Steinach: Culture, Hiking Trails and Winter Experiences

Steinach can be explored through a variety of interests: architectural history, regional collections, hiking trails and active experiences give your trip different focal points. If you’re looking for accommodation, first consider whether culture, a tour on marked trails or a special event will shape your plans.

Slate, toys and architectural history

The New Palace in Steinach was built between 1747 and 1755. The collections offer another way to explore the town’s history: the German Slate Museum vividly explains how slate was formed, mined and processed, with a special focus on pencil slate. Steinach’s Toy Box displays wooden toys, dolls, historic ship models and Marolin papier-mâché figures made in Steinach.

Slate and toys represent different themes and materials. Together with the palace, they offer several cultural points of interest without limiting your stay to just one way of exploring.

Hiking trails and group activities

The well-marked network of hiking trails includes five circular routes established and maintained by the Thüringerwald Verein Steinach e.V. There is also the Griffelpfad, the “6 Kuppen-Steig” and a high-altitude trail to the neighbouring town of Lauscha. The options range from circular tours to named trails with a specific destination.

There is a high ropes course at the Fellbergstadion: the obstacle course, built on tree trunks, features 16 challenges at a height of about ten metres. They can be tackled in pairs or as a team. Steinach is also home to the Silbersattel Ski Arena. If you’re planning a day of skiing, check the latest operating information in advance.

Art and Advent in Steinach

During the 20th Steinach Sculptors’ Symposium, the palace courtyard was transformed into an art workshop for a week. Five sculptors created wooden sculptures there, and visitors could watch them at work.

The Slate Pencil and Christmas Market is an annual event, held on the market square on the second weekend of Advent. There is a festively decorated Christmas tree and a programme whose details may vary. If you’d like to experience the market, you can plan your trip for that weekend.

More to explore in the wider Sonneberg destination

The Sonneberg district, in the wider Sonneberg destination, lies within both the Thuringian Forest Nature Park and the Slate Land National Geopark. The Bleßberghöhle GeoTrail offers a regional hiking option in its own right: the 17.6-kilometre route starts at the Bleßberghöhle Geopark information centre at Schalkau railway station and leads to Seltendorf railway station. Information panels explain the cave’s discovery, the geology of the fault zone along the Franconian Line, and karst features such as sinkholes, karst springs and sinking streams.

Glassmaking is another theme in the wider Sonneberg destination. The Lauscha Museum of Glass Art traces the history of glass Christmas tree decorations from 1860 to the present day, including baubles and various other shapes. The craft of making Lauscha glass Christmas decorations by mouth-blowing has also been included in Germany’s nationwide Register of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Geology and glass art thus add further regional themes to Steinach’s cultural and active highlights.

Choose accommodation to match your travel interests

When looking for accommodation in Steinach, it helps to prioritise the experiences you have planned: the palace and museums add a cultural touch, the circular routes and named trails help you plan your hikes, and the high ropes course offers challenges for pairs or teams. If you’d like to visit the Christmas market, plan your trip for the second weekend of Advent; for a day of skiing, check the ski arena’s current operating status. Before visiting a museum, check the latest visitor information.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Schalkau, Effelder-Rauenstein, Neuhaus Am Rennweg, Lauscha, Sonneberg, Steinheid, Spechtsbrunn, Goldisthal.

For the wider travel overview: Sonneberg.