Hirschhorn (Neckar) Travel Guide
A detailed destination guide for your next Germany vacation
Hirschhorn (Neckar) Overview
Hirschhorn is situated at a horseshoe bend of the River Neckar, roughly 19 km east of Heidelberg (Heidelberg vacation rentals | Heidelberg travel guide). The Neckar has dug its way through the wooded hills of the Odenwald here. Hirschhorn stretches along the right bank of the Neckar, i.e. north of the river. Ersheim, Hirschhorn's oldest part, has the distinction, however, of being the only bit of Hesse south of the Neckar. In Hirschhorn, two northern tributaries, the Ulfenbach and the Finkenbach, join to become the Laxbach before flowing into the Neckar.
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Things to See in Hirschhorn (Neckar)
The mediaeval Burg Hirschhorn (castle) stretches over the mountain ridge above the small town. In the walled castle defended by towers are a keep, a great hall, a stable and several gate and estate buildings.
Below the castle is found the former Carmelite Monastery Church of the Annunciation, consecrated in 1406, with the St.-Anna-Kapelle (chapel) from 1513. The church is rich in mediaeval epitaphs of the Lords of Hirschhorn and boasts a Gothic sandstone rood screen. To the church’s right, the former monastery building is preserved.
The Pfarrkirche zur Unbefleckten Empfängnis Maria (“Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception”) was built between 1628 and 1630 as a Lutheran church. In the course of the Counterreformation, it was closed in 1636 and in 1730 and 1731 converted into a Catholic church. The church uses as a steeple the considerably older gate tower of the former Mitteltor (“Middle Gate”) from 1392. Other remains of the town wall are preserved, among them the Osttor (“East Gate”), which was still used until 1830.
The town’s third church is the Evangelische Kirche (“Evangelical Church”) at the end of Grabengasse, consecrated in 1892.
Perched on a peak in the outlying centre of Ersheim, over on the other side of the Neckar is the Ersheimer Kapelle (chapel) which was mentioned in 773 in the Lorsch (Lorsch vacation rentals | Lorsch travel guide) codex, and is said to be the Neckar valley’s oldest church building.
Old timber-frame houses in the Old Town.
Lock on the Neckar with bridge function
The Langbeinmuseum houses innkeeper Carl Langbein’s (1816-1881) collection of “natural and ancient” exhibits on Alleestraße at the corner of Grabengasse in the Haus des Gastes, the former forestry office building. Here is also found a small tourist information centre, where guided tours of the town and castle begin Saturdays between May and September.
[ source: wikipedia ]
Maps and Driving Directions to Hirschhorn (Neckar)
Hirschhorn lies on the Neckartalbahn (Heidelberg–Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld), which since 2003 has been served half-hourly by the RheinNeckar S-Bahn. Near Hirschhorn, Bundesstraße 37 takes a shortcut over two bridges and through a tunnel, avoiding the biggest oxbow on the Neckar. The western bridge runs in a curve across the river. Neckar lock Since 1933, there has been a weir on the Neckar at Hirschhorn with a lock. The structure also serves as a bridge over the Neckar over which parts of town on the south bank and the “Little Odenwald” can be reached. These parts of town only came into being after the lock was built.
Hirschhorn from the hill
[ source: Wikipedia]
Related Sites
We collected some useful links related to Hirschhorn (Neckar). 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 Hirschhorn (Neckar): Hirschhorn (Neckar) (official home page)
- Wikipedia: Hirschhorn (Neckar)
More about the History of Hirschhorn (Neckar)
Hirschhorn, now the main centre lying on the other side of the Neckar southwest of Ersheim, gets its name from the charge in the coat of arms borne by the Lords of Hirschhorn, who built Hirschhorn Castle (Burg Hirschhorn) about 1200 on what was originally land held in fief from the Lorsch (Lorsch vacation rentals | Lorsch travel guide) Abbey. The fief’s chief lordship passed with the dissolution of the Imperial Abbey at Lorsch in1232 to the Archbishopric of Mainz (Mainz vacation rentals | Mainz travel guide).
In 1803, Hirschhorn passed to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, and the monastery was once again dissolved. From 1821 to 1832, Hirschhorn was the seat of its own district council (Landrat) before passing to Heppenheim district, and for four years beginning in 1848 to Erbach district. In 1849 came warfare between the Hanauer Turnerwehr, Baden Freischärler (militiamen of a kind) and Federal troops in and around the town in connection with the Revolution in Baden. In 1852, Hirschhorn passed to Lindenfels (Lindenfels vacation rentals | Lindenfels travel guide) district and in 1856 back to Heppenheim district, which later became Bergstraße district.
After the Second World War ended, many evacuees and those driven out of the lost territories, mainly from the Sudetenland, were assigned to the town. By late 1946, there were about 400 evacuees and 415 refugees. The lack of room in the historical town meant that, especially in Ersheim, a great deal of building land would have to be opened up. By 1982, just under 1,000 dwellings had been built, and this former ghost village’s population nowadays exceeds the Old Town’s. In 1960, Hirschhorn was named an open-air resort (Luftkurort). The school expansion was finished in 1970. In 1972, the community of Langenthal became a constituent community of Hirschhorn. In 1976 came the beginning of work on the “Bridge-Tunnel-Bridge” project, which was finished in 1982, leading traffic on Bundesstraße 37 over a bypass away from town. In 1980 a sewage treatment plant was built, and in 1983 the sport hall on Jahnstraße was dedicated. The 100-year flood on the Neckar in 1993 left behind it much destruction.
[ source: wikipedia ]
What makes this Live Like a German Hirschhorn (Neckar) Travel Guide special...
This Hirschhorn (Neckar) travel guide provides you with an overview of Hirschhorn (Neckar), Hirschhorn (Neckar) 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.
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