Discover Embrach

Embrach is a municipality in the lower Töss Valley, in the district of Bülach in the canton of Zurich. You can tailor your travel plans to suit different interests: the more than 800-year-old Haumüli, the 17.5-kilometre Blauen circular trail, church and local history, or nature. Consider whether a guided tour, a longer hike, historic architecture or a nature reserve should shape your stay.

Haumüli: visits and access

Haumüli has been in existence for more than 800 years. A guided tour includes the exhibition, the rooms in the residential house that are accessible during the tour, the sawmill, the mill and the farm building. The visit takes you through several parts of this historic site. Tours are available by reservation; check the current arrangements before your visit.

The sawmill and mill are in operation on open days; check the dates before travelling. A hiking trail leads from Embrach-Rorbas railway station to Haumüli in about five minutes on foot. These are two separate considerations for planning: the approximate walking time from the station and the reservation-only guided tour. Also check public transport timetables, as they may change.

Blauen circular trail: distance and history along the route

The Blauen circular trail starts at the historic collegiate site in Embrach, by the Reformed church, and is 17.5 kilometres long. Most of it follows the hiking trail network. Compared with the roughly five-minute walk from Embrach-Rorbas railway station to Haumüli, the trail’s length calls for a different scale of planning: allow for it as a hike in its own right. Each village along the route has an information board about its history and the trail, with information about past events and the route ahead. Additional explanations are available for Lufingen and Embrach.

Church and local history

The earliest traces of Embrach’s history date back to the Bronze Age; the earliest known documentary mention is from 1044. The former collegiate chapter of St Peter performed administrative functions for the Habsburg district of Embrach. It was probably a collegiate chapter of the Augustinian order. The chapter was dissolved during the Reformation in 1524.

The former Gothic collegiate church collapsed in 1778. The present early Neoclassical transverse oval church was consecrated in 1780; Zurich master builder David Vogel was commissioned to construct it. Crafts and transport are also part of the town’s history: the local pottery and ceramics trade developed into a major industry. The textile industry included silk throwing as well as numerous weaving mills and spinning mills; Spirella is considered a successor to this tradition that still exists today. The Winterthur–Embrach–Bülach–Koblenz railway line opened in 1876. Its infrastructure included a tunnel through the Dättenberg and a railway bridge near the Wildbach, close to Haumüli.

Au area and Töss floodplains

The former Au hunting and shooting range in Embrach is located in a nationally protected floodplain. Most of the site is protected, reserved for nature and not open to free access. The Au area provides a habitat for particularly endangered species such as orchids, dragonflies and amphibians. A path runs close to the Töss and offers views of the Töss floodplains.

Chlostergumpen is a nature reserve of supra-municipal importance and serves as a water reservoir for the former Zinggeler silk-throwing mill. Here, nature conservation meets a connection to the former textile industry.

Discover more destinations: Rafz, Eglisau, Wallisellen, Opfikon, Rorbas, Lufingen, Zweidlen, Bülach.

Back to the main travel overview: Bülach.