Discover Bad Wünnenberg

Bad Wünnenberg combines nature experiences in the Aatal Valley with outdoor activities and places that bring mining and town history to life. Surrounded by forests and gentle hills, the Aatal Valley stretches from the spa park along the Aa River to the Aabach Reservoir. This gives you a range of themes to consider when planning your trip: landscapes and outdoor activities, as well as historic sites in the local districts.

Nature and outdoor activities in the Aatal Valley

The Aabach Reservoir is part of this landscape and also serves an important purpose: it supplies drinking water to more than a quarter of a million people every day. The spa park has an exercise circuit with modern sports equipment for a range of difficulty levels. A barefoot trail more than one kilometre long runs around the Paddelteich pond; it offers a different way to experience the Aatal Valley than the sports equipment in the park.

Other activities offer a range of experiences, too. There is a disc golf course in the Aatal Valley. A wildlife enclosure is home to goats, red deer and fallow deer, which visitors can feed and pet. Opened in 2022, the bike park offers mountain bike trails across three difficulty levels, including freeride and downhill trails.

Circular routes, districts and discoveries along the way

The local circular cycling routes are between 9 and 25 kilometres long and invite you to discover the countryside and the seven districts of Bad Wünnenberg. The Five Streams Trail, a nature trail, adds another option for an active stay in Bad Wünnenberg.

Another point of interest is the seek-and-find picture on the path to the Aatal Valley, behind the outdoor swimming pool. It invites locals and visitors to look closely and find details, and depicts notable buildings, customs, local figures and anecdotes from all the districts. It turns the focus not only to the landscape, but also to the stories and distinctive character of the seven districts.

Mining and town history

The Bleiwäsche Mining Audio Museum presents the history of mining in Bleiwäsche at six listening stations. Children can enjoy a child-friendly version featuring Mucki and Molli, while teenagers and adults can listen to a historical account based on source material. The audio museum is freely accessible around the clock. The museum’s four-kilometre educational trail is suitable for families. This means that a presentation designed specifically for children and a family-friendly educational trail complement the more detailed historical account.

In Bad Wünnenberg-Fürstenberg stands the Old Courthouse, built in 1736 and formerly the court building of the Counts of Westphalia. It represents the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the Paderborn region, which was in force from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century. The site thus explores a long historical period, while the audio museum focuses on mining in Bleiwäsche.

The freely accessible Plague Cemetery lies in the Leiberger Forest. According to local tradition, plague victims were buried in the earth of “Fornholte” after the people of Wünnenberg, fearing infection, barred their town gates and thus access to the cemetery. Fornholte was a medieval settlement that was destroyed around 1390; the tradition is documented on site in the “Iron Book.”

If you are looking for accommodation in Bad Wünnenberg, the focus of your stay can help you decide where to start: nature and outdoor activities in the Aatal Valley, or the mining and town history of Bleiwäsche, Fürstenberg and Leiberg. The places and experiences mentioned offer a range of themes to guide the rest of your trip planning.

Discover more destinations: Hövelhof, Herbram, Delbrück, Altenbeken, Bad Lippspringe, Lichtenau, Borchen, Büren

For the main travel overview: Paderborn.