Vreden combines church art and unusual museums with river and moorland landscapes. The options range from the paper-cutting museum right on the market square to historic churches and nature experiences west of the town. This lets you explore culture and landscape as different highlights of your trip, without having to focus on just one theme.
Art, churches and museums
The paper-cutting museum is Germany’s first museum of its kind and is housed in a listed building on the market square. Its permanent exhibition traces the history of paper cutting from around 1700 to the present day. This broad historical span makes the museum a distinctive cultural attraction in Vreden; St. George’s Church offers a different perspective. Its Antwerp altarpiece is about 4.60 metres high, was restored in 1979/89, and is considered the church’s most important attraction.
The collegiate church of St. Felicitas and the Church of St. Francis in Zwillbrock also offer their own points of interest. The oldest part of the collegiate church of St. Felicitas is a remarkable crypt with pillars and columns decorated in different ways. In St. Francis, the original interior furnishings are among the best preserved in Westphalia. Vreden therefore brings together a significant furnishing, a crypt and a well-preserved church interior—three different perspectives on local church art.
Other collections cover very different subjects. The Miniature Shoe Museum houses the world’s largest collection of miniature shoes. At the museum farmstead in Vreden town park, an open-air museum with agricultural buildings offers a glimpse into this aspect of everyday life. The centrepiece of the site is the Früchting farmhouse, which came from Ellewick and was relocated here in 1969. At the Noldes Local History Museum in Vreden-Ammeloe, you can learn about the history and culture of the house and discover historic tools and agricultural equipment.
The Berkel, the Venn and walking routes
There are different ways to explore the outdoors, too. Nature Tour 1 starts and ends in Vreden and is around 30.5 kilometres long. It passes through open meadows and small woods, and alongside typical farmsteads that shape the region’s landscape. The Berkel flows through Coesfeld, Gescher, Stadtlohn and Vreden before reaching the Netherlands. Its stretch between Stadtlohn and Vreden has retained its natural course; steep banks, sandbanks and scour holes shape the river landscape there.
The Zwillbrocker Venn lies west of Vreden and can be explored on a guided walk or independently. The visitor centre at the Zwillbrock Biological Station features an interactive exhibition offering insights into moorland, heath, woodland and grassland. The site thus offers two different ways to discover the landscape: exploring the Venn and learning about the habitats found there.
Another option is Berkelsee, about two kilometres from Vreden town centre. The six-hectare lake is fringed by trees and shrubs and can be circled on a path. Nature Tour 1 is around 30.5 kilometres long. You can choose between a tour through the countryside and a walk around the lake.
Beyond Vreden: the destination of Borken
The wider destination of Borken brings the broader context of the district into view. The district is in North Rhine-Westphalia, within the Münster administrative district and north of the Ruhr region; it is the westernmost district of Münsterland. More than 5,000 kilometres of well-developed cycle paths away from busy roads invite you to explore. Themed cycling routes in Borken district and Münsterland include the 100 Castles Route, the Hohe Mark Cycle Route and the Flamingo Route. It is also documented that the 100 Castles Route, the European Cycle Route R1 and the Flamingo Route meet in Vreden. Borken district shares 108 kilometres of border with the Dutch regions of Achterhoek and Twente, making cross-border excursions possible. These regional options complement Vreden’s specific cultural and nature attractions with a broader travel horizon.
Go to the wider travel overview: Borken.
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