The Rathaus is in the heart of the Altstadt, on the Prinzipalmarkt, part of the medieval street lined by buildings that form a thick and high ring-wall around the earliest town center. A few defensible passageways allow access through the 14th century arcade to the center, a slight hill dominated by the city cathedral. The Prinzipalmarkt is a wonderful medieval arcade with some of the city’s brightest architecture and most upscale shops.

From the Prinzipalmarkt, visitors can crane their necks to see three iron cages hanging from the tower of the late Gothic Lampertikirche (St. Lampert’s Church). They were used in 1536 to make an example of three Anabaptists, whose bodies were placed in the cages for the populace to see and for the birds to ravage. At night, a single light in each cage casts an eerie glow just overhead from some street cafes.

In the evening (except Tuesdays), from 9 until midnight, a trumpeter continues a 500-year-old tradition of blowing his horn on the hour and half-hour to signify that all is safe. (Don’t expect heraldry: The horn sounds more like a dying cow than an all-clear signal.)

In the nearby  - St. Paul’s Cathedral - one of 90 churches in the city - visitors find superb examples of a 13th-century church making the transition from Romanesque to Gothic. But the greatest attraction for many is the astronomical clock, built in 1540 and designed to tell the time, date, day, seasons, the orbits of the (known) planets, phases of the moon and position of the sun—for 532 years. On the quarter hour, Chronus rings a bell and flips an hourglass. Every hour, a wooden watchman blows his horn.

If the Altstadt is the heart of the city, the Promenade is its gentle embrace. The 4.5-kilometer (3.5-mile) ring, first built when the city ramparts were removed a century ago, surrounds the old town with a three-lane path—one dedicated to cyclists, the other two to walkers—with a canopy of trees and border of meadows. In the morning, the Promenade brims with office workers and students (nearly a third of the city commutes by bicycle).

By mid-morning, shoppers and tourists take their place. After the commuters leave in early evening, the Promenade takes on an ever more romantic air. Couples walk hand-in-hand and unabashedly show their affection in lingering kisses and hugs. It’s no coincidence that a stretch of the town’s greenways has been dubbed the Schmusepättken—the Smooching Path.

Greenways are everywhere in Münster, sometimes called “The City of 1000 Gardens”. Many are along the River Aa, which flows along and through the Altstadt. Others are along the Aasee, an artificial lake built to control flooding of the Aa and now a refuge bordered by a tangle of tree-lined walkways. On summer days, a rainbow of sailboats puffs from one bank to the other.