Pliezhausen can be explored through several clearly distinct themes: heritage fruit varieties, traditional orchards, village history and a Mercury motif rooted in local tradition. When planning, you can give each aspect a different priority based on your interests, rather than trying to fit everything into a fixed itinerary. Those who put nature and landscape at the centre will find different points of interest from those interested in historical everyday life or the Mercury relief.
Heritage Fruit Varieties at the Fruit Variety Museum
The variety garden at the Pliezhausen Fruit Variety Museum preserves mainly heritage apple and pear varieties that also grow in the region. The entire collection, including the extension, comprises 257 trees. Two information boards provide details about the varieties, and the older trees also have name plaques.
This provides two ways to find your bearings: the information boards give an overview of the varieties, while the name plaques identify individual older trees. Its focus on heritage apples and pears that also grow in the region makes the variety garden a tangible starting point for anyone interested in fruit varieties and their diversity.
Village History at the Ahnenhaus
The “Ahnenhaus” village museum is located at Entenhof 17 in the centre of Pliezhausen, in a former farmhouse dating from 1570. Its permanent exhibition features a former village shop from the 1940s, a one-room school, the rare craft of chimney masonry, and a shoemaker’s and a tailor’s workshop. The exhibition thus brings together everyday provisioning and schooling with a range of crafts.
To put things in their historical context, it is worth distinguishing between the building and the exhibits: the farmhouse dates from 1570, while the former village shop is specifically from the 1940s. You can also visit a bakehouse and a farmhouse garden on the grounds.
The Mercury Relief at St Martin’s Church
A 1.30-metre-tall Mercury relief is set horizontally into the wall of St Martin’s Church in Pliezhausen. It depicts Mercury with a winged hat, a herald’s staff and a money bag, and is known locally as the “Pliezhäuser Teufelchen” (“Little Devil of Pliezhausen”). The local name probably stems from the fact that, in the 16th century, the wings on the hat were mistaken for horns. The relief thus combines a specific depiction with a local explanation for its traditional name that is explicitly uncertain.
Traditional Orchards and the Reichenbach Loop
Traditional orchards are a prominent feature of the landscape around Pliezhausen. They provide valuable habitats for many animal and plant species and serve the local population as a nearby recreational area. Pliezhausen is one of the member municipalities of Schönbuch Nature Park. The Reichenbach Loop passes through a varied landscape of forest and meadows in the southeastern part of Schönbuch near Pliezhausen. This brings different aspects of the landscape into focus: the traditional orchards around the village and the loop’s route through woodland and meadows.
Discover more destinations: Engstingen, Zwiefalten, Eningen Unter Achalm, Hayingen, Bad Urach, Mehrstetten, Lichtenstein, MĂĽnsingen
For the wider travel overview: Reutlingen.
