Bad Schussenried: Monastery, Ice Age landscape and trails

Bad Schussenried combines monastic culture with a landscape shaped by the Ice Age. Schussenried Monastery, trails with different focuses, and surroundings of hills, water and moors give a stay several facets. You can focus on art and architectural history, explore geological formations on a shorter loop, or take in views on a longer hike. When planning, it helps to consider whether you would rather experience culture, landscape, or both.

Schussenried Monastery: History and Rococo

Schussenried Monastery was founded in 1183 by the local lords Konrad and Beringer. The monastery museum presents more than 800 years of monastic history through sculptures, Baroque paintings, epitaphs, liturgical objects, books and reliquaries. Here, you can encounter different aspects of monastic cultural history—from sculptures and paintings to books and liturgical objects.

The Baroque convent building, including the library hall, was built by Jakob Emele from 1755 to 1763. The library hall is a Rococo room in which architecture, sculpture and painting work together. Schussenried Monastery therefore brings together two clearly distinct building periods: its foundation in the 12th century and the construction of the convent building in the 18th century. The monastery is also a major attraction on the Upper Swabian Baroque Route.

Hiking among glacial formations and scenic views

The Bad Schussenried Geopath is a four-kilometre circular trail with nine stations on glacial landforms; there are no major climbs. At 9.1 kilometres, the Panorama Trail is considerably longer and is considered easy, with 49 metres of elevation gain. A 2025 municipal tourism brochure describes the route as offering views of the Alps and Lake Olzreuter; on the way back, it passes through the Glacier Garden. The trails offer different experiences: the Geopath draws attention to Ice Age formations, while the Panorama Trail combines hiking with scenic views and the Glacier Garden. Check local information about access and trail signs before setting out.

Landscape and geological history

The landscape around Bad Schussenried includes gentle hills, meadows, forests, lakes and ponds, moorlands, and distant views of the Alps. The region’s geological history is especially vivid at the source of the Schussen: this spring basin is the source of the Schussen and lies at the northernmost point of the Rhine Glacier’s terminal moraine. This terminal moraine forms the European watershed between the Danube and Rhine basins. A memorial stone at the source of the Schussen commemorates the remains of an Ice Age hunter camp found there in 1866.

Further perspectives on culture and history

The Beer Stein Museum is devoted to five centuries of German drinking culture. It also displays a rock crystal described as the world’s third largest. The Upper Swabian Museum Village of Kürnbach offers a different approach to the past: a 2025 municipal tourism brochure describes around 40 buildings from rural Upper Swabia that illustrate everyday life since the Middle Ages. These themes are easy to distinguish from the monastery’s history: here, the focus is on drinking culture and rural everyday life.

Routes and regional orientation

Bad Schussenried is part of the Way of St. James and the Poets’ and Mills’ Route. Schussenried Monastery lies directly on the Spa Cycle Route, which connects Upper Swabia with Lake Constance. When choosing accommodation, these route connections can help shape your trip—for example, with a focus on monastic culture, hiking, cycling or pilgrimage. For information about signs and access along the Spa Cycle Route, it is best to check locally.

In the wider Biberach destination

The wider Biberach destination also offers its own cultural and landscape themes. The Museum of the History of Christians and Jews in Laupheim explores three centuries of shared life between Christian and Jewish residents. In Bad Buchau, the freely accessible Wackelwald forest is near the spa gardens on the edge of town. The planetarium’s multimedia shows on astronomy and space travel change quarterly. The Steinhausen Pilgrimage Church was built from 1728 to 1731 by Dominikus Zimmermann and his brother Johann Baptist Zimmermann.

Discover more destinations: Achstetten, Ochsenhausen, Königshofen, Oggelshausen, Langenenslingen, Riedlingen, Uttenweiler, Ummendorf

View the wider travel overview: Biberach.