Discover Wald: Monastery Ponds and Art at Ried

Wald brings together historic monastery ponds, trails through forested areas and a distinctive artistic touch. The five-kilometre Pond Walking Trail connects several of the municipality of Wald’s historic monastery ponds. The Circular Route around Wald (North Route) passes through Forstwald and the Riedle protected forest. As a cultural addition, the KunstKonvent Gallery has been based at the “Neue Kunst am Ried” site since 2017. It presents changing exhibitions as well as a large sculpture that is permanently on display. This allows you to discover Wald through both its trails and contemporary art.

Pond Walking Trail and North Route

The Pond Walking Trail focuses on the historic monastery ponds and has a stated length of five kilometres. The North Route, by contrast, can be identified by other specific landmarks: it starts at Wald Town Hall and passes through Forstwald and the Riedle protected forest. The routes described therefore differ in the landscape features they mention; only a length is given here for the Pond Walking Trail.

The Circular Route around Wald (North Route) is marked “W1” on the free cycling and hiking map of the Northern Lake Constance Holiday Region. This designation helps you locate the route on the map. As map markings can change, it is worth checking the current edition before planning your trip.

Art at Ried

The KunstKonvent Gallery has been based at the “Neue Kunst am Ried” site since 2017. Its offerings there include changing exhibitions and a large sculpture that is permanently on display. The exhibition themes change, while the sculpture remains a continuous part of the site. This brings together two different forms of artistic presentation: a changing exhibition and a permanently displayed work.

For trip planning, KunstKonvent offers a different focus from the two walking routes. If you are interested in art, the gallery adds a cultural perspective to the themes of ponds and forested areas. These three aspects help you see Wald not only as a starting point for a route, but also as a place with its own art space.

Wald on the Upper Swabian Baroque Route

Wald lies on the western route of the Upper Swabian Baroque Route. This connection adds a regional cultural route to the local mix of themes. Together with the Pond Walking Trail, the North Route and the gallery, it offers a range of interests: you can take nature and landscape into account alongside art and the regional connection to the Baroque Route.

When researching accommodation, it helps to weigh Wald’s local walking and art themes against the castles and landscapes of the wider travel destination of Sigmaringen. This can help you decide which of the two destinations should be the focus of your trip planning.

Sigmaringen as a wider travel destination

In the wider travel destination of Sigmaringen, Sigmaringen Castle offers a distinct perspective on the history of the House of Hohenzollern. Developed from a medieval castle into a princely residence, it is considered a landmark of the town. Guided castle tours present almost 1,000 years of the family’s history. The castle also houses a private collection of around 3,000 weapons. Its architecture, family history and collection therefore represent different cultural themes in Sigmaringen.

Sigmaringen also has its own landscape attractions: the town lies in the Upper Danube Nature Park on the edge of the Swabian Jura. There, the Danube flows through a landscape shaped by towering rocks and forests. The DanubeFelsenLäufe comprise five premium hiking trails in Sigmaringen, passing through the Danube Valley, the Schmeien Valley and the Lauchert Valley. Compared with the routes described in Wald, which run between monastery ponds and through forested areas, the focus here is on several named valleys and the Danube landscape.

Discover more destinations: Riedetsweiler, Glashütte, Beuron, Sigmaringen, Sigmaringendorf, Inzigkofen, Herbertingen, Thiergarten.

Back to the overview of the wider destination: Sigmaringen.