Laubach: Half-timbered houses, castle park and paths to poetry

Half-timbered houses, basalt-paved streets, historic collections and paths through parkland and forest give Laubach a varied character. The Old Town is shaped by half-timbered houses up to 500 years old and the 600-year-old castle of the Counts of Solms-Laubach.

Old Town, architectural history and collections

The Protestant town church was first mentioned in 1057. Its architecture combines a late Romanesque–early Gothic tower, choir and transept with a Baroque nave dating from 1700 to 1702. This makes it possible to distinguish several building phases in a single structure.

The building housing the Fridericianum Museum also has a varied history: Count Christian August had it built around 1750 as a hunting lodge in Gonterskirchen. In 1832, the building was moved to its present location in Laubach. The museum presents Laubach’s history up to the 20th century, including that of the count’s family, the townspeople and the rural population.

Laubach Castle Museum displays painted late Gothic rooms from the 15th century, as well as objects and stories from five centuries. You can explore another collection at the Dollhouse Museum: around 80 dollhouses from the Art Nouveau, Wilhelminian and Biedermeier periods are on display across two floors. The castle library, meanwhile, is a private collection of the House of Solms-Laubach, built up over more than 450 years. It comprises around 120,000 works and is a reference library.

Castle park and trails for different plans

Laubach Castle Park was laid out in the style of an English landscape garden in the late 19th century. Its trees include imposing, sometimes rare, conifers and deciduous trees. Those wishing to combine a visit to the park with literature can take the “Poetry Along the Path – Paths to Poetry” walking trail. It leads through the castle park and over Ramsberg, features 23 poems and takes about 1.5 hours. The route is considered easy, but includes a climb up Ramsberg.

The Panorama Trail is 9 kilometres long and makes a longer circuit around the town centre; it can be extended to 11.5 kilometres. The Horloff Valley Loop offers a different experience: it leads through dense Laubach forest and follows the course of the river. Halfway along, you can cross the river at a ford or via the Sebastian Kneipp footbridge. The routes therefore offer different options for planning your trip—from a poetry walk of about an hour and a half to a longer distance or a route alongside the water.

There are also different options for cycling. The SolmserLand Cycle Tour connects the residential towns of Lich, Laubach and Hungen and is 41 kilometres long. On the described cycling route from Hungen to Laubach, the trail follows an old railway embankment through forest and meadows; in Laubach, it is recommended that you explore the castle park on foot afterwards.

Swimming and practical information

Laubach’s indoor swimming pool has a 25-metre pool with five lanes and starting blocks, three underwater massage jets, a cascade shower in the non-swimmer area and a small children’s slide. The facilities also include loungers. The outdoor pool has an L-shaped 50-metre pool with a diving area, one- and three-metre diving boards, a waterfall shower, a small water slide in the non-swimmer area and a separate paddling pool with a climbing rock. As the outdoor pool operates seasonally, check the season dates and facilities you want before your trip.

For travel by car, the official tourism information lists road connections from the A5 via the Homberg/Ohm and Fernwald exits, and from the A45 via Münzenberg and Wölfersheim. As road conditions can affect your journey, check the route for your travel date.

Discover more destinations: Wettenberg, Staufenberg, Linden, Grünberg, Biebertal, Buseck, Heuchelheim.

Go to the regional travel overview: Gießen.