Discover Straubing: History and Experiences
Accommodation in Straubing
Straubing brings different sides of its history and present to life: at the Gäubodenmuseum, you can explore more than 7,000 years of the city’s history and its surrounding area, while native and exotic animal species take centre stage at the wildlife park. There is also a historic cemetery, a former ducal castle and a large model railway layout focusing on Straubing. This lets you tailor your stay to whether you are most interested in culture, animals or a detailed depiction of the city.
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Photo: SimonWaldherr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
History at the Gäubodenmuseum and the ducal castle
The Gäubodenmuseum invites you to journey through 7,000 years of the history of Straubing and its surrounding area. One of its special exhibits is the Roman Treasure. The City of Straubing describes it as the largest intact hoard of Roman parade armour ever found. If you are interested in early history, the museum also has the “Baiern gefunden” (“Bavarians Discovered”) exhibition: it opened in 2018 and is designed to be interactive and accessible. Finds of regional historical importance from richly furnished early medieval burial grounds illustrate early Bavarian history there.
Another way to explore the past is the former ducal castle on the Danube. Duke Albert I had it built from 1356 as the Lower Bavarian residence of the Wittelsbach Duchy of Bavaria-Straubing-Holland. This duchy existed from 1353 to 1425. The Agnes Bernauer Festival tells the story of the barber’s daughter Agnes Bernauer and is staged every four years as an open-air performance in the courtyard of Straubing’s ducal castle. This brings the story of a person together with a specific historic setting.
Animals, model railways and city history outdoors
Straubing Wildlife Park is home to around 200 animal species. Exotic animals include lions, parrots and crocodiles; native wildlife is represented by lynxes, brown bears and bison. This contrast between animal groups gives a visit a different focus from the city’s historic collections. When planning your trip, you can consider whether animal watching or cultural and historical discoveries matter more to you.
BlueBrix offers another way to see Straubing from an unusual perspective. It features a 130-square-metre H0-scale model railway layout with a special focus on the city of Straubing. If you are interested in cityscapes and models, you will find a different format here than at a museum: the focus is on a large-scale model railway display whose subject is explicitly Straubing.
The Historic Cemetery of St. Peter also tells the story of the city. More than 1,000 gravestones tell the story of Straubing; the cemetery is surrounded by a high wall and mature trees. It is considered a peaceful oasis, nestled among the greenery of the old trees. The gravestones and surrounding grounds offer a quieter contrast to the museum and wildlife experiences.
A spot on the Danube nearby
Near the destination, the Straubing rest area on the Danube lies along the Große-Laaber cycle route, just before the Große Laaber flows into the Danube. It has seating and bicycle racks, and offers views of Straubing and the Danube. The spot adds an outdoor stop to the cultural and wildlife attractions. Its location on the cycle route and the available bicycle racks may be of interest to cyclists planning an excursion.
Discover more places
More places: Rattenberg, Neukirchen, Aiterhofen, Haibach, Schwarzach, Kirchroth, Rattiszell and Hunderdorf.
For the higher-level travel overview: Straubing-Bogen.
