No, Brenda. The downtown Fussgaengerzone seemed quite viable when we were there. Of course, I don't know what used to be downtown, either, but it was fun to wander around down there. We had a good time in Simmern and will return in the spring. My "final" Wallauer ancestor had his first church in Kircheberg; just out of Univ. of Heidelberg (1738), he was assoc. pastor of the Ev. Kirche there. Dave Ross