Discover Selb: Porcelain, Culture and Leisure

You can discover Selb during your stay through several themes: porcelain history, theater and events, city walks, and leisure activities. Which ones you focus on depends on what you want your trip to center around. The city’s places and activities offer a range of ways to explore these themes.

Porcelain history at a former industrial site

Porzellanikon Selb is housed in a former Rosenthal factory that was closed in 1969. Today, around 9,000 m² of the repurposed industrial site houses three museums: the European Industrial Museum for Porcelain, the Rosenthal Museum, and the European Museum of Technical Ceramics. Here, you can explore several perspectives on porcelain and technical ceramics in one place.

Of the ten massive circular kilns once at Porzellanikon, six have been fully preserved and are open to visitors. Covering a good 8,000 m², Porzellanikon Selb features old machinery, interactive exhibits, Rosenthal tableware, technical ceramics, and a steam engine. The preserved kiln technology and machinery on display offer tangible points of connection to the site’s industrial history.

Theater, events, and the cityscape

The Rosenthal Theater is located in the heart of Selb, on the slope of the Selbbachtal valley. Its program includes operas, operettas, musicals, plays, symphony concerts, chamber concerts, jazz concerts, and cabaret performances. If you would like to include a performance in your travel plans, check the current program.

Events also reflect Selb’s cultural life: the International Borderland Film Days have been held at SPEKTRUM Selb each year since 1977, in the week after Easter. Every year, the Rosenthal Theater hosts a presentation of the local porcelain industry under the theme “Weeks of White Gold.” If you are planning a trip around a specific event, it is worth checking the dates in advance.

A walking tour of Selb takes you past art, culture, old and new, and distinctive features of this porcelain and design city; you can start in person or virtually. On a guided city tour led by a certified guide, you’ll pass the porcelain fountain on Martin-Luther-Platz and Porzellangässchen. You walk on porcelain in Porzellangässchen; arrange tour dates with the Tourist Information Office.

A walk through Selb also takes you to the Rosenthal headquarters building and the neighboring Spiegelhaus. Otto Piene enhanced the headquarters building with his artistic work. Spiegelhaus features a mirrored façade designed by Marcello Morandini. The walk brings together different examples of art and design in the urban environment.

Leisure activities and cycling

Leisure facilities in Selb include a pump track and a skate park. The paved pump track can be used with mountain bikes, BMX bikes, skateboards, scooters, inline skates, longboards, and balance bikes. This means that various types of bikes and wheeled sports equipment are listed for use. The Selb indoor swimming pool in Rosenthal Park has a sports pool, adjoining pools for non-swimmers with massage jets, and a children’s pool with an elephant slide. Check the operator’s current visitor information before your visit.

For a regional perspective on cycling: In the wider travel destination of Wunsiedel Im Fichtelgebirge, the Bavarian section of the Eger Cycle Route runs for around 55 kilometers along the Eger River, through Bad Weißenstadt, Röslau, Marktleuthen, Thierstein, Selb, Hohenberg a.d.E., and Schirnding. On the Czech side, the route continues via Pomezí nad Ohří and Cheb, where it connects to Czech long-distance cycle route No. 6 / Cyklostezka Ohře. For tour planning, you can check local route information for temporary closures or detours.

Discover more destinations: Selb-Plößberg, Wildenau, Marktredwitz, Wunsiedel, Schirnding, Thierstein, Thiersheim, Nagel.

Return to the regional travel overview: Wunsiedel Im Fichtelgebirge.