Discover Nördlingen: Old Town and Ries Crater

Nördlingen brings together medieval lanes, local history and insights into a meteorite crater. From the 42-metre-high Löpsinger Gate Tower, you can enjoy a view of the historic Old Town and the crater. Here, a striking view across the town meets the geological history of the Nördlinger Ries. When looking for a hotel in Nördlingen, it may help to first decide whether your main interest is the Old Town, church architecture or Ries geology.

Old Town and St. George’s Church

An approximately one-hour historical walking tour takes you through Nördlingen’s medieval streets and lanes. It includes, among other things, the completely preserved town wall, the tanners’ quarter and the market square with its impressive buildings. The roughly one-hour duration gives the tour a manageable time frame; its content brings together the town fortifications, the quarter and the market square.

St. George’s Church is considered a Late Gothic hall church. Its 90-metre-high bell tower is called the Daniel. Open guided tours cover the architecture and building history, as well as features such as the pulpit, high altar, choir stalls, baptismal font and organs. The tours therefore encompass both the architectural form and its history, as well as specific elements of the church’s furnishings.

Museums and Geology

The RiesKraterMuseum presents the formation of impact craters in general and the Nördlinger Ries in particular across six rooms. It also covers the asteroid impact 15 million years ago and its planetary and terrestrial effects. The exhibits include meteorites, fossils and a real piece of moon rock.

A Geopark information centre is located directly beside the museum. Visitors can get a concise overview there of the geology, archaeology and settlement history of the Ries. The focus differs between the two: the museum centres on impact craters and their effects, while the information centre provides a broader overview of the region.

At the Stadtmuseum in the Holy Ghost Hospital, a guided tour explains the otherwise inaccessible dungeon beneath Nördlingen Town Hall, known as the “Loch”, and visitors can then experience it using a VR headset. The on-site explanation and subsequent virtual experience go hand in hand.

Guided Tours and Activities in the Ries

Nördlingen’s range of guided tours includes town tours on scheduled dates, as well as torchlit and themed tours; there are also opportunities to explore the Geopark Ries. The RiesKraterMuseum offers bookable guided tours tailored to visitor groups. Excursions to quarries and geotopes in the surrounding Ries area are available subject to availability and prior arrangement. Check the dates for each activity in advance; excursions require prior arrangement.

Further Context in Donau-Ries

In the wider destination of Donau-Ries, the district describes the Geopark Ries, with its Ries Crater formed by a meteorite impact, as a tourist attraction. A tour of Harburg Castle introduces almost 900 years of history through its Baroque castle church, loopholes, prison cells, gates and towers.

The pilgrimage basilica of Maria Brünnlein in Wemding offers another architectural and historical focus in the wider destination of Donau-Ries. The Rococo church was built between 1748 and 1782 to plans by Franz Joseph Roth, in response to the growing number of pilgrims. Its altar of grace is a fountain altar featuring the miraculous Madonna by Johann Joseph Mayr, dating from 1755. The altar table with its fountain basin was created by Ernst Steinacker in 1953.

Discover more destinations: Asbach-Bäumenheim, Marxheim, Monheim, Donauwörth, Wemding, Harburg, Rain, Ehingen Am Ries.

Back to the main travel overview: Donau-Ries.