Oepfershausen: Art, Culture and Hiking

Oepfershausen brings together art, cultural monuments and a long-distance hiking route. The Oepfershausen Art Station is located in the village, directly within the Rhön Biosphere Reserve. This gives you three distinct options to choose from when planning your trip: workshops and photography, individual historic buildings, and the route of the HWO2 through the village.

Art and photography at the Art Station

The Art Station has a printmaking workshop, a ceramics workshop, two light-filled painting studios and a small library of art books. If you have a particular activity in mind, check its availability with the Art Station.

A construction trailer converted into a camera obscura serves as a mobile project offering photography activities. These include taking photographs with pinhole cameras and making cyanotypes. If you would like to include the project in your plans, ask about current dates. The formats range from workshop spaces to the mobile construction-trailer project.

Once a year, the Art Station holds a themed group exhibition and issues an open call to artists of all ages. For details of each year's exhibition, check directly with the Art Station.

Cultural monuments in the village

Oepfershausen's cultural and artistic monuments include the castle, the church rebuilt in 1718, and the half-timbered house at Wiesgarten 31. Those interested in architectural history will find these specific points of interest alongside the Art Station's workshop and photography offerings.

Hiking the HWO2

The 96 km HWO2 long-distance hiking trail connects Wasungen with Schlitz, passes through Oepfershausen and goes by the village district of Wahns. The stated distance refers to the entire route between the two endpoints, not to a section within the village. If you plan to include the trail in your trip, check the latest route information before setting out.

Wasungen: Nature, Culture and Trails

The wider destination of Wasungen offers its own natural and cultural highlights. The Wasungen Forest Botanical Garden covers about 5 hectares and is home to 162 genera of woody plants, with 1,700 different species and varieties. Expert-led tours are available for a fee and by prior arrangement. If you are considering a tour, plan for both.

Circular Hiking Trail 1 goes around the Forest Botanical Garden; Circular Hiking Trail 2 runs around the Rupperg to the Kleine Zehn Buchen. A section of the Heinrich Cotta Hiking Trail leads from the garden to Heinrich Cotta's birthplace in Kleine Zillbach. The Werratal Cycle Route follows the left bank of the Werra through Wasungen.

Also in Wasungen, the historic town center is protected as an ensemble and designated as a protected area monument. Wasungen Carnival reaches its climax with a historic parade held every year on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday. The date depends on the carnival calendar; check the schedule for the relevant year if you would like to make the parade the reason for your trip.

Discover more destinations: Brotterode-Trusetal, Jüchsen, Sülzfeld, Rosa, Wasungen, Benshausen, Grabfeld, Vachdorf

Back to the wider travel overview: Schmalkalden-Meiningen.