20 €, half a day 12 €, and a card for ten days 179 €. No contract, no membership needed. You can pay on the spot.

Opening hours

Monday to Friday from 9 am. There is no fixed closing time; the room is open as long as somebody is working. At weekends the space is only open when a member happens to be in, which is rare so far. If your only free day is a Saturday, write to us first and we will tell you honestly whether it works. Regulars who know the room, including how to lock up, get their own access through an app or a keypad code and come whenever they like.

Getting here

Spitalgasse 3 is in the middle of the old town, a few minutes on foot from any of the town gates. By car, park for free at the Bleiche car park and walk 300 metres, or park in front of the door with a ticket from the machine. Dinkelsbühl has no railway station; buses connect it with Feuchtwangen, Ansbach and Nördlingen. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is about 45 minutes by car, Nördlingen 30, Nuremberg and Stuttgart about an hour and a half each.

The rest of this website is in German: start page, prices, questions and answers.