Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz: Museum, Culture and Cycling Routes

Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz combines fascinating insights into the Neolithic period with theater, historic architecture, and cycling routes that pass through the town. At the museum, you can explore the history of an early settlement; outdoors, sights include a church with a Late Gothic choir and traditional tobacco-drying sheds.

The Neolithic Period and Local History at the Museum

The Herxheim Museum is dedicated to the Linear Pottery culture and features permanent exhibitions on the Neolithic period and local history across more than 400 square meters. A particular focus is a settlement that existed at this site from around 5300 to 4950 BC. It also includes its unusual destruction ritual. The exhibitions lead from this specific archaeological history to other topics in the town’s development.

The local history exhibition covers tobacco growing, weaving, and architectural history. The museum also presents changing archaeological and cultural history exhibitions. Guided tours, workshops, and regular activity days offer further ways to explore the exhibitions. All exhibition areas are accessible to wheelchair users; check the accessibility information again before your trip. Exhibition topics can also change, so it is worth checking the current program when planning your visit.

Theater and Culture in Town

Chawwerusch is a professional theater collective with its own modern venue in Herxheim. It presents three to five new productions each year; the number of productions may change over time. Concerts, exhibitions, and readings are regularly held at Villa Wieser. The publicly accessible Villa Wieser Park also provides a setting for open-air events, theater performances, and readings. The cultural program thus includes both stage productions and outdoor events.

The parish church of St. Maria Himmelfahrt offers another glimpse into the town’s history. Its fully preserved Late Gothic choir dates from 1507, while the nave was enlarged in 1776/77. The church tower, with its pointed Gothic spire, reaches a height of 56 meters. Another cultural landmark is a bronze sculpture created in Herxheim in 1995 and dedicated to Hugo Ball, a co-founder of Dadaism.

Cycling Routes and Tobacco Culture

Several named cycling routes pass directly through Herxheim: the Kraut und Rüben Cycle Route, the Südpfalz Cycle Route, the Klingbach Cycle Route, the Tabaktour, and the southern route of the Palatinate Way of St. James. The Tabaktour passes through Herxheim and Hayna, by tobacco fields and traditional drying sheds. A ride through the towns therefore also takes in traces of tobacco growing. The fields’ appearance changes with the seasons.

The Tabaktour is a loop route that you can ride in either direction. It is worth checking the route information again when planning a ride, as the route network may change. If you are looking for accommodation, start with how you would like to spend your days: would you prefer to focus on the museum, theater, and local history, or include several cycling routes in your plans? This can help you focus your search on the experiences that matter most to you.

The Southern Wine Route as a Wider Travel Region

Within the wider destination of the Southern Wine Route, the area around Herxheim combines nearby vineyards with established cycling and hiking trails. The Southern Wine Route also borders the Palatinate Forest Biosphere Reserve. The region offers routes with a range of themes: the TrifelsErlebnisWeg is 3.6 kilometers long, rated easy, and features 18 play and information stations. The Keschde-Erlebnisweg, by contrast, is a 6.1-kilometer loop around Föhrlenberg that is suitable for strollers and focuses on the Palatinate chestnut. These examples are part of the wider Southern Wine Route destination and complement a visit to Herxheim.

Discover more destinations: Bad Bergzabern, Rhodt Unter Rietburg, Völkersweiler, Schweighofen, Weyher In Der Pfalz, Vorderweidenthal, Knöringen, Böllenborn.

View the wider travel overview: Southern Wine Route.