Discover Mertingen
Accommodation in Mertingen
Mertingen brings together several distinct interests to consider when planning a trip: three museums invite visitors in the town, and numerous forest trails in the 600-hectare Mertinger Forest are hiking destinations. The town’s profile also includes the Bavarian Performance Centre for Equestrian Sports and Vaulting, which is based in Mertingen. Depending on your priorities, you can therefore include culture, time in the forest and a connection to equestrian sports in your plans.
Museums and forest trails in Mertingen
The three museums inviting visitors in Mertingen include the Sölde Mertingen, the Stadel Mertingen and the Alte Schule Mertingen. Their names offer a tangible starting point for cultural discoveries in the town. If you enjoy combining several interests on a trip, you can consider museum visits as one part of your plans and combine your stay with time outdoors.
The Mertinger Forest offers a different focus: numerous forest trails in the 600-hectare forest are hiking destinations. The woodland landscape and the museums represent different ways to spend your stay—a cultural visit on the one hand and a hike on the other. Which of these options matters most to you may also play a role when choosing a holiday apartment in Mertingen.
The Bavarian Performance Centre for Equestrian Sports and Vaulting is based in Mertingen. Equestrian sports are therefore also part of the town’s profile. When planning your trip, you can consider this connection alongside the museums and forest trails as a distinct point of interest.
More topics in the wider Donau-Ries destination
In the wider Donau-Ries destination, the Ries Geopark offers another visitor attraction. Donau-Ries district describes it as a tourist attraction; it includes the Ries Crater, which was formed by a meteorite impact. Geology, town history and historic buildings offer additional topics to include in your travel plans, separately from Mertingen’s local highlights.
The Ries Crater Museum presents the asteroid impact that created the Nördlinger Ries, as well as its cosmic background and effects that continue to this day. Exhibits include meteorites, fossils and a piece of genuine lunar rock; information panels and multimedia offerings complement the displays. The exhibition is housed in a carefully renovated medieval barn dating from 1503. The history of the Ries event and that of a historic building thus come together in one exhibition venue.
The town museum in Nördlingen also offers several ways to explore regional history. Its collection, more than 150 years old, spans four floors and covers life and faith in Nördlingen, changes during the Reformation, the Thirty Years’ War and the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen. A model made from around 6,000 tin figures illustrates the battle. For choosing what to visit, this provides a different focus from the geological perspective of the Ries Crater Museum: here, town life and historical events take centre stage.
In Wemding, the pilgrimage basilica of Maria Brünnlein tells a story of religious history and architecture. As the number of pilgrims grew, the Rococo church was built between 1748 and 1782 to plans by Franz Joseph Roth. Its miraculous altar is designed as a fountain altar and features Johann Joseph Mayr’s miraculous image of the Virgin Mary, dating from 1755. The altar table with its fountain basin was created by Ernst Steinacker in 1953. In 1998, Pope John Paul II elevated the basilica to the rank of a minor basilica; around 150,000 pilgrims visit it each year.
A tour of Harburg Castle conveys almost 900 years of history through its distinctive architectural features and rooms, including the Baroque castle church, embrasures, prison cells, gates and towers. Those interested in the landscape and geological history of the Ries can visit the Kühstein Geopark educational trail, which has eight information panels about the processes involved in the meteorite impact 14.5 million years ago. Buchberg offers panoramic views of the Ries and its inner and outer crater rims.
The Wemding Geopark information centre provides further insight into the crater landscape. Several display panels give visitors an overview of locations from which the crater structure is particularly easy to see in the landscape. The information centre also explains how the Nördlinger Ries was identified as a meteorite crater, using the nearby Otting quarry and the suevite rock studied there as examples. Along the legends trail, a total of eleven scientifically researched information panels provide details about geology, history and stories.
In Donauwörth, the Fugger House adds to the regional history offerings: it was the former residence of Anton Fugger, the imperial caretaker, and now houses a permanent exhibition on the building’s history on the first floor. Tours on the Fugger family can be arranged on request through the town’s tourist information office; arrange your preferred date before your trip.
When looking for a holiday apartment in Mertingen, you can start by considering whether the three museums, the forest trails or the local connection to equestrian sports best match your interests. The wider Donau-Ries destination adds further geological, cultural and historical experiences to your choice of location, without replacing Mertingen’s distinctive offerings.
Discover more destinations
Rain, Wallerstein, Tapfheim, Wemding, Oettingen in Bavaria, Fremdingen, Asbach-Bäumenheim, Ries
Back to the wider travel overview: Donau-Ries.
