Kandern: Themed Trails, Ceramics and Railways

Kandern brings together several themes for a stay: trails explore art, the solar system and the history of the Earth, alongside ceramic history, the town church and railway heritage. The offerings vary in content and stated route length. When planning your trip, these highlights can help you choose the activities that interest you most.

Themed Trails and Tours around Kandern

The August Macke Circular Trail starts in Kandern and leads to places and motifs that were important to the artist’s life and work. Ten information boards combine reproductions of paintings with information about biographical and artistic connections. The circular trail thus focuses on August Macke and explains various links to his life and work.

The six-kilometre Egerten–Kandern Planet Trail passes through a scale model of the solar system at a scale of 1:1 billion. The trail ends in Kandern and can also be walked starting there. The five-kilometre Time Trail, by contrast, focuses on the history of the Earth: it represents the five billion years of evolution, starts at Kandern Town Hall and leads to Egerten. Along the way, it passes the August Macke School, among other places.

The two trails differ in both length and subject: the Planet Trail is one kilometre longer and explores the solar system; the Time Trail covers the Earth’s evolutionary history over five kilometres. You can compare the routes by their stated distances and respective content without conflating their different themes.

The Kanderner Gemarkungsmarathon is on a different scale: this 48-kilometre mountain-bike loop follows forest tracks and small roads near the municipal boundary around Kandern. Its route description states both the length and the surfaces, making it a clearly distinct option alongside the shorter themed trails.

Ceramic History and Architectural History

For centuries, clay shaped Kandern as a potters’ town at the foot of the southern Black Forest. Renowned studio ceramicists had their workshops here. The Max Laeuger Collection offers a distinct perspective on ceramics: it provides insight into his artistic development and highlights his significant influence as a pioneer of modern ceramics. The town’s pottery tradition and the focus on Laeuger’s development thus offer two different ways to explore the subject of ceramics.

The Protestant town church is also part of Kandern’s architectural history. J.J. Christoph Arnold, a pupil of Weinbrenner, built it between 1825 and 1827, after several earlier alterations and extensions. The construction period and earlier changes help place the creation of the present-day town church in its historical context.

If you would like to get to know Kandern on a town walk, a detailed description of the route is available from the Tourist Information Office.

Railways in Kandern

The historic Kandertal Railway steam train runs between Haltingen and Kandern. At the station grounds in Kandern, there is also a tour for railway enthusiasts of all ages featuring railway agent Michel. Both the historic railway route and an activity at Kandern station are therefore options to explore as distinct railway-related themes.

Nearby

The Sausenburg Castle Ruins lie east of Kandern’s Sitzenkirch district. The castle tower is open to visitors and offers views across the tri-border region in clear weather. Check that the tower is accessible before your visit, as access conditions may change.

Discover more destinations: Inzlingen, Hertingen, Lörrach, Aitern, Häg-Ehrsberg, Weil am Rhein, Wittlingen, Zell im Wiesental.

Back to the main travel overview: Lörrach.