Discover Benshausen
Accommodation in Benshausen
Benshausen lies in the narrow valley of the Lichtenau, bordered by shady mixed forests on mountain slopes that rise to 750 metres.
Landscape and local character
The Lichtenau Valley shapes the landscape of Benshausen. Mixed forests line the mountain slopes, which rise to 750 metres. If the surrounding landscape is an important factor in choosing where to stay, this combination of a narrow valley and wooded heights is a useful point of reference.
Museums and architectural history in Benshausen
The museums focus on different aspects of local history. The Lapp Museum houses an exhibition on small businesses and agriculture in earlier times. The local history museum explores Benshausen’s past as a judicial district and as a centre for the wine trade and freight transport. Together, the topics range from agricultural and small-scale commercial work to legal history and trade. Freight transport refers specifically to the movement of goods as a historical subject in its own right.
The churches also offer specific historical reference points. The church on Benshausen’s market square was built in 1423. The lower section of the old church tower has been preserved in today’s St Thomas’s Church, dating from 1791. The construction date of the market-square church and the date of St Thomas’s Church are two distinct details of local architectural history; the preserved lower tower section links the latter to the old church tower.
A seasonal outdoor swimming pool
The “Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn” outdoor swimming pool in the Benshausen district is intended for swimming and relaxation. The town announced that the facility would open for the 2025 swimming season. If you’re planning a visit to swim, check the current seasonal opening times in advance.
More to explore in the wider destination of Zella-Mehlis
The wider destination of Zella-Mehlis offers distinct cultural, landscape and activity-focused attractions. The eXplorata hands-on centre in Zella-Mehlis covers 1,300 square metres and features more than 100 interactive, hands-on experiment stations. The emphasis is on trying things out for yourself, making it a good option for anyone interested in experiments.
For views over the town and the surrounding forests, visit Lerchenberg in Zella-Mehlis: at just under 560 metres, it offers panoramic views. The Drei-Felsen-Pfad provides a different way to experience the landscape. This 9.3-kilometre circular hiking trail is classified as difficult and leads to three rock formations with views over the Zella-Mehlis valley basin, the Thuringian Forest and as far as the Rhön. This gives you the choice of both a named viewpoint and a longer hiking route that is explicitly rated as difficult.
Zella-Mehlis also has its own cultural and architectural attractions. The BĂĽrgerhaus is an important half-timbered building showcasing Henneberg-Franconian half-timbered architecture. Exhibitions at the gallery in the BĂĽrgerhaus change regularly, featuring works by internationally, nationally and regionally renowned artists. The Zellaer Blasius Church is one of the most important centrally planned church buildings in Thuringia. Its transversely oval floor plan, hipped gable roof and tower projecting from the centre of the north wall give it its distinctive form.
The hiking and climbing options described here differ considerably: the Drei-Felsen-Pfad is described in terms of length and difficulty, while climbing routes at Heinrichsbacher Stein are graded from 3 to 9. You can choose based on the specific activities that interest you.
Discover more destinations: Schmalkalden, RoĂźdorf, Rosa, Grabfeld, KĂĽhndorf, Viernau, Oberhof, ObermaĂźfeld-Grimmenthal.
View the wider travel overview: Schmalkalden-Meiningen.
