Open Monument Day® in the Palatinate
Open Monument Day is celebrated throughout Germany. Our neighbors in the Palatinate are also taking part with exciting guided tours, inviting visitors to special events and opening the doors of otherwise closed historical sites. A trip there is worthwhile for anyone who wants to experience history up close.
Program in the Palatinate
Town and Fortress Museum
Germersheim
Program
The Ludwigstor and its attic
The Ludwigstor has housed the city's museum for 50 years. At the time of the fortress, however, it was the city gate, which not only regulated access to the city, but was also a military building. Even today, you can still see the meter-thick layer of sand on the roof of the gate, which was intended to cushion the impact and prevent fires in the event of cannon fire.
Time: 12:00 - 12:30 pm
Meeting point: Ludwigstor entrance
Realization: Frauke Vos-Firnkes
Accessibility: not barrier-free
Children's program: yes, hands-on activities, coloring posters from the Dtiftung Denkmalschutz.
Catering: yes, coffee, water and waffles
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Completed in 1840, the gate was one of the two entrances to the city and fortress. The outer façade was built according to the plans of the Munich architect Friedrich von Gärtner. At the gateway, you can see two statues depicting knights, which are supposed to represent the builder King Ludwig I and the fortress's construction manager Ritter Friedrich von Schmauß.
Opening hours: 11:00 - 17:00
Address: Ludwigsring 2 | 76726 Germersheim
Accessibility: Germersheim main station
Website: www.germersheim-erleben.eu
City gate
Weißenburger Tor
(Germersheim)
Program
(1) KunstTour - Modern art in the fortress city
Modern art is just as much a part of Germersheim as the fortress. On a short guided tour from the Weißenburger Tor, you will set off on the town's interesting sculpture trail and explore the gems of fortress architecture and modern art.
Time: 11:00 - 11:30 a.m.
Meeting point: Weißenburger Tor bridge
Implementation: Weissenburger Tor Tourism, Culture and Visitor Center
Accessibility: partially barrier-free
(2) Guided tour of the historic cemetery
Nestled in a green oasis of tranquillity, cemeteries offer a wonderful setting to experience cultural, artistic and urban history from an unusual perspective. On this short tour, you will visit one of the most beautiful historic cemeteries in the Vorderpfalz region, learn more about the development of cemetery culture and discover the romantic cemetery with its historic gravesites.
Time: 13:00 - 13:30
Meeting point: Main entrance to the cemetery, August-Keiler-Straße 34
Implementation: Weissenburger Tor Tourism, Culture and Visitor Center
Accessibility: completely barrier-free
Weather dependency: takes place outdoors, without the possibility of shelter
(3) Classic city and fortress tour
Known since Roman times, the settlement of Germersheim experienced an eventful history in the centuries that followed. With the construction of the royal Bavarian fortress, whose grounds still characterize the image of the town today, Germersheim experienced a pioneering highlight and upswing. On the short tour through the town and fortress of Germersheim, you will explore impressive, well-preserved military buildings.
Time: 15:00 - 15:30
Meeting point: Weißenburger Tor bridge
Implementation: Weissenburger Tor Tourism, Culture and Visitor Center
Accessibility: partially barrier-free
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Built in 1839, the Weißenburger Tor gate, with its sandstone and humpback ashlar facade and its crenellated cornice decorated with an arched frieze, looks particularly fortified and is reminiscent of medieval castles. In addition to the city's tourism, culture, and visitor center, there is also a permanent exhibition on the history of the fortress.
Opening hours: 10:00 - 17:00
Address: Europaplatz 1 | 76726 Germersheim
Accessibility: Nearby bus stops and parking spaces available above the castle
Website: www.germersheim-erleben.eu
Tobacco trail
Hatzenbühl
Tobacco shed in Hatzenbühl © Ernst Wünstel
Program
Guided tour of the tobacco trail
Guided tours along a 2 km long publicly accessible, barrier-free tobacco trail with currently nine information boards. Information is provided about the work with tobacco during the course of the tobacco growing year, a tour of drying sheds and machines for processing tobacco.
Free guided tours are offered regularly. They take place along a publicly accessible, barrier-free tobacco trail with currently nine information boards. Information is provided about working with tobacco during the growing season, sowing, care, harvesting, processing the tobacco with machines and the drying process in drying sheds and ovens. Threading machines are demonstrated and various types of drying sheds are visited. Special tours are also available for groups on request. This also includes a visit to a tobacco farm.
The circular route is equipped with information boards, which also inform visitors without a guide. In addition, additional film sequences can be called up on the boards via QR code, in which the work around the tobacco is recorded in the original.
Time: 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
Meeting point: St. Martin Belle Roche Platz, at the town hall, Kirchstraße 7
Registration: tabakrundweg@hatzenbuehl.de, phone: 07275 9181007
Implementation: various tour guides
Accessibility: completely barrier-free
Weather-dependent: takes place outdoors, with the option of sheltering under cover
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Explanation of tobacco growing activities during the growing season. Tour of plots with different tobacco varieties, tobacco drying sheds and processing machines and their use.
Opening hours: 08:00 - 19:00
Address: Kirchstraße 7| 76770 Hatzenbühl
Accessibility: Nearby bus stops and parking spaces available above the castle
Website: www.hatzenbühl.de
Brick museum
Sondernheim (Germersheim)
Program
Short tours
The short tour gives an impression of how the bricks are made and how the site is used today.
Time: 11:00 - 17:00
Meeting point: Brickworks entrance
Realization: Martin Spreng
Accessibility: partially barrier-free
Weather-dependent: takes place outdoors, with the option of sheltering under cover
Catering: yes, catering possible via the associated café
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The site was founded in 1834 by the Stubenrauch family. The brickworks was shut down in 1973. Today, the technical industrial monument includes a ring kiln with two chimneys, a hot-air and open-air drying plant with around 35 drying sheds, an administration building, an engine house, several brick buildings, a light railroad and an extrusion press.
Opening hours: 11:00 - 17:00
Address: Am Rheindamm | 76726 Germersheim
Accessibility: Parking spaces along the route
Website: www.ziegelei-sondernheim.de