Rorschach: Museums and Lake Constance Shore

Rorschach on Lake Constance combines an interactive museum in the historic Kornhaus with contemporary art, harbour locations, and excursions by train, boat, or e-bike. The different topics and timings can help with planning: the town walk and the tree walk do not take the same amount of time, while the specific event dates are important for the annual sand sculpture festival.

Museum and architectural history at the Kornhaus

The Museum im Kornhaus is an interactive museum covering natural history, local politics, and education. It features houses from the Stone and Bronze Ages, a bread oven, and everyday tools and equipment. The museum has more than 100 interactive and educational study stations. In the 2026 programme, experiments with optical illusions explain how the eyes and brain work; this focus may change in later seasons.

The Kornhaus itself was built between 1746 and 1749 by architect Johan Casper Bagnato from Ravensburg for the Prince-Abbey of St. Gallen. The building has been under federal protection since 1958.

Changing art exhibitions at Forum Würth

Forum Würth Rorschach is the museum area at Würth Haus Rorschach. On around 800 m², it regularly presents changing exhibitions of contemporary art. The Forum’s activities are based on the Würth Collection, which comprises more than 20,000 works. When choosing between the two venues, the main distinction is between a broadly themed interactive museum and regularly changing art exhibitions.

Harbour, lakeside park, and waterfront history

Rorschach’s harbour is part of the city’s and region’s local recreation area and is an important gathering and event venue. There is a Grand Tour of Switzerland photo spot on the lakeside promenade. The curved harbour mole was built in 1870 and clad in local sandstone.

Hermann Haller’s sculpture Die Schwebende stands in the lakeside park, which was created in 1920; the sculpture was installed in 1955. The Ice Boat also recalls Lake Constance freezing over in 1963 and the historic ice route that connected Rorschach with Nonnenhorn. The St. Gallen–Rorschach railway line was built in 1856 with a connection to the harbour.

Walks and excursions

The official town walk takes about one hour; the tree walk described in the city guide published in 2024 is the longer, stroller-friendly option, covering 3.8 km and taking 1.5 to 2 hours. An e-bike tour starts in Rorschach and follows the shore of Lake Constance through a nature reserve, past vineyards, and along the Castle Trail.

Opened in 1875, the Rorschach–Heiden railway is a cog railway connecting Rorschach with Heiden in the Appenzell region. An excursion on the mountain railway can be combined with a boat trip on Lake Constance to or from Rorschach.

Events and planning your visit

The International Sand Sculpture Festival in Rorschach takes place every year on the shore of Lake Constance. International teams of artists create monumental sand sculptures based on a specific theme. Check the exact festival dates before your trip.

The historic Badhütte was a wooden bathing facility on stilts in the lake, built in 1923 and 1924 to plans by architect Karl Köppli. It could only be reached from the shore via a bridge. A fire completely destroyed it on 23 December 2024. The city intends to rebuild it as soon as possible; check the status of the reconstruction plans before your visit.

Discover more destinations: Steinach, Mörschwil, Thal, Goldach, Rorschacherberg.

For the main travel overview: Rorschach.