Achern Travel Guide
A detailed destination guide for your next Germany vacation
Achern Overview
Achern is a city in Western Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located approximately 18 km southwest of Baden-Baden and 19 km northeast of Offenburg (Offenburg vacation rentals | Offenburg travel guide). Achern is the fourth largest city in the county of Ortenau (Ortenaukreis), after Offenburg, Lahr (Lahr vacation rentals | Lahr travel guide) / Black Forest and Kehl.
As subsequent to the district reform in the 1970s the population passed the 20,000 mark, Achern requested to be awarded the status of Große Kreisstadt. The status was granted by the State government effective January 1, 1974. Achern collaborates with the communities of Lauf, Sasbach, and Sasbachwalden (Sasbachwalden vacation rentals | Sasbachwalden travel guide) in administrative matters. Besides Achern itself, the municipality includes the boroughs of Fautenbach, Gamshurst, Großweier, Mösbach, Oberachern (Oberachern vacation rentals | Oberachern travel guide), Önsbach, Sasbachried and Wagshurst.
Where to stay in Achern?
Check out our selection of hand-selected and quality Achern vacation rentals and holiday apartments.
Things to See in Achern
Illenau Theater Achern e. V., a private theater company
The Sensen- und Heimatmuseum Achern features an original scythe manufacturing facility. Displays also show the history of cutting tools from the Bronze Age through the present. In addition there is an exhibit covering Achern's local history
The St. Nikolaus Chapel, also called "Klausenkirchel", is the symbol of the city. It was built around 1300 and features a round corner tower. The main church in the city, it is a Catholic church, built in 1824 and designed in the Weinbrenner style. Its predecessor was a Chapel of Mary, that was promoted in 1489 to Kaplanei and then again in 1535 to parish. Achern's Church "Unserer lieben Frau" in Weinbrenner-Stil
The former Grand Duchy's hospital is also a sight worth seeing. It was built in 1842 and was also the place where the first Protestant services were held in the city. A dedicated Protestant church was not built until 1909.
In the boroughs one can find the following churches: Catholic Church of Saint Bernard of Baden in Fautenbach (built in 1955 and 1956), Catholic Church of Saint Nicholas in Gamshurst (built in 1927 in neo-baroque style), Catholic Church of Großweier (built from 1901 in neo-gothic style), Catholic Church of Saint Roman in Mösbach (built in 1862, neo-gothic), Catholic Church of Saint Stefan in Oberachern (Oberachern vacation rentals | Oberachern travel guide) (built 1903 through 1905 in a mix of neo-classical, late gothic and baroque styles), Pilgrims Chapel of Saint St. Antonius in Oberachern (built in 1763 and 1764), Catholic Church of Saint Joseph (built in 1808, but Joseph's Chapel existed as early as 1686), Catholic Church of Saint John the Baptist (built in 1899 in neoroman style, but there is evidence that a chapel exited already shortly after the Thirty Years' War).
The Stadtfest takes place every other year during the second weekend in July
The Achern City Soccer Championship is an annual event where the boroughs compete for the title of City Champion.
[ source: wikipedia ]
Maps and Driving Directions to Achern
Kirsch Achern
[ source: Wikipedia]
Related Sites
We collected some useful links related to Achern. If you know a few more sites not listed here, or also know some insider tips or point of interests for this destination? Please share and submit your Germany travel tip. If approved it will be shown on this page!
- Homepage of Achern: Achern (official home page)
- Wikipedia: Achern
More about the History of Achern
Achern was first mentioned in 1095 as Acchara and developed later into Oberachern (Oberachern vacation rentals | Oberachern travel guide) and Niederachern. Eventually, Niederachern was referred to only as Achern. During the High Middle Ages the town became part of the German Reich, courtesy of the Staufenberger and Zähringer families, and was included in the Landsvogtei of Ortenau. In 1334, together with Ortenau Achern became part of Baden, in 1351 it went to Strasbourg, in 1405 to the Palatinate, and in 1504 to Fürstenberg. In 1551 the town became part of Further Austria and part of the Reichlandsvogtei Ortenau. In 1495 and then again in 1637 Achern burned to the ground and was uninhabited for several years thereafter.
In 1805 Achern again became part of what was then the Grand Duchy of Baden and was made a district court seat. In 1808 it was awarded City status. In 1924 the district of Achern was dissolved and became part of the district of Bühl (Bühl vacation rentals | Bühl travel guide) which was awarded County status in 1939. After World War II, Bühl County was part of the State of Baden and from 1952 part of the Regierungsbezirk of South Baden. Pursuant to the district reform Bühl County was dissolved, effective January 1, 1973. Its southern part — and with it the city of Achern — was made part of the newly created Ortenaukreis.
[ source: wikipedia ]
What makes this Live Like a German Achern Travel Guide special...
This Achern travel guide provides you with an overview of Achern, Achern pictures, and a local travel guide that suggests many special trips, unique activities, and vacation ideas, that you can't find in a typical Germany travel guide.
Some of this information is compiled from popular and well-known sources (e.g., such as Wikipedia, Wikitravel, and great pictures from Flickr). However, what makes this Germany travel guide special is that most of the travel suggestions and insider tips are provided by local residents, property owners, and our readers, who share and submit their travel tips with us. All submissions are then editorially reviewed to ensure high quality. All this information is logically organized within this destination guide to make it easy for you to find things quickly.
In addition, the Achern destination guide features restaurant recommendations, restaurant reviews, where to go for grocery shopping, sports activities, getting around, cultural events and highlights, entertainment, and health related information - so you are informed for your travel to Germany, and you can learn about all the cool things you can do during your Germany vacation!
