Braunau am Inn: City History and Activities

Braunau am Inn combines historic sites and collections with art and outdoor activities. The city discovery trail, museums, and the Im Tal recreational area each offer a different focus. If you are looking for a hotel in Braunau am Inn, you can plan your stay according to whether you would like to focus more on the city’s history, art, or outdoor activities. The following places and topics offer specific starting points.

City History Along Trails and in Collections

The city discovery trail in the town center leads to original historic sites and is marked by eight pylons. This puts specific locations from the city’s history center stage. The trail differs from the museums, where individual objects, their themes, or historic interiors guide visitors’ attention. The route offers a way to explore the city through its sites; the collections delve deeper into individual aspects through exhibits and exhibition content.

The Historic Vorderbad Bathhouse was first mentioned in writing in 1592. Light panels, projections, and listening stations provide information about bathing, various healing practices, urban life, and archaeological finds. The exhibition therefore goes beyond bathing, linking different aspects of city life with archaeological topics.

The Herzogsburg District Museum focuses on its collections. The Braunau Nativity Scene comprises around 200 figures, created by Johann Georg Libigo in 1730. The archaeological collection also features the Hallstatt-period Uttendorf gold neck ring. The examples differ in date and type: an extensive 18th-century nativity scene is set alongside a single archaeological object.

Crafts, Monuments, and Sculptures

The Local Heritage Museum with its bell foundry focuses on crafts and historic interiors. It houses the oldest bell foundry workshop in the German-speaking world still preserved in its original form, dating from around 1385. It also features a well-preserved smoke kitchen and a bourgeois living room furnished with Baroque and Biedermeier furniture. The workshop, kitchen, and living room offer different insights into the history of crafts and historic domestic life.

The Palm Monument is another historic point of interest. The bronze statue depicts Johann Philipp Palm, a Nuremberg bookseller who was shot in 1806. It was created by Konrad Knoll of Munich and unveiled in 1866. Palm’s death and the later unveiling of the monument are two distinct historical dates that can be explored through this single work.

The Braunau am Inn Sculpture Trail offers a different way to experience art. It features eight steel sculptures created in 2023 as part of a sculptors’ symposium. The route runs from Palmplatz via Malerwinkel to the town wall. Unlike individual museum objects, the trail focuses on several sculptures along a route, linked by a series of clearly named stops.

Outdoor Activities and Landscapes in Im Tal

Motorikpark® Braunau is a specific place to enjoy outdoor activities. It was completed in August 2017 and offers free outdoor exercise with more than 60 pieces of equipment. In the Im Tal recreational area, the renaturalized Fischbach stream runs through gently rolling countryside. The two areas have different focuses: the park centers on exercise equipment, while Im Tal centers on the stream and landscape.

A covered pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Enknach was opened to the public in December 2022. It provides an additional, shorter connection to the Im Tal recreational area and Motorikpark. When planning your travel days, you can choose between cultural and historical topics, art, and outdoor activities.

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