Tourist Attractions in Paderborn

Entered from the cloister of Paderborn Cathedral is the richly stocked Diocesan Museum (Shrine of St Liborius, 1627; Imad Madonna, c. 1050; sculpture, panel paintings, liturgical utensils, etc.).

The foundations of a basilica dating from the time of Charlemagne were found under the Cathedral in 1979-80.

On the east side of the old town of Paderborn, entered through the remains of the Romanesque cloister, stands the Busdorf Church (11th, 12th and 17th c.), which has a crucifix of 1280, a Late Gothic tabernacle and monuments of the 15th-18th centuries.

In the south of the old town are the Baroque Franciscan Church (1691) and the Jesuit Church (1682-84; formerly the University Church), which has a rich treasury.

HNF Heinz Nixdorf Museums Forum presents the world of information technology by tracing the evolution of human communications through to the computer era of the 20th C. The historical timeline begins with writing in Mesopotamia around 3,000 B.C.

In Marienplatz in Paderborn, can be seen the handsome Heisingsches Haus (c. 1600), with a richly decorated facade.

On the north side of the Cathedral of Paderborn are the remains of a Carolingian and a later Ottonian/Salian imperial stronghold (Kaiserpfalz) which were excavated and partly reconstructed from 1945 onwards (museum, function rooms). Here too is St Bartholomew's Chapel (1017), believed to be the oldest hall-church in Germany, with notably fine acoustics.

To the north of the town center of Paderborn is the Adam and Eve House, the town's oldest half-timbered building, with a richly carved facade. It is now occupied by the Museum on the History of the Town and the exhibition rooms of the Kunstverein (Art Association).

Northwest of the town center of Paderborn, in the Neuhaus district, is Schloss Neuhaus (13th-16th C.), once the residence of the Prince-Bishops, with four wings laid out round a central courtyard, massive corner towers and a moat. It is now occupied by a school and the Municipal Art Gallery.

To the west of Paderborn Cathedral is the Abdinghofkirche (11th c.; Protestant), a twin-towered Romanesque church. Below the church, in a beautiful park, the sources of the Pader emerge.

Opposite the Diocesan Museum, to the south, is St Ulrich's Church (12th C.; R.C.), Paderborn's oldest parish church, with an octagonal tower and a Baroque facade of 1746-49.

From the Domplatz in Paderborn a pedestrian street, the Schildern, runs southwest to Rathausplatz, which is dominated by the Town Hall, a magnificent three-gabled Late Renaissance building (1613-15). The Town Hall contains a natural history museum.