Göppingen Things to Do

Oberhofenkirche (see intro)

Kunsthalle (Art Gallery)
Marstallstraße 55
Phone (07161) 650 777
Open Tue – Sun 10am – 12pm and 2pm – 6pm, Thu afternoon until 8pm, closed on Monday


In the suburb of Jebenhausen (first town from the town centre towards Autobahn A 8)

Städtisches Naturkundliches Museum
Museum about the 200 million long natural history of the region, documented by a collection of 3000 fossils; located in the former hostel of Jebenhausen’s spa; the half-timbered building is from 1610.
Address: Boller Straße 102, Jebenhausen, phone (07161) 7472 and 650-191
Open Wed and Sat 1pm – 5pm, Sun and public holidays 11am – 5pm, closed from Nov to mid April. Guided tours on appointment.
Entry fee 1.50 Euro, children up to 18 free.

Jüdisches Museum
Located in a church from 1506, explaining the local Jewish history which started in 1777.
Address: Boller Str. 82, Jebenhausen, phone (07161) 44 600 and 650-191
Open Wed and Sat 1pm – 5pm, Sun and public holidays 11m – 5pm
Entry fee 1.50 Euro, children up to 18 free



In the suburb of Faurndau (first town, leaving Göppingen towards Uhingen/Stuttgart):
Stiftskirche der Chorherren – a massive late Roman basilica, one of the master pieces of this era in Schwaben, with frescos from 1300 that were uncovered in 1957. It is protestant.



Bad Boll
A spa town (5200 inhabitants) on the way from Göppingen to the Autobahn A 8 (Aichelberg), well-known for its mineral springs (thermal water, sulphur springs, Jurassic fango, rehabilitation clinic).
More info on the website: http://www.bad-boll.de/

Collection of petrifications, found around Boll, in the “Kurhaus”, phone (07164) 81-0

This Museum of the Prehistoric World - Hauff is just the name of the owners/creators - is located in Holzmaden, near the Autobahn (A 8) exit Aichelberg. It sign-posted from the Autobahn.

The exhibited fossils are from the Jurassic Period, 180 million years ago, when the world was submerged under a tropical sea. This was home of many kinds of saurians. You can see their skeletons in the museum as well as petrified fish, marine crocodiles, ammonites and sea lilies.

Nowhere in the world the saurians can be found as well preserved as in the Swabian Jura and in such great numbers. You do not only learn about the fauna of this era but also about the history and geology of the earth.

They have a great English version of their website, so you can get a lot more information there if you want.

Open
Tue – Sun 9am – 5pm
Closed on Mondays and some public holidays (24, 25 and 31 December, 1 January)

Entry fee 5 Euro

Address:
Urwelt-Museum Hauff
Aichelberger Strasse 90
73271 Holzmaden/Teck

When we were young we went to Eislingen or Göppingen on most Saturdays and filled up the bottles of several crates with mineral water, called Sauerwasser (sour water) – for free!

Thanks to historic rights (from 1747, to be exact), this tradition still exists today. In Göppingen there are three places where you can fill up your bottles for free: at the fountains of Christophsbad, at vordere Karlstraße or near the Freibad (Outdoor Swimming Pool) just some metres from Ulmer Straße which is the main road between Eislingen and Göppingen to the city centre. Just follow the sign to Freibad and you cannot miss it.

The mineral water has been known in the region for many hundreds of years. First the water was found on the slopes of the valleys. Later sources were made accessible by drilling into the ground. The first source in Göppingen was found in 1404.

In former times the water was mainly used for spa and drinking cures, as did the Dukes who built Göppingen’s castle. Today the baths are home to museums and used for other purposes. However, mineral water is bottled commercially, the best known are Christophsquelle und Jebenhausener Sprudel.

Formerly a simple indoor swimming pool, this aquatic centre has developped into a wellness oasis with spa, sauna, slides, etc. Also on offer are massage and all kinds of beauty therapy.

It is located opposite Hohenstaufenhalle at the corner of Lorcher & Nördliche Ringstraße, so either a not too long walk from the city centre (from Schillerplatz straight ahead, slightly up the hill), or take bus # 4, 11 and 94.

Opening Hours

Barbarossa-Thermen:
daily 8am – 10pm, Fr and Sat until 11pm

Swimming and diving area:
Tue 6.30am – 6.30pm
Wed, Thu 6.30am – 10pm
Fri 6.30 am – 11pm
Sat 8am – 11pm
Sun & Public Holidays 8am – 10pm

Entry fee for the whole day 14.50 Euro, swimming only 3.40 Euro

If you stand in front of the main entrance of the museum you will quickly understand the name “Storchen” – meaning: stork/s. Some stork sculptures stand in front of the historic half-timbered building near Schillerplatz.

The “Storchen” was erected right on the city wall for the Barons of Liebenstein in 1536, as their city residence. It is the oldest residential building of the city and has been home to the communal museum since 1949. You can see there the Augustalis gold coin from the Staufer time, a lot of the testimonies of Göppingen’s craftspeople and peasant culture, and also some toy collections and some metal items from Märklin.

Open Tue – Sat 1pm – 5 pm, Sun and Public Holidays 11am – 5pm

Entry Fee 1.50 Euro, children under 18 free.

The three classic Staufer mountains (Stauferberge) are Hohenstaufen, Hohenrechberg and Stuifen.

You either take the car or bus to Hohenstaufen and make a return-trip over the three mountains, or you organise a pick-up service in the little village of Wißgoldingen which is next to Stuifen.

Although it is historically significant to have climbed all three hills, Stuifen is no must if you want to have nice views. You must nearly crawl through the scrub to get a glimpse of the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd and the surrounding area. The summit is totally covered in high trees and brush, so really no views. A summit rock tells you where you are, that is all.

So you could walk down into the valley, to a little town named Ottenbach, from Hohenrechberg, and from there make your way back to Göppingen or Eislingen.

This tourist route leads from Bad Boll (near the autobahn A 8) via Göppingen, Schwäbisch Gmünd and Heidenheim to Giengen/Brenz, and covers about 300 kilometres.

See detailed info on this website:

http://www.stauferland.de/

Germans are obsessed with their trillion of different kinds of bread and rolls, and the Schwaben (Swabians) are rightfully proud of their great Brezeln (pretzels) – read my praise on my Gingen page.

As I am a little bit on cold turkey in New Zealand, I got very aware on my last visit that Göppingen seems to have more bakeries (Bäckerei) and pastry shops (Konditorei) – mostly Bäckerei & Konditorei together – than any other place. And as it was a nice summer’s day they all had stalls with special offers outside the shops. You nearly could not resist to buy a piece of Zwetschgendatschi (plum cake), Käsekuchen (the fluffy German version of cheese cake) or one of the million filled danishs (Quarktasche, Kirschtasche etc.)…

I can assure you, you do not really lose weight on a holiday im Schwabenland…;-)