The latest attraction in Reutlingen is about 300 years old. But now it has a title: a superlative of south-western German modesty – the world’s narrowest street.

It’s actually just a passageway, an exit from a rear courtyard. In the eighteenth century, this district was completely destroyed in a huge fire. To ensure that, in future, fires couldn’t spread so easily from house to house, a narrow space was left between them. Measuring in at 31 centimetres or one foot wide, it’s the undisputed world champion of narrow streets.