Discover Waldthurn: History, Pilgrimage and Circular Trails

When looking for a hotel for your stay in Waldthurn, it helps to first decide what you want to focus on during your trip: Are you mainly interested in local history and pilgrimage, walking trails, or cross-country ski trails in winter? Waldthurn offers a variety of themes, trail lengths and starting points. This lets you plan your trip around the specific places you would like to explore.

History by the pond and on Fahrenberg

Ten information panels along the Waldthurn History Trail are spread around the pond at the leisure facility. They cover the history of the Waldthurn area from the Stone Age to the regional reform. The panels span a broad period: the trail is not devoted to just one era, but to various periods in regional history.

The Pilgrimage Church of the Visitation of Mary on Fahrenberg, above Waldthurn, offers a different historical perspective. The altarpiece on the left side altar depicts the meeting between Mary and Elizabeth. According to tradition, a member of a religious order brought a statue of the Virgin Mary from the Holy Land in 1204. A chapel was built onto a castle, and the image of Mary was placed there for veneration. This marked the beginning of the pilgrimage to Fahrenberg. The traditional account of the church’s origins and the image on the side altar each give the church its own historical and religious significance.

Circular trails, the Nature and Culture Trail, and winter sports

The 10 km Kneipp circular hiking trail starts at the leisure facility on the eastern edge of Waldthurn, on the road to Neuenhammer. It leads through woods and meadows; in the Fahrenberg area, there are viewpoints overlooking the Upper Palatinate. A second, slightly longer circular route is the 10.5 km trail in the cross-country skiing area. It starts at the OWV Waldthurn ski hut; there is a parking lot on the road to Neuenhammer. The stated distances and different starting points help distinguish between these two hiking options.

The Nature and Culture Trail is a circular route around the market town of Waldthurn. Information panels along the trail cover nature, history and culture. One of its listed stops is a viewing tower called the Motte because of its shape. This gives the trail a different focus from the two circular hiking routes with specified distances: here, the emphasis is on themes and information along the way. Waldthurn’s Potato Technology Museum is also one of its three small museums.

At the Fahrenberg cross-country skiing centre, the trails are 2, 4, 7 and 12 km long, with difficulty levels ranging from easy to moderate. The starting point is the Waldthurn–Neuenhammer car park. Check current conditions before planning a cross-country skiing trip. For another sporting activity, the Waldthurn bike facility, also known as the pump track, is located at Badeweiher 32.

More to explore in the wider destination of Neustadt an der Waldnaab

The district of Neustadt an der Waldnaab is part of the Upper Palatinate Forest destination and offers activities including hiking, cycling, museum visits and swimming in numerous bathing areas. This regional context adds further landscape and cultural attractions to Waldthurn’s local highlights.

The Bockl is a 52 km route from Neustadt an der Waldnaab to Eslarn along a historic railway line. It can be used on foot, by bike or on inline skates; most of it is paved and traffic-free, and gradients rarely exceed 3 percent. At 52 km, it is considerably longer than the two Waldthurn circular trails of 10 and 10.5 km. These figures make the different route lengths easy to compare without suggesting that the trails are the same tour.

Regional cultural highlights also include the Parkstein basalt cone, which was added to the list of Bavaria’s 100 most beautiful geotopes in 2003 and was awarded the designation “National Geotope” in 2006, as well as Speinshart Abbey Church. It is one of the most significant Baroque buildings in southern Germany and is distinguished by its Italian High Baroque furnishings. Speinshart Abbey and the surviving historic monastic village of Speinshart together form a cultural heritage site of European significance.

Discover more destinations: Parkstein, Pleystein, Vohenstrauß, Kirchenthumbach, Vorbach, Leuchtenberg, Eschenbach in der Oberpfalz, Pressath

Return to the wider travel overview: Neustadt an der Waldnaab.