Discover Seesen: history, trails and the Sehusa Festival

Seesen combines urban history with walking paths, mountain-bike circular routes and a festival where historical scenes are part of the programme. There is also a clear range of interests to choose from: you might focus on a museum, a longer hiking route, green spaces or events. If you are looking for accommodation, first consider which of these themes will shape your trip.

City history and green spaces

The Seesen Municipal Museum has been housed in the historic building of the ducal hunting lodge since 1964. The grounds around the museum include a pond and the remains of the old ramparts, and invite visitors to enjoy a relaxing walk. The remains of the medieval ramparts can also be seen behind Sehusa Castle. This makes it possible to combine an interest in historic buildings and traces of the town’s past with time outdoors.

A walk in Steinway Park takes you past five ponds. A tree discovery trail shares interesting facts about different tree species. If you want to explore by mountain bike, Seesen’s Steinway Park is the starting point for five circular routes in the Volksbank-Arena Harz.

Steinway Trail: hiking through cultural history

The Steinway Trail is an approximately 18-kilometre cultural and historical hiking route from Wolfshagen in the Harz to Seesen. Six stamps can be collected along the way. In Seesen, there are two more stamps for the accompanying booklet, at Poststraße and the Municipal Museum. Eight information boards shaped like the edge of a piano tell the story of the Steinway family and provide background information on piano making.

The trail therefore combines a hiking route with insights into the history of a family and its craft. The approximate route length and the two stamp locations in Seesen are useful reference points for planning. If you plan to collect the stamps, check the latest route and station information in advance, as route details and stamp availability may change.

The Sehusa Festival: history, market and music

The Historical Sehusa Festival has been held in Seesen every year on the first weekend in September since 1975. It was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The festival includes re-enactments of battles from the Thirty Years’ War, featuring musketeers, pikemen and gunners. In the castle park, a Renaissance market showcases medieval crafts and handmade goods.

The stage programme adds another distinctive touch: various music groups perform throughout the day on several stages across the festival grounds, playing music inspired by the Middle Ages. Activities for children include puppet theatre, axe throwing, storytellers and historical games. Individual programme items may vary, so check the latest festival dates and programme before travelling.

Other cultural venues and water-based activities

The Jacobson House is Seesen’s socio-cultural centre. Its facilities include event spaces, the town library, and rooms for arts and crafts, workshops, meetings and community activities. Events and activities on offer may change.

In the Seesen district of Mechtshausen, visitors can see the home of Wilhelm Busch’s family, which displays his poems and illustrations, as well as his grave. Wilhelm Busch spent the last ten years of his life there. The site offers a distinct focus on literature and biography alongside the themes of the museum, Steinway and festival culture.

The Sehusa Water World in Seesen offers a swimming pool, a cone-slide tube ride in the children’s area and a sauna complex. It is another option for travellers whose interests extend beyond city history and outdoor activities to include swimming or saunas. The facilities may change over time; check what is currently available before your visit.

When looking for accommodation in Seesen, it may therefore help to decide on your preferred focus first: hiking and cycling, a festival weekend, local and literary history, or a visit to the Water World. This lets you tailor your choice to the experiences that matter to your trip, without combining the different themes into a single itinerary.

Goslar as the wider destination

In the wider destination of Goslar, the historic Old Town provides a distinct focal point: it is preserved as a continuous area of around one square kilometre and includes more than 1,500 half-timbered houses. The Rammelsberg Visitor Mine and its associated museum also represent the region’s mining tradition; visitors can explore different aspects of this tradition at the mine, while the museum documents its history. These attractions are in Goslar and should be distinguished from the places and experiences described in Seesen.

Discover more destinations

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