The technical tour of the Neunkirchen Ironworks Trail includes climbing a blast furnace more than 23 metres high. The tour explores the work processes at the Neunkirchen Ironworks. This is the starting point for a journey of discovery that leads from industrial history to historic townscapes, museums and paths through the countryside.
Industrial Heritage from Different Perspectives
The Neunkirchen Ironworks Trail is a circular route of around two kilometres through the historic Old Ironworks Site. Along the way, past blast furnaces and hot-blast stoves, visitors can explore the area’s industrial past. The technical tour focuses on something different: it explains the work processes at the ironworks and includes climbing a blast furnace more than 23 metres high. As visitor arrangements may change, it is advisable to check the tour conditions before your visit.
Three mining trails in Schiffweiler explore the municipality’s industrial heritage and its effects on people and landscapes. This offers a different perspective from the Ironworks Trail: here, the consequences of mining take centre stage. In Schiffweiler, GONDWANA – The Prehistoric Museum also explores the history of the planet and life. Its exhibits feature modern animation and audiovisual technology. Together, these places show how differently history can be discovered through work processes, landscapes and engaging interpretation.
Town History and Everyday Culture
Ottweiler’s old town has a medieval layout and impressive Renaissance and Baroque buildings. The Bakery Museum explores the history of traditional crafts: spread over two floors, it displays more than 30 machines and around 1,000 exhibits from different periods in the baking trade. The Saarland School Museum, by contrast, focuses on school life in the past. Classrooms furnished to look just as they did at the time bring everyday school life to life; these include a classroom from 1910 to 1950 and a 19th-century teaching room. The two museums thus offer different ways to explore the crafts and everyday life of earlier times.
Another hands-on tradition awaits you at the Steinbach Local History Museum, where visitors can make butter using traditional methods. Butter-making sessions must be arranged in advance. Steinbach is situated in the Ostertal valley, on the edge of the Saar-HunsrĂĽck Nature Park and in the Neunkirchen district. Numerous hiking trails through the surrounding countryside also lead to Steinbach.
The Ostertal Railway also connects history with a specific route: the tourist heritage train runs for 21 kilometres between Ottweiler’s historic old town and Schwarzerden. Restored locomotives and carriages bring the railway history of the 1950s and 1960s to life. The railway adds a look at the history of rail travel to a visit to the museums.
Views, Trails and Gardens
Built in 2013, the Betzelhübel panoramic tower offers far-reaching views across much of Saarland, neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate and Ottweiler’s historic old town. At the Reden Experience Site, the spoil tip takes centre stage: it is 90 metres high, offers views across the region and invites visitors to go hiking. A four-kilometre leisure and skating trail runs around the tip. The trails differ not only in length, but also in whether the focus is on the landscape views or on movement along the route.
The Saarengeti offers a circular route of around five kilometres, as well as varied hiking and cycling trails. The outdoor area at the Finkenrech Leisure Centre features themed gardens, ideal for relaxing walks and other outdoor activities. Groups can book tailored activities for children and adults, combining learning, fun and nature. An events programme complements the offering with musical picnics, the “Spring and Autumn at Finkenrech” festivals and workshops.
If you are interested in traces of the past in a natural setting, explore the educational trail in the Kasbruch Nature Reserve: it passes Neunkirchen’s oldest Celtic settlement traces, a sacrificial stone and the Roman staircase. Here, archaeological evidence along a historic educational trail takes centre stage, while Betzelhübel is primarily about the views. When choosing what to discover, you can use these differences as a guide: industrial working life, town and everyday history, or landscapes and trails.
Discover more destinations: Neunkirchen, Illingen, Eppelborn, Merchweiler, Schiffweiler, Ottweiler, Saarlouis, SaarbrĂĽcken Regional Association.
For the main travel overview: Saarland.
