Neunkirchen: Industrial Heritage, Museums and Nature
Accommodation in Neunkirchen
In Neunkirchen, traces of industrial history meet museums, historic sites and paths through nature. The Neunkircher Hüttenweg trail leads through the Old Ironworks Site; elsewhere, a nature trail, gardens and viewpoints offer their own insights into the region. When choosing your holiday apartment, it may therefore be important to consider whether you mainly want to discover technology and history or combine your trip with walks and hikes.
Industrial history to see and experience
The Neunkircher Hüttenweg trail, around two kilometres long, follows a circular route through the historic Old Ironworks Site, passing blast furnaces and hot-blast stoves. Anyone who wants to learn more about the work at the ironworks can include the technology tour on the Hüttenweg trail in their plans: it explains the work process at the Neunkircher Eisenwerk. It also includes climbing a blast furnace more than 23 metres high. The circular trail and the tour offer different ways to explore the subject—one through the preserved facilities, the other focusing on the processes involved in ironworks operations.
The three Schiffweiler mining trails also explore industrial heritage. They trace the municipality of Schiffweiler’s mining past and show the effects of mining on people and landscapes. The focus is therefore not only on technical facilities, but also on the changes brought about by mining.
Museums and historic townscapes
The Bakery Museum in Ottweiler houses more than 30 machines and around 1,000 exhibits from various periods of traditional baking on two floors. The large number of objects makes the development of the craft a central theme. At the Saarland School Museum in Ottweiler, faithfully recreated classrooms offer a glimpse into school life in past centuries. These include a classroom from 1910 to 1950 and a 19th-century teaching room.
Ottweiler can also be discovered through its townscape. The old town is medieval in character and features impressive buildings from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Those interested in older traces of Neunkirchen can visit a historic nature trail in the Kasbruch Nature Reserve. It passes Neunkirchen’s oldest Celtic settlement traces, a sacrificial stone and the Roman Steps. At the Steinbach Local History Museum, visitors can make butter using traditional methods—a very different way to explore regional history and everyday life in the past.
Trails, gardens and views
Steinbach lies in the Ostertal valley, on the edge of Saar-Hunsrück Nature Park in the district of Neunkirchen, and can be reached via numerous hiking trails through the surrounding countryside. The Betzelhübel panoramic tower was built in 2013. From there, views extend across large parts of Saarland, into neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate and over the historic old town of Ottweiler.
At the Reden visitor site, the 90-metre-high spoil heap offers views across the region and invites visitors to go hiking. A four-kilometre leisure and skating trail also runs around the heap. The Reden visitor site is freely accessible. Those looking for a shorter loop can find an approximately five-kilometre circular trail at Saarengeti; there are also varied hiking and cycling routes.
The Finkenrech Leisure Centre adds another feature with its themed gardens. They are ideal for leisurely walks and other outdoor activities. Individually bookable group activities for children and adults are also available, combining learning, fun and nature. The events programme includes music picnics, the “Spring and Autumn at Finkenrech” festivals and workshops. When planning your trip, you can weigh up time spent on trails, in landscaped gardens or taking part in activities centred on a particular theme.
A trip with different focuses
The Ostertalbahn railway is another special experience in the region. This tourist heritage train connects the historic old town of Ottweiler with Schwarzerden along a scenic 21-kilometre route. The restored locomotives and carriages evoke railway history from the 1950s and 1960s. When choosing your accommodation, it is worth first deciding which experiences interest you most: technology and mining, historic towns and everyday life, or trails and views. The destinations in this region are: Neunkirchen, Illingen, Eppelborn, Merchweiler, Schiffweiler and Ottweiler.
For the overview of the wider region: Saarland.
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