Ronneburg: Wooden Bridge, Mining History and Town Wall

Ronneburg combines striking structures with stories from mining and the town’s history. Its varied highlights include the “Drachenschwanz” adventure bridge, a preserved headframe, sections of the historic town wall and museums. If you are looking for a hotel in Ronneburg, you can first consider whether you would like to focus your stay on timber construction, mining history, historic architecture or museums.

Adventure Bridge and Neue Landschaft

The “Drachenschwanz” adventure bridge is located on the grounds of the 2007 Federal Horticultural Show. It is 225 metres long and is one of Germany’s longest and most innovative wooden bridges. Following renovation, it reopened on 29 May 2026. Its length and timber construction make it a distinctive structure among Ronneburg’s sights.

Another way to explore the landscape is to visit Neue Landschaft Ronneburg. The site covers around 800 hectares in the former mining district around Ronneburg. While the headframe recalls the area’s mining history through a specific structure, Neue Landschaft represents the former mining district on a much larger scale. The technical relics and the former mining area thus offer different perspectives on the townscape.

Mining History and Historic Structures

The headframe of Material Shaft 407 stands at the southern edge of town. It is the only surviving relic of mining activity in the Ronneburg region and is a technical monument. The Ronneburg Mining Association (Bergbauverein Ronneburg e.V.) offers visitors guided tours of the headframe. If you would like to arrange a tour, coordinate the date with the association in advance.

The historic town wall can also still be seen in a few places. A preserved section near the parish house (former superintendent’s office) is a listed monument. Its lower section is made of rubble stone masonry, while the upper section is half-timbered. Today, the course of the town wall can only be made out in a few places. The visible section therefore offers a concrete glimpse of the wall’s different construction methods.

Another architectural feature of Ronneburg is its church tower, which is about 30 metres high. The late Gothic, square tower is topped with an eight-sided crown and is a landmark of the town. The wall and the tower make different impressions: the wall stands out for its varied construction and the fact that it is visible only in places, while the tower is notable for its height and distinctive crown.

Museums and the History of Wismut

The town and school museum is housed in the tower building of Ronneburg Castle and is run by the Ronneburg Local History Association. Check the current visiting arrangements in advance if you are planning a museum visit. This will help you plan your visit according to the arrangements in effect.

The “Wismut*Objekt 90” exhibition covers the development of Wismut: from its early years as a uranium ore producer, through its development into a modern mining company, to the remediation of the mining legacy. This thematic arc connects the company’s history with the effects of mining. It adds further chapters of regional mining history to the perspective offered by the headframe.

More Cultural Highlights in Greiz

Greiz also offers its own cultural highlights. Since 2010, the permanent exhibition “From the Land of the Bailiffs to the Principality of Reuss Elder Line” has been housed in the Upper Castle in Greiz. It explores the history of the bailiffs, lords, imperial counts and imperial princes of Reuss, as well as the small-state residential culture associated with them. The museum in the Upper Castle adds a multimedia historical experience, featuring a computer-animated architectural history and an interactive journey through time.

The Lower Castle in Greiz houses a museum and a textile demonstration workshop. Established in 1998, the workshop showcases the production and history of Greiz’s textile industry; children and adults can take part in the manual production process. Greiz thus offers different ways to explore its history: historical context at the Upper Castle and hands-on engagement with textile production at the Lower Castle.

Discover more destinations: Moschwitz, Langenwetzendorf, Bocka, Hohenleuben, Endschütz, Langenwolschendorf, Hain, Greiz

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