Paderborn
Accommodation in Paderborn
More than 200 Pader springs rise in Paderborn’s city centre. The Pader River itself also begins here and is considered Germany’s shortest river. This water shapes a distinctive part of the city’s history: the Pader spring area below the cathedral and Abdinghof is protected as a historic garden. During your stay, Paderborn brings together this characteristic landscape with historic sites and museums that appeal to a wide range of interests.
The City’s Springs and History
Pope Leo III and Frankish King Charlemagne met at the Pader springs, on the site of today’s cathedral. A large church dedicated to Christ as Salvator Mundi already stood there. Shortly afterwards, it was destroyed in a city fire and rebuilt. The crypt of Paderborn Cathedral houses the relics of Saint Liborius, patron saint of the archdiocese and the city.
The Museum in the Imperial Palace traces the development of Paderborn and Westphalia in the Middle Ages, with a focus on the period from the 6th to the 12th century. A special part of its history is Charlemagne’s palace: he had it built in 777 above the Pader springs. It was the first and only palace he built in Saxony. A reconstructed Ottonian-Salian palace in Paderborn features chapels and a unique spring cellar. Here, you can explore different chapters of the city’s history, rather than being limited to a single building or period.
From the City Museum to the Computer Museum
The Paderborn City Museum spans a broad period, from the first prehistoric and early historic settlements to topics concerning the city’s present and future. It includes the cloister and garden of Abdinghof Monastery, founded by Bishop Meinwerk in 1015/16. Anyone particularly interested in church architecture will find another notable example in the Bartholomew Chapel. It is considered the oldest known hall church on German soil and impresses with its distinctive acoustics.
The Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum offers a very different perspective. It is considered the world’s largest computer museum and has 6,000 square metres of exhibition space. Its permanent exhibition spans 5,000 years of the past, present and future of information technology, from cuneiform writing to calculating and typewriting machines, the internet and robotics. There are also hands-on experiences: visitors can use telephones from earlier eras, try historical and modern computer games, and talk with the virtual being Max. For families where not everyone wants to see the same things, this is a chance to explore the history of technology in different ways.
By Bike or Around Schloß Neuhaus
A combined cycling and city tour organised by the City of Paderborn begins with a walk through the historic city centre. It then follows the Pader by bicycle through green meadows and floodplains to Schloß Neuhaus and its Baroque garden. If you prefer to explore at your own pace, you can use a self-guided walking tour with traditional directions and a city-centre map showing the route. Several times a year, the Tourist Information Office also offers public tours of Schloß Neuhaus titled “Residence of the Prince-Bishops”; a tour can also be booked for a date of your choice.
Schloß Neuhaus is a former prince-bishop’s residence in the Paderborn district of the same name and is one of Westphalia’s most significant Renaissance moated castles. The Baroque garden was laid out anew for the 1994 State Garden Show, based on an original plan from the 18th century. The castle’s history and garden design offer a different focus from the spring landscape and city museums. When looking for a holiday apartment in Paderborn, you can plan your stay around whichever of these experiences matters most to you.
You can also explore Nesthausen, one of the places in Paderborn. If you would like to consider other destinations, you can also find information about Altenbeken, Bad Lippspringe, Barkhausen, Hövelhof, Büren, Salzkotten and Bad Wünnenberg.
For the overview of the wider region: Paderborn.
