Schwanenstadt offers several ways to explore culture and history: architectural history at the town tower, churches from different eras, museums devoted to local and glass culture, and a memorial to 1809. There are also routes of varying lengths. This lets you choose what to focus on when planning your trip, such as architecture, collections, glass or a route.
The town tower and churches from different eras
The town tower took on its present form during the renovation of 1909. The Stadtturmgalerie hosts changing exhibitions. The town tower therefore brings together two distinct aspects: its architectural history and an exhibition programme whose content changes. If a particular exhibition is important to your trip, check the current programme in advance.
Several periods also come together at the Stadtpfarrkirche St. Michael. Its slender, pointed tower is 78 metres high; the church was inaugurated in 1902 as a Neo-Gothic building. Inside the church is a Late Gothic Madonna dating from around 1470. The older artwork thus sits within a building inaugurated much later. This contrast in dates offers a specific point of interest if you are interested in architecture and art history.
The church of the Evangelical parish was built in 1961. Its furnishings include a Beckerath organ and eleven stained-glass windows from the Schlierbach glass-painting workshops. The construction date and the named features add a more recent building and distinctive architectural details to the picture of Schwanenstadt’s churches.
Museums: local history and glass culture
The Schwanenstadt Local History Museum is housed in a villa from the historicist period, built on a historically significant Bavarian burial ground. Its four main themes are the Stone and Bronze Ages, the Roman period, local history, and Schwanenstadt as a centre of trade and guilds. The subjects therefore range from early periods to the development of the town; trade and guilds add local working and economic history to the historical picture.
The museum of the Schwanenstadt Glass Experience World traces the development of glass culture from its beginnings around 3000 BC to the present day. Images, texts and glass objects bring this long period to life. Unlike the Local History Museum, it focuses on one material and its cultural history, while the Local History Museum brings together different eras and the history of the town. If you are choosing between the museum themes, this is a clear distinction: broad local and regional history on the one hand, and glass culture spanning millennia on the other.
Experience glass and remember 1809
At a visit to the glassworks’ live production demonstration, you can see and experience molten glass. Check the opening times before you travel if you plan to include this activity. The focus differs from the museum’s look at the history of glass culture: the live production demonstration centres on experiencing molten glass, while the museum traces its development from around 3000 BC to the present day.
Another way to explore the town’s history is the Franzosenzaun on Traunfallgasse. It consists of twelve wooden, hand-carved and brightly painted Napoleonic soldiers and commemorates the bombardment of the town in 1809. Its number of figures, material, design and historical association give the memorial a tangible form and link it to a precisely identified event.
Two routes of different lengths
Schwanenstadt lies directly on the Roman Cycle Route. The route is 242 kilometres in total and runs from Passau through the Inn and Hausruck regions to Enns. By contrast, the Ager Riverside Trail is a 4 km circular route with two bridges for crossing from one side to the other. The distances represent two different scales: a long route between the places named and a circular route with a fixed length. To choose between them, you can first consider whether you are more interested in the course of the Roman Cycle Route or the clearly defined loop of the Ager Riverside Trail.
Discover more destinations: Timelkam, Vöcklabruck, Puchkirchen Am Trattberg, Fornach, Oberwang, Ottnang Am Hausruck, Mühlbach, Attnang.
Return to the higher-level travel overview: Vöcklabruck.
