Discover Freyung: Schramlhaus, customs and winter sports

Freyung combines art and rural history with annual customs and themed trails covering a variety of topics. In winter, skiing and cross-country skiing options are also available. When planning your vacation, you can first consider whether cultural history, regional traditions, themed trails or winter sports should shape your stay.

Schramlhaus and the history of Freyung

Built around 1700, Schramlhaus is the oldest rural estate in Freyung. More than a hundred original reverse glass paintings can be seen there; the Wolfstein Local History Museum is also housed in the building. The estate thus combines rural architectural history with an extensive collection. Wolfstein Castle was built around 1200 by Bishop Wolfger von Erla of Passau. Other attractions in the town include a glassblowing workshop and a park.

Art and recurring customs

Numerous artists from the Bavarian Forest–Bohemian Forest region regularly exhibit art and culture at the gallery in Europahaus Freyung. Each year, shortly before St. Martin’s Day, the Historical Association “In-der-Freyung” organizes the traditional Wolfaustreiben on Freyung’s town square. Freyung’s Bürgerfest is also celebrated annually; it has been held since 1979. The Maypole custom involves taking down the maypoles once a year, decorating them for the festivities and then raising them again with wooden poles and ropes, led by young men and men from Freyung. A maypole stands in the town centre in front of Schramlhaus. If you want to plan your trip around a particular festival, check the dates for the year of your trip in advance.

Two trails with different themes

The eight-kilometre “People and Nature in the Buchberger Leite” themed hiking trail runs between Freyung and Ringelai. Along the route, information boards and numbered posts explain the stream and river system, the power of water, timber rafting and geological history, including the Pfahl rock formations. The Kreuzberg Chapel Trail – Path of Reflection was created around Kreuzberg, a district of Freyung, and complements the revived St. Anne’s pilgrimage. There are ten information boards and four chapels along the route; the oldest chapel was built in 1509. The routes offer different perspectives: water, geological history and timber rafting on one, chapels and pilgrimage on the other.

The wider region: Freyung-Grafenau

The Bavarian Forest National Park extends into the district within the wider travel destination of Freyung-Grafenau; it opened on 7 October 1970 as Germany’s first national park. The Buchberger Leite reveals another aspect of the region’s landscape: steep rock ridges funnel the boulder-strewn, cascading Wolfsteiner Ohe into a deeply constricted channel. Remnants of primeval forest have survived in gorge woodlands rich in mosses and ferns. Historic timber-rafting walls, tunnels cut into the rock and above-ground canals also bear witness to centuries of human activity there.

Skiing and cross-country skiing in winter

The Freyung-Geyersberg beginner ski and snowboard centre has a 540-metre-long double drag lift. The easy ski slope in Solla is suitable for beginners and advanced skiers. The Freyung-Kreuzberg cross-country skiing centre offers 30 kilometres of classic trails as well as an additional four-kilometre skating trail. This means you can choose between an easy downhill skiing option and two types of cross-country skiing on trails of different lengths. The lift’s operating hours depend on there being sufficient snow; trail conditions are also seasonal. Check current snow and trail conditions before making specific winter plans.

When looking for a holiday apartment in Freyung, the kind of trip you want can be a good starting point: would you like to get to know the town mainly through its architectural history, art and customs, or are themed trails and winter sports your priority? First decide which of these interests you want to shape your stay.

Discover more destinations: Falkenbach, Eppenschlag, Jandelsbrunn, Waldkirchen, Spiegelau, Grafenau, Innernzell, Fürsteneck

View the wider travel guide: Freyung-Grafenau.