Bad Salzuflen: Graduation Towers, Old Town and Landscape Garden

Bad Salzuflen combines a visible history of salt production with a half-timbered old town and an extensive landscape garden. Graduation towers, exhibitions, the market and walking routes offer a variety of attractions. You can tailor your stay more toward the city’s history, nature experiences or a combination of both.

Graduation Towers, Brine and City History

Bad Salzuflen’s three graduation towers are the Erlebnisgradierwerk, the Uhrenturm Graduation Tower and the Parkstraße Graduation Tower. The Erlebnisgradierwerk has a passage with small rest alcoves and a brine mist chamber. So there are special indoor spaces to explore as well as the graduation towers themselves.

At Salzhof, the weekly market meets the history of salt production. A market with a wide selection of fresh regional produce takes place there every Tuesday and Saturday. The Salt Boilermaker Monument at Salzhof commemorates the salt works that stood there until 1926. The monument was erected in 1988 to mark the city’s 500th anniversary and was donated by Bad Salzuflen’s municipal utilities. For planning purposes, it is a good idea to check the latest market days in advance.

The permanent exhibition in the Wandelhalle also focuses on the city’s history. It presents more than 250 exhibits and information from various periods spanning almost 1,000 years. Its topics include salt, brine and starch, as well as salt production from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. It also explores the healing effects of the mineral springs and internationally oriented industry as central elements of Bad Salzuflen’s history.

Half-Timbered Houses and Historic Landmarks

A historical tour of the old town leads to landmarks such as the historic town hall, the Pauline Spring at Salzhof, Katzenturm tower and Haus Backs at Hafermarkt. If you would like to take the tour, check the date in advance. In the old town, you can see richly decorated half-timbered houses in the Weser Renaissance style, striking mayors’ houses and the historic town hall. The historic buildings you can see there also include houses dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Haus Backs at Hafermarkt is an especially richly decorated half-timbered house. It is considered one of the most photographed houses in the old town and the last in East Westphalia-Lippe to be decorated so lavishly in this style. Architecture enthusiasts will find a distinctive building with its own character alongside the landmarks on the tour.

Landscape Garden, Wildlife Enclosure and Trails

Bad Salzuflen’s landscape garden is laid out in the style of English parks. Its appearance is shaped by expansive lawns, mature trees and groups of trees. The garden has a wildlife enclosure covering around 29,000 square metres, home to fallow deer and Cameroon sheep. Animal populations may change. Rowing boats are available on the Kurpark lake; this activity may be seasonal.

There are also various options for walks and hikes: Bad Salzuflen offers four local circular hiking trails, two VitalWanderWelt trails, the Karl-Bachler-Weg and an accessible trail. The routes vary in difficulty. As trail conditions can change, it is worth checking the latest information before setting out.

Another option is a series of circular routes developed jointly by Bad Salzuflen, Herford, Lage and Leopoldshöhe. They are between 20 and 40 kilometres long. Some are suitable for families and have gentle gradients, while others are challenging and geared toward sporty hikers. They differ in both length and character, so you can weigh up the options based on what suits your plans.

When looking for accommodation in Bad Salzuflen, you can first decide what you want to focus on during your trip: the city’s history and architecture around the old town, graduation towers and Wandelhalle, or more time in the landscape garden with its lake and trails. This lets you tailor your search to the experiences that matter to you.

Discover more destinations: Lügde, Hörstmar, Oerlinghausen, Rott, Augustdorf, Schieder-Schwalenberg, Kalletal, Horn-Bad Meinberg.

Return to the main travel overview: Lippe.