Lemgo combines a historic old town with green spaces and places to stay active. If you’re looking for a hotel in Lemgo, you can plan your stay around what interests you most: local history, Kläschen or time outdoors. The town hall and churches, memorial and museum, as well as Auenpark and the town forest, offer a range of places to explore.
The ramparts, town hall and churches
The ramparts run around the town centre, forming a green belt around the historic old town as the site of the former town fortifications. The historic town hall, dating from the 14th century, stands in the market square. It still serves its original municipal function today—a building whose history is therefore linked to an ongoing role in the town.
St. Nicolai stands directly behind the town hall. Its two distinctive towers make the church a landmark of Lemgo. The town hall and church are thus two closely situated but distinct points of reference: here, the town hall, still used for municipal purposes today; there, the striking church. St. Marien adds another ecclesiastical landmark. The medieval church is in the centre of Lemgo, on Stiftstraße.
Memorial and museum
The Frenkel House Memorial offers a different perspective on history. Its small permanent exhibition tells the story of the Jewish Frenkel family in their former home and place of business. Its focus on a specific family and their former home sets this visit apart from exploring the public buildings in the town centre.
The Hexenbürgermeisterhaus houses the Lemgo Municipal Museum. If you’d like to plan a museum visit alongside the churches and memorial, this is another named place to explore Lemgo’s culture. You can take the different areas of interest into account when planning your stay without committing to a set itinerary.
Auenpark and the town forest
For nature and activity, Auenpark in the south of Lemgo offers a different side of the town. It lies along the Bega and stretches from Langenbrücker Tor to Regenstorplatz. The park offers nature experiences and play opportunities for children; there is also a parkour and bouldering facility at Erlentreff. The park therefore has places both for play and for active pursuits.
Lemgo’s town forest has an operating area of about 1,200 hectares and can be explored on foot, by jogging or by bicycle. These three activities offer different ways to spend time outdoors. Together with Auenpark, this gives you a choice between the park’s specific facilities and activities in the town forest, alongside the historic and cultural places to visit.
Kläschen and its history
If you visit Lemgo around St. Nicholas Day, you can plan to attend Kläschen, a recurring event. From Thursday through the Sunday when shops are open, fairground rides and numerous stalls in the town centre and on Kastanienwall offer opportunities to stroll, eat, drink and celebrate. The specific days and locations give the festival a different character from a visit focused mainly on churches, the museum or nature.
Kläschen has its origins in the Nikolaimarkt, considered the town’s oldest fair and closely associated with the construction of St. Nicolai. The festival today and its history thus bring together two different connections to the town: a recurring event around St. Nicholas Day and a historic link to the church. If Kläschen is important to your stay, it’s worth checking the specific event dates before travelling.
Hiking in the wider Lippe destination
The wider Lippe destination also provides a regional setting for hiking: the Lippe hiking network covers around 2,000 kilometres. It includes part of European long-distance path E1; the award-winning Hermannshöhen and Hansaweg trails are also part of the network. If you’re planning a route in Lippe, check trail conditions before setting out. In Lemgo itself, the town forest and Auenpark offer the opportunities for outdoor activity described above.
Discover more destinations: Extertal, Hörstmar, Oerlinghausen, Horn-Bad Meinberg, Schlangen, Detmold, Bad Salzuflen, Dörentrup
Back to the wider travel overview: Lippe.
