Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz offers different ways to explore local history and culture: the museum takes you from the Neolithic period to local history, while theater, concerts and events add further cultural highlights. Tobacco cultivation can also be discovered here from various perspectives. The following highlights help you choose between a museum visit, a stage performance and themed routes.
Neolithic traces and local history at the museum
The permanent exhibitions at the Herxheim Museum cover more than 400 square meters and focus on the Neolithic period and local history. The Neolithic exhibition centers on Linear Pottery culture and a settlement that existed here from around 5300 to 4950 BC. It also explores the settlement’s unusual destruction ritual. The local history exhibition broadens the picture with specific topics from everyday life and work: tobacco cultivation, weaving and architectural history.
Changing archaeological and cultural history exhibitions complement the permanent displays. Guided tours, workshops and regular activity days are also part of the museum’s program. As the content of temporary exhibitions may change, check what is currently on display before your visit. All exhibition areas are accessible to wheelchair users; check this information again before you travel.
Church architecture, theater and events
The Church of the Assumption of St. Mary (St. Maria Himmelfahrt) reflects several phases of construction: its fully preserved late Gothic choir dates from 1507, and the nave was enlarged in 1776/77. The tower reaches 56 meters, topped by a pointed Gothic spire. A bronze sculpture created in Herxheim in 1995 commemorates Hugo Ball, one of the co-founders of Dadaism.
Chawwerusch is a professional theater collective with its own modern venue in Herxheim. The ensemble presents three to five new productions each year; the frequency of performances may change. If you are planning a theater visit, check the current program. Villa Wieser also regularly contributes to local cultural life, hosting concerts, exhibitions and readings. The publicly accessible Villa Wieser Park provides space for outdoor events, theater performances and readings.
Tobacco culture and cycling routes
Several named routes pass directly through Herxheim. These include the Kraut und RĂĽben cycle route, the SĂĽdpfalz cycle route, the Klingbach cycle route, the Tobacco Tour and the southern route of the Palatinate Way of St. James. As the route network may change, check the route before setting out.
The Tobacco Tour passes through Herxheim and Hayna, past tobacco fields and traditional drying sheds. It is a circular route that can be ridden in either direction; the appearance of the fields varies by season. Tobacco cultivation is therefore part of two different experiences: as a topic in the museum’s local history exhibition and as a landscape feature along the route. Traditional tobacco sheds are also among Herxheim’s visitor attractions.
Further afield and in the Southern Wine Route
In the wider Herxheim area, vineyards and well-developed cycling and walking paths offer ways to explore the landscape. Across the wider Southern Wine Route destination, there are also other themed trails to choose from. The TrifelsErlebnisWeg is 3.6 kilometers long, rated easy and includes 18 play and learning stations. The 6.1-kilometer Keschde-Erlebnisweg is a circular route around the Föhrlenberg suitable for strollers and dedicated to the Palatinate sweet chestnut. These regional routes differ both in length and in what they focus on.
Discover more destinations: Knöringen, Dörrenbach, Barbelroth, Hochstadt, Bad Bergzabern, Völkersweiler, Flemlingen, Dernbach
See the overview of the wider destination: Southern Wine Route.
