Tourist Attractions in Heilbronn

The Kilianskirche, near the Town Hall in Heilbronn, dates from the 13th and 15th centuries. The 62 m/203ft high tower was built in 1513-29. It has a very fine high altar (1498) by Hans Seyfer.

Outside the church, on the south wall, can be seen a fountain with seven spouts, recalling the sacred spring of the ancient Alemanni which gave the town its name ("healing spring").

South of the Markt in Heilbronn are the rebuilt church of SS. Peter and Paul (13th and 18th C.; R.C.), originally the church of the Teutonic Order, and the Deutschhof (rebuilt 1950), which now houses the Municipal Museum.

To the east of the Markt in Heilbronn extends the wide avenue called the Allee, running north-south. On the far side of this lies the Stadtgarten (Municipal Park), with the Festhalle ("Harmonie").

In the southwest of Heilbronn's old town, on the banks of the Neckar, stands the Götzenturm (1392), in which Goethe sets the death of Götz von Berlichingen in his play of that name (although in fact Götz died in Burg Hornberg, on the Neckar, in 1562).

At the north end of the Allee in Heilbronn is the Theater (1982). Southwest of this is the Early Gothic St Nicholas's Church (restored).

From St Nicholas's Church Turmstrasse leads to the Bollwerksturm, the only relic, apart from the Götzenturm, of the town's 13th C. walls.

Cultural Summer is a three-month festival that runs from mid-June to early September and includes almost 30 different events each season. The performances include symphonic and chamber concerts, and recitals, as well as exhibitions and lectures.

The repertoire is classical, and often includes renaissance choral music, as well as works by traditional composers.

The venues vary from year-to-year, rotating throughout the towns of the Hohenlohe region.

Near the Deutschhof in Heilbronn the Fleisch- und Gerichtshaus (1598), with the Natural History Museum. In front of it, in a small square, is the Käthchen Fountain (1965). On the bank of the river is the landing-stage used by the Neckar passenger boats.

6km/4mi north of Heilbronn, on the right bank of the Neckar, is Neckarsulm. In the old castle of the Teutonic Order is the German Two-Wheels Museum (Deutsches Zweiradmuseum; pedal cycles and motorcycles).

To the west of the Theater in Heilbronn, outside the town center, can be found the Schiesshaus, an elegant Roccoco building which survived the Second World War unscathed. It is now used as a concert hall.

In the Marktplatz of Heilbronn's reconstructed old town stands the Town Hall, restored on the basis of Renaissance models, with a fine astronomical clock (1580). The tall house at the southwest corner of the square is known as "Käthchen's House", although Heinrich von Kleist's play about the town has no historical basis.

This is one of many German festivals held in September in this region. The festival in Heilbronn runs for one week in mid-September. Special food stalls and entertainment is provided throughout the week.