Hornberg: Themed Trail, Castle Hill and Town Museum

Up to the Castle on the Hornberger Schießen Trail

The Hornberger Schießen Trail is 2.58 kilometres long and has 14 stations. Allow around 1 hour and 45 minutes for the circular route. The route climbs up to Hornberg Castle; its length, stations and stated duration give you a concrete basis for planning your day. If you are looking for a trail with a clear destination and several stops, you can plan this circular route as an activity in its own right.

Castle Hill: Preserved Towers and Expansive Views

The castle tower, also known as the residential tower, the powder tower and a small turret have been preserved at Hornberg Castle. These different architectural features give Castle Hill a distinct historical character, without requiring you to explore the entire complex. From Castle Hill, on the Hornberger Schießen Trail, the view extends across the town, to the viaduct of the Black Forest Railway and into the Gutach Valley. The townscape, railway viaduct and valley are among the specific sights you can see from there.

Town Museum and Performance with Set Dates

You can explore the various sections of the Hornberg Town Museum on a guided tour or independently. The museum is open year-round on the first Sunday of every month from 2 to 5 p.m. Before visiting, check whether these hours have changed. If you are planning your stay around a performance, the Hornberger Schießen provides another cultural connection: it is staged every year in July and August by the Hornberg Historical Association at the Hornberg Open-Air Theatre. Check the current programme before you travel.

The attractions offer different highlights: the themed trail, with its stations and climb, provides a framework for a walk; the museum and open-air performance are two ways to engage with Hornberg’s culture. When choosing the dates for your stay, the museum’s monthly opening hours or the performance months may therefore be relevant. For your holiday rental in Hornberg, it helps to decide first which of these experiences you would like to include.

The Wider Region: Ortenau District

As part of the wider Ortenau District travel destination, Hornberg lies in a region between the Rhine and the Black Forest. For a sense of the landscape, it is also worth noting that the district’s 23 nature reserves cover around 3,110 hectares in total, from the Rhine Plain to the higher elevations of the Black Forest. This is a broader regional setting than Hornberg’s individual attractions and offers a different perspective on nature and the landscape.

Other attractions in the Ortenau District have their own distinctive focus: Rulantica offers water-based fun for the whole family all year round, with numerous indoor and outdoor water attractions as well as the Hyggedal relaxation and sauna area. Europa-Park is located in the municipality of Rust. The Taubergießen Nature Reserve covers 1,695 hectares and is one of the largest nature reserves in Baden-Württemberg. These are independent examples of attractions in the Ortenau District, not features of Hornberg.

The cultural attractions in the Ortenau District also differ considerably. At the Vogtsbauernhof Open-Air Museum, a tour of historic farmhouses shows how people lived and worked in the Black Forest up to 600 years ago. The MiMa museum presents notable minerals from the Black Forest, collected by the Friends of Minerals and Mining Oberwolfach Association. In Gengenbach, the Night Watchman’s tour has twelve stops and includes the traditional night watchman’s song. Public tours are free; no registration is required. Check the latest visitor information before your trip.

Discover more destinations: Niederwasser, Schuttertal, Achern, Rust, Mühlenbach, Seebach, Lautenbach, Offenburg.

Back to the main travel overview: Ortenau District.