In Benshausen, two themes come together to give your travel plans a clear direction: the landscape of the narrow Lichtenau Valley and the local history presented by the church and museums. You can therefore plan your stay around whether you are most interested in the scenery, historic buildings and local history, or a seasonal visit to the outdoor swimming pool.
Landscape in the Lichtenau Valley
Benshausen lies in the narrow Lichtenau Valley. Shady mixed forests line the mountain slopes around the town, which rise to heights of up to 750 meters. Both the valley and the wooded ridges are therefore part of the landscape described here. The elevation gives this terrain a concrete measure, without implying a particular hiking route. If you like to orient your trip around a landscape, you will find a clear local focus here.
Church and local history
The church on Benshausen’s market square was built in 1423. Another architectural landmark is today’s St. Thomas Church, dating from 1791, which preserves the lower section of the old church tower. These details therefore point to two historic dates and an architectural connection through the preserved lower part of the tower.
The museums offer different perspectives, too. The Lapp Museum in Benshausen has an exhibition on small businesses and agriculture in earlier times. The Benshausen Local History Museum presents the district’s historical significance as a Centgericht (a local court) and as a center of wine trading and freight transport. Together, these subjects cover both former areas of work and economic activity and distinctive chapters in local history. In choosing how to explore the past, you can take different approaches through the church architecture and the museum exhibits.
Seasonal swimming
Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn outdoor swimming pool is in the Benshausen district and is intended for swimming and relaxing. The town announced the facility for the 2025 swimming season. If you are planning a visit, please check whether it is currently open for the season before setting out.
More to explore in the wider destination of Zella-Mehlis
The wider destination of Zella-Mehlis has its own landscape, culture, and activity highlights. The eXplorata interactive world in Zella-Mehlis covers 1,300 square meters and has more than 100 hands-on experiment stations. If you are interested in an interactive approach to experiments, you will find a very different focus there from Benshausen’s local history themes.
The landscape highlights are also located separately in Zella-Mehlis. From Lerchenberg, at just under 560 meters, you can enjoy panoramic views across the town and the vast surrounding forests. The Three Rocks Trail circular hike is 9.3 kilometers long and rated difficult. It leads to three rock formations with views across the Zella-Mehlis basin, the Thuringian Forest, and as far as the Rhön. The trail’s length and difficulty rating provide concrete guidance for planning a hike, while the views add a sense of the landscape along the route.
Other cultural highlights in Zella-Mehlis include the community center and its gallery. The community center is an important half-timbered building showcasing Henneberg-Franconian half-timbered architecture; its gallery hosts changing exhibitions by internationally, nationally, and regionally renowned artists. The Zella Blasius Church, in turn, is one of Thuringia’s most important centralized church buildings, thanks to its transversely oval floor plan, hipped gable roof, and tower projecting from the center of the north wall. If you are interested in architecture, you can distinguish between two different highlights in the wider destination: half-timbered architecture and changing gallery exhibitions on the one hand, and a striking church building on the other.
Climbing is another activity in Zella-Mehlis: at Heinrichsbacher Stein, climbing routes range from grades 3 to 9. Alongside the difficult-rated Three Rocks Trail, this offers a concrete comparison between two different types of activity without combining them into a single route.
Discover more destinations: Meiningen, Rohr / Thuringia, Oberschönau, Birx, Schwarza, Wasungen, Wernshausen, Zella-Mehlis.
View the wider travel overview: Schmalkalden-Meiningen.
