Dunningen: Chapel, Museum and Church History

Accommodation in Dunningen

In Dunningen, St. Christopher’s Chapel, a long church history and the museum in the town hall represent a range of cultural topics. One section of the Eschach Trail leads to the chapel; the museum brings together local history and objects relating to art, crafts and local clothing. When planning your trip, you can consider architecture, the hiking trail and the exhibits as separate highlights.

The Chapel, Church History and Hiking Trail

St. Christopher’s Chapel stands on a ridge above Dunningen. Rottweil artist Tobias Kammerer designed it in a minimalist architectural style as a light-filled, purist place to pause and reflect. The chapel’s location and design are two distinct aspects: it stands above the town and combines a clear architectural form with the described character of a place for contemplation.

Dunningen’s sequence of churches begins around 630/40 with an early wooden church and extends to the consecration of the present church on 7 July 1968. These dates provide a broad timeframe for local church history, from an early timber building to the present church.

During the summer, St. Christopher’s Chapel is listed as open daily from 8 a.m. until around 8 p.m. Check the opening hours locally before your visit.

The main route of the second stage of the Eschach Trail leads from Dunningen up Staudenstraße to St. Christopher’s Chapel. A route description published in 2023 gives the Eschach hiking trail a length of 49.9 kilometres. It describes the route from Aichhalden via Heiligenbronn, Seedorf, Dunningen, Lackendorf, Flözlingen, Horgen and Eckhof to Bühlingen, where it meets the river. This describes both a specific section of trail leading to the chapel and a longer route, including its starting point, places along the way and destination.

History and Collection Items at the Museum in the Town Hall

The museum in the town hall covers early history, Dunningen’s time under Rottweil’s rule and more recent economic history. Its dedicated displays commemorate the life and work of the artist Landolin Ohnmacht (1760–1834), the industrialist Jacob Mayer (1813–1875) and the politician Emil Maier (1876–1932). The topics range from the town’s early history and its time under Rottweil’s rule to more recent economic history; alongside these, the displays focus on three people and their life’s work.

The collection also includes specific objects: the museum displays replicas of archaeological finds from an Alemannic elite cemetery in Dunningen, as well as tools used for processing straw. It also features carnival costumes and traditional clothing from Dunningen, Lackendorf and Seedorf. Early wooden reliefs and a marble bust of a Greek goddess add further works of art to the collection.

A special example of Jacob Mayer’s cast-steel technique is a cast-steel bell from 1854. It illustrates the technique through a specific exhibit. The museum thus brings together historical topics, objects from various fields and a dated example of a technical process.