Discover Weißenburg i.Bay.

Weißenburg i.Bay. combines Roman history with traces of its time as a Free Imperial City. Museums, historic buildings and a walking route along the city wall offer different perspectives: you can explore archaeological finds and exhibitions or learn about Weißenburg’s fortification history as you walk.

Discover Roman heritage

The RömerMuseum Weißenburg displays the Weißenburg Roman treasure, including 17 statues of gods, votive tablets, vessels from sacred settings, everyday objects and parts of ceremonial military equipment. The exhibition also explores life along the Limes and cultural exchange between Romans and Germanic peoples. It covers the everyday lives of soldiers in the fort as well as those of merchants and family members in the civilian settlement. The focus is therefore on both exceptional finds and the daily lives of different groups.

For children, the museum offers a discovery worksheet with challenging questions about life along the Limes, Roman jewellery and the Weißenburg treasure find. This gives younger visitors a dedicated way to engage with the exhibition content.

The Roman Baths of Weißenburg also bring Roman architectural history to life. Their conservation and restoration in the early 1980s allow visitors to follow the baths’ architectural development clearly. A scale model and the docudrama “Power, Splendour and Decline” also give an impression of the baths’ and fort’s former size and appearance.

The city wall and Imperial City history

Ellinger Tor, to the north of Weißenburg’s old town, was originally part of the city wall built around 1200. The gate bears Weißenburg’s first town coat of arms, dating from 1241, and opposite it is the second coat of arms, from 1481. The 1241 coat of arms shows half a white castle and half an imperial eagle, referring to the city’s status as an Imperial Free City.

For five centuries, Weißenburg was a Free Imperial City subject only to the emperor. Today, its fortifications, with 38 towers, and the Imperial City Museum bear witness to this flourishing period. In the museum, themed rooms use documents, everyday objects and treasures to tell the story of the empire, its constitution and the special constitutional status of Imperial Cities. Haus Kaaden explores the flight and expulsion of Germans from eastern Europe as a result of the Second World War, as well as their integration into their new home in Weißenburg.

If you would like to experience the wall along a route rather than at individual buildings, the city wall circular trail offers a 2.2-kilometre loop. It takes about an hour to walk, passing along the fully preserved sections of the city wall at Seeweiher and Schießgraben.

Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen in the wider Limes context

Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen district offers another perspective on Roman heritage: the Limes runs for around 40 kilometres across the district and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site there since 2005. The RömerMuseum in Weißenburg displays Germany’s largest Roman treasure find and houses the Central Bavarian Limes Information Centre.

The topics offer several points to consider when planning your stay: the museums present Roman and Imperial City history, while the city wall circular trail provides a specific walking route. If you are looking for accommodation, you can consider which of these themes matters most to your trip.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Ellingen, Dittenheim, Langenaltheim, Westheim, Meinheim, Gunzenhausen, Treuchtlingen, Markt Berolzheim.

Return to the overview of the wider destination: Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen.