Dülmen combines wild horses, industrial heritage, and historic sites. This offers a varied range of options for planning your trip: you can focus on the city’s history, plan a guided tour in the Merfelder Bruch nature reserve, or explore Dülmen on a digital walking tour. A seasonal event such as the wild horse roundup adds a different dimension from the buildings that shape the city year-round.
Industrial heritage and historic sites in Dülmen
On Friedrich-Ruin-Straße stand the two listed spinning mill buildings of the former Bendix textile company. They are an important testament to Westphalian industrial heritage and give textile history in Dülmen a tangible setting. The Lüdinghauser Gate offers a different perspective on the city’s history: it is the only city gate in Dülmen to have survived the dismantling of the city walls and the demolition of the other gates.
The Kreuzkapelle chapel also tells the story of an older religious route. It marked the end of a Stations of the Cross in the countryside, laid out from 1736 to 1738. Together, these sites reveal different facets of Dülmen: its industrial heritage, former city fortifications, and the history of a Stations of the Cross in the countryside. Visitors interested in historic buildings can explore several themes rather than focusing on just one period.
Wild horses and seasonal events
The Dülmen wild horse roundup takes place every year on the last Saturday in May. Yearling stallions are separated from the herd. The set date can help you choose when to travel; check the event details in advance, as logistics may change.
On a guided tour in the Merfelder Bruch nature reserve, you can observe around 400 wild horses and learn about the herd and its habitat. This offers a different experience from the wild horse roundup: the focus is on observing the animals and learning about their habitat. The wild horse enclosure in the nature reserve is about 12 km west of the city of Dülmen. Check the current visitor information before setting out.
Explore Dülmen your own way
The digital city tour offers recommended routes, lets you put together your own itineraries, and provides information about each location via QR codes. You can follow a suggested tour or choose the stops for your own route. A guided tour around Haus Visbeck and the historic wayside shrine offers another option, led by a guide. For the public dates listed for 2026, please check before your trip which date works for you.
The options mainly differ in how you explore the sites: the digital tour gives you the freedom to put together your own route, while the guided tour around Haus Visbeck connects a specific area with the historic wayside shrine. Alongside the themes of industrial heritage and wild horses, these options offer a range of experiences you can tailor to your interests.
The wider Coesfeld travel destination
The wider Coesfeld destination adds a distinct regional perspective. The Coesfeld district is notable for its exceptionally high density of castles, fortresses, and historic aristocratic residences. Some of these sites are open to visitors or serve as event venues, museums, or excursion destinations; visitor conditions vary from one site to another.
For route planning, the Coesfeld district has a cycling network with several hundred kilometres of well-maintained paths. It connects towns, municipalities, and neighbourhoods and runs through the parkland of Münsterland. The network of numbered junctions and freely chosen sequences of numbers allows flexible route planning. Another regional route is the 30-kilometre Baumberger Ludgerusweg, which runs between Stift Tilbeck and Coesfeld. Local circular hiking trails in Coesfeld and Lette range from 4 to 20 kilometres in length.
Coesfeld’s cultural history can also be explored on its own: the Walkenbrückentor is a remnant of the city fortifications dating from the 14th century. It houses the city museum “DAS TOR,” which presents Coesfeld’s past. It is open Wednesdays from 16:00 to 19:00 and Saturdays and Sundays from 14:00 to 17:00; check the opening hours before your visit.
Discover more destinations: Nottuln, Ascheberg, Olfen, Senden, Coesfeld, Havixbeck, Nordkirchen, Billerbeck.
Return to the main travel overview: Coesfeld.
