Discover Meißenheim: Baroque church, half-timbered houses and trails

Meißenheim brings together Baroque church art and half-timbered history with marked hiking and cycling trails. Particularly noteworthy are the Silbermann organ and the literary history surrounding Friederike Brion; outdoors, an approximately eight-kilometre hiking trail and a roughly 26-kilometre cycling and hiking route differ considerably. This lets you plan cultural sites and outdoor activity as distinct focuses of your trip.

Baroque church, Silbermann organ and literary history

The Evangelical Baroque Church on Winkelstraße was built in 1766. Its features include a stucco-marble pulpit and a stucco-marble altar with Rococo cartouches. The Silbermann organ came to Meißenheim in 1776. It is considered the only formerly single-manual organ in Baden built by the Strasbourg Silbermann workshop. The town is also connected with musical history: concerts by famous composers were held in the church, and Albert Schweitzer performed there.

Friederike Brion was laid to rest behind the Baroque church in 1813. Goethe described her as his first love; her grave gives this part of the town’s history a tangible place. The church, the organ and the grave represent different facets of Meißenheim’s cultural heritage: sacred architecture, music and literary history.

Half-timbered houses and a memorial to peace

Numerous half-timbered houses are still visible in Meißenheim. A precisely dated example stands at Friedrichstraße 1: the house dates from 1827. The property opposite bears the year 1780. Both dates offer a tangible point of reference when looking at the historic buildings.

The Curt-Liebich Memorial stands east of the church. Erected in 1929 for 54 soldiers who fell in the First World War, it was conceived as a memorial to peace. Its dedication distinguishes it from examples of residential and church architecture, adding a monument expressly dedicated to peace to the picture of Meißenheim’s history.

Another cultural landmark lies on the way to Riedhofsee: a Way of the Cross with 14 stations runs around the lake by the Christophorus Chapel. This place thus connects the chapel with a circular walk whose stations give the route a clear sequence.

Two routes, different distances

The marked Schnakenpfad is approximately eight kilometres long and is described as a hiking trail. Points of interest along the way include a wooden bridge and a ford. There is a small seating area beside the old branch of the Rhine. The trail also passes the Pfahl: until the 19th century, people from Meißenheim boarded boats there bound for Strasbourg. This route thus brings together specific trail features and the history of earlier boat journeys.

At around 26 kilometres, the Jubiläumsrundweg is considerably longer and is designed as a cycling and hiking route. It starts at the Meißenheim sports hall and leads through the Rheinwald and along the old branch of the Rhine. Along the way, the route passes a landing site dating from the 19th century. Information panels cover the Heidengrab and the Hexebruck; there are also several places to stop, including seating. Compared with the shorter Schnakenpfad, the circular route therefore offers a different distance and combines outdoor activity with historical stops.

More ideas for planning your trip

The Bachpromenade runs right alongside the Mühlbach and is a local recreation destination. In the harbour area of the RMKS gravel works, touring cyclists can find a cycling overview map that is partly bilingual. If you would like to include therapeutic horse riding in your plans: the offering at Gnadenbrot and Therapiehof focuses on interacting with horses, as well as joy, friendship, trust and safety. Please check with the provider before your trip to confirm whether the offering is available.

Meißenheim is part of a cross-border leisure region that also includes Neuried, Schwanau and neighbouring French communities in the Grand Ried d’Alsace. In the wider Ortenaukreis travel region, the landscape lies between the Rhine and the Black Forest. There are 23 nature reserves there, covering around 3,110 hectares in total; they extend from the Rhine Plain to the higher elevations of the Black Forest. This provides an overview of the Ortenaukreis as the wider setting, not additional features of Meißenheim.

The two routes differ both in length and in character, offering practical points of reference for planning your trip.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Mahlberg, Ettenheim, Steinach, Rheinau, Gutach, Oberharmersbach, Bad Peterstal-Griesbach, Renchen.

Go to the wider travel overview: Ortenaukreis.