Mühlhausen combines the historic Ludwig Canal with trails, churches and traces of local history. When planning your trip, it is worth noting the different formats: the horse-drawn Alma Viktoria travels from Mühlhausen to Pollanten and back; the horse-towing route is 6.5 kilometres in total. The woodland trail, by contrast, is an educational route to Wappersdorf. The distances therefore refer to different offerings: for the Alma Viktoria, the stated distance includes the return journey, while the woodland trail covers the route between its starting point and destination.
Horse Towing and the History of the Ludwig Canal
One of Mühlhausen’s special experiences is being towed by horse through a lock on the historic Ludwig Canal. The canal’s construction history also offers useful context: work began in 1836, and it was completed in 1845, after nine years. The Ludwig Canal and its structures are protected as historic monuments.
On the 178-kilometre-long Ludwig Canal, Lock 25 is the only lock still in operation. This means that two periods come together when exploring the canal: its 19th-century construction history and the present-day operating status of this single structure. The horse-towing route and the information about the lock are different aspects of the Ludwig Canal.
Educational Trails, the Energy Trail and Cycling Routes
The woodland trail starts at the SV Mühlhausen-Sulzbürg sports grounds and runs 1.8 kilometres to Wappersdorf. As an educational trail, it is marked with German and botanical names. This combination also makes it a learning route: the signs provide both the commonly used German names and the botanical names.
The Energy Trail connects the municipal woodland cemetery, a solar power plant, the Dürrlohspeicher reservoir and the Bachhausen-Mühlhausen landing stage. Its route passes through the scenic Upper Palatinate Jura landscape. The named stops give this trail a different focus from the woodland trail: here, several connected locations serve as points of reference.
The Ludwig Canal is also of interest to cyclists. Numerous cycle paths and cycling tours run along the canal. The well-developed cycling network also includes e-bike charging stations in Mühlhausen and Sulzbürg. Routes along the canal and the charging stations mentioned here are two separate features of the cycling offer; the charging stations are specifically located in these two places.
Churches, Museum and Art
St. Michael was built in the Baroque style between 1719 and 1723. In Sulzbürg, the Protestant castle church of St. Michael and the neighbouring Catholic Church of Maria Sieben Schmerzen form a striking landmark. Together, the two churches are part of Sulzbürg’s townscape, while the construction dates of St. Michael provide a specific historical reference.
The Landl Museum presents local historical traces up to the mid-20th century. Kunst am Klenzebau’s sculpture symposia offer a different way to engage with art: sculptures are created at symposia held every two years. The museum and the symposia have different focuses—historical artefacts on the one hand and the creation of sculptures on the other.
Understanding the Landscape
The local tourism region is known as the “Landscape of Three Waters.” The Zeugenberge hills to the west and the Albtrauf escarpment to the east serve as landscape reference points. This describes the wider landscape; the Energy Trail runs specifically through the scenic Upper Palatinate Jura landscape.
Within the broader travel destination of Neumarkt In Der Oberpfalz, the district of Neumarkt i.d.OPf. lies in the northeast of Altmühltal Nature Park and in the Bayerischer Jura landscape region. This regional context complements the local topics without attributing features of the entire district to the trails, churches or sights described in Mühlhausen.
Discover more destinations: Lupburg, Postbauer-Heng, Dietfurt An Der Altmühl, Lauterhofen, Hohenfels, Berching, Pilsach, Parsberg.
Go to the main travel overview: Neumarkt In Der Oberpfalz.
