The Engelberg Tower stands on Engelberg, which is 480.60 metres high; 123 steps lead to the viewing platform. Leonberg brings together historic townscapes, garden art and routes with very different themes. You can tailor your stay to culture, a stroll, a longer hike or a bike ride without trying to fit everything into a single day’s itinerary.
Old Town and Garden Art
Leonberg’s old town has been preserved as a cohesive historic urban ensemble, with its original layout largely intact. The old-town walk takes in 35 historic sites and can be explored independently. The historic old town includes a Gothic parish church dating from the late 13th century and a half-timbered town hall built between 1462 and 1482. In Eltingen, the late Gothic St. Michael’s Church, with its stencil-style wooden-beam ceiling, adds to the picture of historic church architecture.
Leonberg City Museum offers a different focus: it is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 2 to 5 p.m., as well as Sundays from 1 to 6 p.m. and by appointment; admission is free. As opening hours may change, check the times before your visit.
Below Leonberg Castle lies the Pomeranzen Garden, a terraced garden with four small corner towers, an ornamental fountain and individual ornamental garden plots. Flowers, along with aromatic, culinary and medicinal plants, grow in rhythmically arranged beds. The castle was rebuilt under Duke Christoph between 1560 and 1565. The garden and castle thus offer different points of interest for a visit: orderly beds and garden features on the one hand, and a clearly defined historic construction period on the other.
Routes with a Theme of Their Own
The Leonberg Path of Remembrance leads through six stops exploring the history of the lives, work and deaths of prisoners at the former camp. Its theme clearly sets it apart from an ordinary walk through historic streets. Those interested in literature and landscape can take a different perspective on the Christian Wagner Poetry Trail: eleven poetry reading stations lead through meadows and woodland around Warmbronn; the walk takes about two hours.
The LEO 41 cycling tour also has a character of its own. It follows a route of around 41 kilometres around Leonberg through a varied cultural landscape. Its approximate length makes it a distinct longer cycling option compared with the walking routes described here. The day’s itinerary can therefore include local history, remembrance, poetry in the landscape and a circular bike tour—different themes that need not be combined into a single visit plan.
The Seasons and a Wider Perspective
The Leonberg Horse Market takes place every year in February and is a festival with a 300-year tradition. In summer, Leonberg City Park and its lakeside stage provide a setting for concerts. If a concert is the reason for your trip, check the specific dates in advance. These two examples offer different seasonal highlights: the Horse Market held annually in February and the summer concert programme.
In the wider Böblingen travel region, the main route of the SCULPTOURA runs for about 65 kilometres from Waldenbuch via Weil der Stadt to Leonberg. It combines nature, art and exercise, complementing Leonberg’s shorter, clearly themed routes with a route that extends beyond the town.
Discover more destinations: Ehningen, Waldenbuch, Holzgerlingen, Gärtringen, Mötzingen, Herrenberg, Rutesheim, Merklingen.
Back to the main travel overview: Böblingen.
