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In Gengenbach & in the Ortenau region
Culture & excursions
Picturesque Gengenbach in the Ortenau region
Exciting destinations invite you to discover the Ortenau. But hold on: Gengenbach itself needs to be explored first! Every corner breathes history here – history after 1689. After being destroyed by French troops, the townscape of Gengenbach that today enchants guests from all over the world was reconstructed. Newly rebuilt, the free imperial city prospered with its active craftsmen’s guilds and the oldest market law in the central Baden region. The imposing town hall from 1784 bears witness to this. Since 1955, the entire town centre has been under listed building protection.
Benedictine Abbey in the old town
The town’s history was shaped over many centuries by the Benedictine Abbey, an imposing building in the old town of Gengenbach. Founded in 725 as the king’s own monastery, directly subordinated to the emperor in 1366, dissolved in 1803, it’s now a university of applied sciences. The monastery church with the second largest romantic organ in the Baden region and the monastery herb garden are well worth a visit. Also worth seeing is the bakery with its wood-fired oven and historic monastery mill.
Tip: night watchman tour through Gengenbach’s old town! (May-October, Wednesdays and Saturdays; free of charge)
Experience culture in Gengenbach’s museums
- Carnival Museum in the Niggelturm Probably the most beautiful carnival museum in southern Germany.
- Museum of Military History in the Kinzigtorturm – emblem of the town The history of the Gengenbach town and civic guard (1460-1848).
- Rafting and Transport Museum In the former railway keeper’s house at the Kinzig bridge.
- Museum Haus Löwenberg Alternating exhibitions and events.
Kinzigtal / Ortenau / Black Forest
Day trip destinations...
- Strasbourg: enchanting Alsace metropolis (approx. 40 min.)
With half-timbered streets, a thousand-year-old cathedral, romance of Petite France and the EU Parliament. - Triberg waterfalls: roaring natural spectacle (approx. 1 hour)
Highest natural waterfalls in Germany (cascades at 163 m), at Christmas time with advent market & shows. In Triberg: the world’s largest cuckoo clock. - Vogtsbauernhof: Black Forest open-air museum (Gutach, approx. 30 min.)
Experience tradition and craftsmanship in 30 Black Forest houses, each around 400 years old. - Dorotheenhütte: last active glassworks in the Black Forest (Wolfach, approx. 30 min.)
With a glass museum, demonstrations, opportunity to try glass-blowing and a year-round Christmas village. - Freiburg im Breisgau (approx. 1 h): ecological model city with a rich history, with world-famous cathedral, old town with gutters and Martin’s and Swabian Gates.
- Baden-Baden (approx. 45 minutes): small spa town with a big history. With Burda Museum, historic Friedrichsbad, Festspielhaus, Lichtentaler Allee
Free travel to your excursion destinations in the Ortenau and beyond
Konus guest card
As our guest, you travel free of charge by bus and train – to a total of 80 sights, excursion destinations and attractions in the Kinzigtal/Ortenau holiday region. The journey alone on the famous Black Forest Railway (36 tunnels to St. Georgen) is an experience.
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