Discover Mertingen

Sölde Mertingen, Stadel Mertingen and Alte Schule Mertingen are three museums that invite you to visit. The numerous forest trails in the 600-hectare Mertinger Forest are also hiking destinations. The Bavarian Centre of Excellence for Equestrian Sports and Vaulting is also based in Mertingen. This brings culture, forest and a connection to equestrian sports into focus as distinct local themes. For a broader regional perspective, you can explore the wider Donau-Ries destination.

Museums and forest trails in Mertingen

The three museums offer a specific choice for a culture-focused visit: Sölde, Stadel and Alte Schule. Together with the forest trails, they create a different focus from a trip centred mainly on historical sites. When planning, you can therefore first decide whether you would prefer to connect your stay more closely with museums or with hiking in the forest.

The Mertinger Forest covers 600 hectares. Its many trails are hiking destinations: the area’s size gives you a sense of the forest, while the trails provide a direct reason to go for a hike. Another local point of interest is the Bavarian Centre of Excellence for Equestrian Sports and Vaulting, which is based in Mertingen.

Geology and history in the wider Donau-Ries destination

In the wider Donau-Ries destination, the Ries Geopark, with the Ries crater formed by a meteorite impact, is a tourist attraction. The Kühstein Geopark educational trail explains the processes of the impact, which occurred 14.5 million years ago, at eight information panels. From Buchberg, you can enjoy a panorama of the Ries and its inner and outer crater rims. The panels provide a geological context, while the view from Buchberg reveals the crater’s shape in the landscape.

The RiesKraterMuseum is dedicated to the asteroid impact that created the Nördlinger Ries, as well as its cosmic origins and effects that continue to this day. Exhibits include meteorites, fossils and a piece of real moon rock; information panels and multimedia displays complement the exhibition. The museum presents these topics in a carefully renovated medieval barn dating from 1503. Here, an account of how the Ries formed meets a historic exhibition venue.

In Nördlingen, the Stadtmuseum focuses on a different subject: it explores the lives and beliefs of the people of Nördlingen, changes during the Reformation, the Thirty Years’ War and the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen. The collection, which is more than 150 years old, extends over four floors. A model made of around 6,000 tin figures illustrates the battle. Nördlingen’s medieval town wall is another historical point of interest: it is fully preserved and can be walked along in its entirety.

In Wemding, the pilgrimage basilica of Maria Brünnlein is another cultural and historical destination in the region. The Rococo church was built between 1748 and 1782 to plans by Franz Joseph Roth, as the flow of pilgrims grew. The altar of grace is a fountain altar featuring the miraculous Virgin Mary by Johann Joseph Mayr, created in 1755. Ernst Steinacker made the altar table with its fountain basin in 1953. Pope John Paul II elevated the basilica to a Basilica minor in 1998; around 150,000 pilgrims visit it every year.

Discover more destinations: Kaisheim, Wemding, Oberndorf Am Lech, Rain, Ries, Oettingen In Bayern, Fremdingen, Nördlingen

Return to the regional travel overview: Donau-Ries.