Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz

Herxheim bei Landau/Pfalz combines archaeological and local history with theater, church architecture, and cycling routes. When deciding what to visit, you can choose between a museum visit, an events program, and a themed cycling tour. The history of tobacco cultivation is a particularly distinctive theme: it features both in the museum’s local history exhibits and along the Tobacco Tour. Check dates and route details to suit your travel dates.

Cultural History at the Herxheim Museum

The Herxheim Museum dedicates more than 400 square meters of permanent exhibition space to the Neolithic period and local history. Changing archaeological and cultural history exhibitions complement the permanent displays. The exhibition on Linear Pottery culture covers a Neolithic settlement that existed here from around 5300 to 4950 BC, including its unusual destruction ritual. The local history exhibits cover tobacco cultivation, weaving, and architectural history. Guided tours, workshops, and regular activity days complement the exhibitions.

All exhibition areas are accessible to wheelchair users. Check the accessibility information again before your trip.

Theater and Events

Concerts, exhibitions, and readings are regularly held at the centrally located Villa Wieser. The publicly accessible Villa Wieser Park provides a setting for open-air events, theater performances, and readings. The town’s events calendar therefore offers a range of formats, from exhibitions and concerts to outdoor performances.

Chawwerusch is a professional theater collective with its own modern venue in Herxheim. It presents three to five new productions each year. If you would like to include a performance in your travel plans, check the current program and dates.

Church Architecture and Hugo Ball

The Parish Church of the Assumption of St. Mary reflects different phases of construction: its fully preserved late Gothic choir dates from 1507, while the nave was enlarged in 1776/77. The tower reaches a height of 56 meters, with its pointed Gothic spire. A 1995 bronze sculpture in Herxheim commemorates Hugo Ball, a co-founder of Dadaism. The church offers insight into architectural history, while the sculpture adds a distinctive note to the cultural history of the 20th century.

Cycling Routes and Tobacco History

Several named cycling routes pass directly through Herxheim. These include the Kraut und Rüben Cycle Route, the Südpfalz Cycle Route, the Klingbach Cycle Route, the Tobacco Tour, and the southern section of the Palatinate Way of St. James. The Tobacco Tour passes through Herxheim and Hayna, alongside tobacco fields and traditional drying sheds. As a circular route, it can be cycled in either direction. The appearance of the tobacco fields varies by season; traditional tobacco sheds are also among Herxheim’s attractions.

The museum and route therefore explore a related theme from different perspectives: tobacco cultivation is part of local history at the museum, while fields and drying sheds shape the scenery along the Tobacco Tour. As route details can change, check the route before planning a cycling trip.

More to Explore in the Southern Wine Route

The wider Southern Wine Route destination offers additional experiences. The “Cycling in the Southern Palatinate” cycling map includes 27 signposted cycle routes and circular tours, from the Rhine across the Southern Wine Route to the Palatinate Forest. Landeck Castle has a 25-meter-high viewing platform with weather-dependent views across the Vorderpfalz toward the Odenwald and Black Forest.

Discover more destinations: Dernbach, Vorderweidenthal, Ramberg, Sankt Martin, Gossersweiler-Stein, Annweiler am Trifels, Gleiszellen-Gleishorbach, Flemlingen

Back to the regional travel overview: Southern Wine Route.