Kulmbach: Plassenburg, Museums and Hiking Trails
Accommodation in Kulmbach
If you’re looking for a hotel in Kulmbach, you can plan your stay around the topics that interest you: castle and town history, church art or hiking. Plassenburg, Mönchshof, St. Peter’s Church and Rehberg offer different points of interest. The trails also vary, including long-distance trails, a nature trail and a circular route.
Die Plassenburg ist ein prägendes Kultur- und Geschichtsziel in Kulmbach.
Photo: El Grafo via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Plassenburg and Kulmbach’s History
Plassenburg is Kulmbach’s landmark and a viewing platform 116 metres above the town. Once a Hohenzollern fortress, it is now home to four museums with collections and information about the history of the castle, the town of Kulmbach and the region. The museum themes therefore range from the fortress itself to local and regional history. The cultural-historical Burgenweg hiking trail ends at Plassenburg. The castle, town and regional history thus meet at the endpoint of a hiking trail.
Buildings and Museum Themes
Rehturm was built in 1498 as a watch and signal tower on Rehberg and is part of a nature trail. Its historical function and its inclusion in the educational trail are two distinct aspects of the structure.
St. Peter’s Church offers a different perspective. It is a Late Gothic hall church built in 1439. Its impressive altar depicts the Deposition of Christ; instead of numerals, the clock on its tower displays the words “Watch—Pray.” Unlike Rehturm, the focus here is on architectural style and church furnishings.
Mönchshof Kulmbach is home to three museums: the Bavarian Brewery Museum, the Bavarian Bakery Museum and the German Spice Museum. The three institutions are dedicated to brewing, baking and spices. There are 120 car parking spaces on the Mönchshof grounds; the number may change. Check the latest parking information before setting off.
Hiking Trails in the Town and the Kulmbach Destination
The Frankenweg is 520 kilometres long in total and crosses the town of Kulmbach from north to south. The Mainwanderweg follows the river from its source in the Fichtelgebirge to its mouth in the Rhine near Mainz, passing through the town of Kulmbach from east to west. The two long-distance trails therefore differ both in their orientation and in the routes described. The Frankenweg runs north to south, while the Mainwanderweg follows the river from east to west. The figure of 520 kilometres refers to the entire Frankenweg, not just its section within the town.
The wider Kulmbach destination also includes the nature trail on Kulmbach’s Rehberg. It is about 4 kilometres long and has 21 learning stations. The Frankenwaldsteigla “Rehbergweg” is an 11-kilometre circular route: it runs from Plassenburg to Rehberg, through Kulmbach’s Old Town and back to the starting point. This sets a shorter educational trail with learning stations alongside a longer circular route that passes through a named section of the Old Town.
Zwernitz Castle in Wonsees is also part of the wider Kulmbach destination. It was first mentioned in an official document in 1156 as the ancestral seat of the Walpoten family. Visitors can climb its tower for a sweeping view across the Franconian Switzerland Nature Park. The Sanspareil Rock Garden lies right beside the castle; the Rock Theatre in the grove, the Oriental Building and the Kitchen Building have all been preserved there.
Discover more destinations: Untersteinach, Mainleus, Presseck, Marktleugast, Stadtsteinach, Thurnau
View the wider travel overview: Kulmbach district.
