Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Churches & monasteries
Ulm
Marbled columns in pink and green, gilded capitals, a gallery running all the way round and above it a huge ceiling fresco: the library hall of Wiblingen Abbey is one of the most striking Rococo rooms in southern Germany. The former Benedi…
Churches & monasteries
Reichenau
Reichenau Island, the "Monastic Island" in Lake Constance near Konstanz, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000. It preserves three Romanesque churches whose origins reach back to a Benedictine abbey founded in the 8th century, s…
Churches & monasteries
Konstanz
Konstanz Minster (Konstanzer Münster) in Konstanz on Lake Constance served for more than a thousand years as the cathedral of one of the largest dioceses in the German-speaking world. Today, the Basilica of Our Lady is the landmark of the…
Churches & monasteries
Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg Cathedral (Limburger Dom) in Limburg an der Lahn, Hesse, is one of Germany's most photogenic churches: seven towers and a white-and-red painted facade rise from a limestone cliff above the Lahn River. Consecrated in 1235, the Cathe…
Churches & monasteries
Lübeck
At the southern tip of Lübeck's old town island, between the Trave and the Mühlenteich pond, stands the city's oldest church. Lübeck Cathedral was founded by Henry the Lion in 1173, making it one of the duke's four "lion cathedrals". At al…
Churches & monasteries
Saarbrücken
The Ludwigskirche (Ludwig's Church) in Saarbrücken is the landmark of the Saarland's capital and one of the most important Protestant Baroque churches in Germany. Designed by architect Friedrich Joachim Stengel as the centerpiece of Ludwig…
Churches & monasteries
Magdeburg
Magdeburg Cathedral (Magdeburger Dom), dedicated to Saints Maurice and Catherine, is the landmark of Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, and the first cathedral in Germany designed in the Gothic style from the start. It is also the bu…
Churches & monasteries
Mainz
Mainz Cathedral (Mainzer Dom, officially the Hoher Dom St. Martin) is the landmark of Mainz, the Rhineland-Palatinate capital on the Rhine River. Together with the cathedrals of Speyer and Worms, it is one of the three great Romanesque "im…
Churches & monasteries
Hannover
Walk through Hanover's old town and you will end up in front of this tower sooner or later. The Market Church of St George and St James is the oldest of the three old-town churches, and its 97-metre west tower is one of the city's landmark…
Churches & monasteries
Merseburg
Merseburg Cathedral, dedicated to St. John and St. Lawrence, rises above the Saale River in Merseburg, between Halle and Leipzig. Joined directly to Merseburg Palace, it is a highlight of Germany's Romanesque Road and holds remarkable trea…
Churches & monasteries
Hildesheim
Above the nave of St. Michael's hangs a picture book made of wood: 1,300 oak planks, painted around 1200 with the family tree of Christ. Monumental ceiling painting of this age survives in only two other places in Europe. Yet the building…
Churches & monasteries
Naumburg (Saale)
Naumburg Cathedral (Naumburger Dom) in the small town of Naumburg an der Saale is one of the great medieval churches of Europe and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2018. It is famous for twelve life-size statues of its founders…
Churches & monasteries
Paderborn
Paderborn Cathedral stands right where the River Pader bubbles up from the ground, and its 93-metre west tower is visible from almost anywhere in town. Inside you find one of Germany's great episcopal churches: a wide Gothic hall, a crypt…
Churches & monasteries
Ratzeburg
Ratzeburg Cathedral (Ratzeburger Dom) stands on the cathedral island in the town of Ratzeburg and is one of the best preserved Romanesque brick churches in northern Germany. It is the oldest of the four "Lion Cathedrals" founded by Henry t…
Churches & monasteries
Regensburg
Regensburg Cathedral (Dom St. Peter) is the finest Gothic church in Bavaria and the centerpiece of Regensburg's UNESCO-listed Old Town on the Danube. Its twin spires rise 105 m above the medieval rooftops, and inside you will find one of t…
Churches & monasteries
Schleswig
Schleswig Cathedral (St. Petri-Dom) is the landmark of the town of Schleswig and one of the most important historic churches in Schleswig-Holstein. Its tall neo-Gothic tower rises above the Schlei inlet, and inside you will find the Bordes…
Churches & monasteries
Höxter
Corvey Abbey near Höxter on the Weser River is one of Germany's most important monastic sites and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Its centerpiece is the Carolingian westwork, built in the 9th century and the oldest surviving struc…
Churches & monasteries
Lutherstadt Wittenberg
The Castle Church in Wittenberg (Schlosskirche) is where, according to tradition, Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses on October 31, 1517, sparking the Protestant Reformation. Part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Luther Memorials,…
Churches & monasteries
Regensburg
Stone beasts, human figures and, among them, twelve characters no one wanted in heaven: the Scots Portal of St James's Church on the western edge of Regensburg's old town has puzzled visitors for more than 800 years. It is considered one o…
Churches & monasteries
Annaberg-Buchholz
When rich silver veins were found in the Ore Mountains in the late 15th century, Duke George the Bearded founded a new mining town and had a church built that was meant to tower over everything. At 65 metres long and 40 metres wide, St. An…
Churches & monasteries
Nürnberg
St. Lorenz in Nuremberg (St. Lawrence's Church) is the great Gothic church of the southern Old Town and one of the finest medieval churches in southern Germany. Its twin towers and huge rose window dominate the pedestrian zone, and inside…
Churches & monasteries
Lübeck
St. Mary's Church in Lübeck (St. Marien zu Lübeck) is the great merchants' church of the Hanseatic League and the model for around 70 churches across the Baltic region. Its nave has the highest brick vault in the world, and its twin spires…
Churches & monasteries
Bremen
St. Peter's Cathedral in Bremen (St. Petri Dom) is the twin-spired church that towers over the city's Market Square, right beside the UNESCO-listed Town Hall. Its roots go back to the 8th century, and today the Lutheran cathedral combines…
Churches & monasteries
Mainz
When the sun shines through the east choir, it bathes St Stephen's in deep blue: the stained-glass windows by Marc Chagall make the church on Stephansberg hill one of the most unusual church interiors in Germany. Chagall, a Jewish painter…