Wolfenbüttel: Half-timbered houses, castle and nature
Accommodation in Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel combines a historic half-timbered old town with impressive traces of castle history and intellectual heritage. It is also home to Elm-Lappwald Nature Park, with its forests, valleys and protected wetlands. This gives you a real choice when planning your trip: should your holiday focus mainly on the city’s stories and collections, or would you also like to explore hiking and cycling?
Discover a half-timbered town and its history
Around 1,000 half-timbered houses define the historic old town of Wolfenbüttel. If you are interested in their history, you could include a guided tour of the old town in your plans. At the Bürger Museum Wolfenbüttel, themed displays offer insights into 500 years of the town’s and its citizens’ history, featuring both unusual and typical exhibits. This brings the town’s history together with individual personal and everyday perspectives.
Wolfenbüttel Castle grew out of a medieval moated castle and is the second-largest castle in Lower Saxony. Particularly remarkable are the only original high-Baroque state apartments still preserved from the old Duchy of Brunswick. The Herzog August Library offers another distinctive highlight: founded in 1572, it is considered the “eighth wonder of the world.” Globes and old maps are on permanent display in its museum rooms. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing lived in the Lessing House in Wolfenbüttel from 1777 to 1781. These different places offer several ways to explore history, from life at the castle and the history of the library to the life of a famous writer.
The Welf Crypt is located in the main church, “Beatae Mariae Virginis,” and visitors can descend into it. The Gardeners’ Museum focuses on the production and marketing of local fruit and vegetables, as well as the nearly 300-year tradition of Wolfenbüttel’s market gardeners. Those looking to combine cultural discoveries with regional history will also find topics beyond the castle and old town.
Town history or nature park
Elm-Lappwald Nature Park lies in the districts of Wolfenbüttel and Helmstedt and covers 470 square kilometres. Its landscapes include extensive forests, valleys, protected wetlands, heathland, spring-fed streams and small lakes. The network of walking trails covers around 500 kilometres and includes signposted circular routes, parking areas and shelters. Away from major roads, the nature park invites you to hike, cycle and explore. When choosing the focus of your holiday, you can therefore consider whether you would rather spend your time visiting the city’s cultural attractions or enjoying activities in the countryside.
Another way to include several places in your travel plans is the tourist Eulenspiegel Route. It is around 170 kilometres long and connects Braunschweig, Wolfenbüttel, Schöppenstedt and Helmstedt. Families and other travellers who enjoy exploring different themes can shape their stay around their own interests without having to limit themselves to just one kind of discovery.
Discover more places
For more ideas of places to visit, see Sickte, Kneitlingen, Schladen, Hornburg, Lucklum, Baddeckenstedt, Dorstadt, Heiningen, Denkte, Kissenbrück, Wittmar, Börßum, Wolfenbüttel, Haverlah, Erkerode, Achim, Schöppenstedt, Cremlingen, Elbe and Dettum.
For the broader travel overview: Lower Saxony.
