Discover Werl’s Old Town, Churches and Routes

Werl’s Old Town, churches and routes offer a range of ways to enjoy a stay: you can explore the historic centre on foot, visit museums and religious buildings as cultural highlights, or focus on the spa park and cycling routes.

Old Town and Local History

Werl’s officially recognised historic centre is ideal for an Old Town walk. Restored half-timbered buildings, Neoclassical façades, a castle ruin and cobbled lanes shape its appearance. If you would like to take in different architectural styles on a walk, these features offer a variety of points of interest in the historic centre.

In the heart of Werl’s Old Town, near the Provost Church, is the Municipal Museum at Rykenberg, the Wendelin-Leidinger-Haus. A model shows what Werl looked like in the 17th century. The museum also holds an impressive collection of paintings by artist Gaudenz von Rustige, who was born in Werl in 1810. The model and the painting collection offer different perspectives: one depicts the town in a particular era, while the other focuses on the work of an artist born in Werl.

Another cultural highlight is the Forum of the Peoples Museum. It contains more than 10,000 objects of non-European art and everyday culture and is described as Westphalia’s largest ethnological museum. Its collection therefore has a different focus from the local history and painting collection at Rykenberg.

Churches and Pilgrimage

The Provost Church of St Walburga is a Gothic hall church dating from the 14th century. Its art-historically significant furnishings include the monumental Cross Altar, the Three Kings winged altar, the Erbsälzer and Rosary altars, and the richly decorated courtroom chair of the ecclesiastical tribunal. These altars and furnishings offer a concrete sense of the church’s artistic highlights.

Werl’s pilgrimage church of St Mary of the Visitation is another religious site with its own history: it was built between 1903/04 and 1906. The pilgrimage basilica houses the devotional image “Comforter of the Afflicted”. St Walburga and the pilgrimage basilica thus offer different points of interest: one is notable for its Gothic hall church and furnishings, the other for its devotional image.

Spa Park and Cycling Routes

Werl Spa Park dates back to the town’s days as a saltwater spa; its origins go back to the 19th century. The tree trail offers another way to experience the park, taking you past native and exotic tree species. Alongside the park’s history, the variety of tree species is also a focus.

For a cycling trip, the “Werl Cloverleaf” offers four themed circular routes through the Werl municipal area. Each route is 17 to 22 kilometres long, and you can ride them individually or combine them. This gives you a practical guide when choosing between one loop and several themed routes.

The routes follow quiet country lanes and cycle paths through the countryside, offering views away from the main roads. When choosing between an Old Town walk and a cycling trip, you are choosing not only between two ways of getting around, but also between different highlights: historic buildings in the town centre or themed circular routes through the countryside. As route conditions can change, check the latest information before setting off.

Discover more destinations: Wickede, Geseke, Bad Sassendorf, Anröchte, Warstein, Vellinghausen, Ense, Rüthen

Return to the main travel overview: Soest.