Paderborn Travel Guide

Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF) is not only the world's largest computer museum but also a modern conference centre. The permanent exhibition depicts the history of information technology in a journey through time spanning five millennia, from the origins of numbers and characters right up to the 21st century. Visitors will find high-tech exhibits waiting to be tried and tested. New worlds of experience such as robotics, artificial intelligence and mobile communications demonstrate the state of the art in present-day research. In addition to the hands-on experience offered in the permanent exhibition, around 700 annual events impart media competence and intellectual orientation in the information age.

Hours: Tuesday to Friday 9am - 6pm. Saturday, Sunday 10am - 6pm.

Admission: Adults 5 €, Concessions/Children under 18 years 3 €, Family ticket 10 €.

Paderborn and Charlemagne have become inextricably linked since the large-scale Carolingian Exhibition in 1999. The Imperial Palace not only provides the visitor with a fascinating historical overview, but also charts Paderborn's place in world history. The newly rebuilt structure is based on excavated eleventh century original walls and foundations. The artifacts discovered during these excavations bear witness to Charlemagne's magnificent court, constructed in the triumphal wake of his military success in the newly-conquered Saxony. Mural fragments from the Palace's first chapel, salvaged from the rubble, date back to the eighth century. Finely engraved wine glasses and other drinking vessels recall the lavish feasts held at Charlemagne's court.

With its ceremonial chapels and ancient cellars, the Imperial Palace presents a fascinating picture of life in the first half of the eleventh century and is well worth a visit!

Hours: Tuesday - Sunday 10am - 6pm. Open one Wednesday per month 10am - 8pm.

Admission: 2.50 € Adults, 1.50 € Children.

The Adam and Eve House is one of the oldest and most beautiful half-timbered houses in Paderborn, and has been home to the City History Museum since 1977. Early historical finds, paintings, prints, documents, furniture and antiquities serve to illustrate the history of Paderborn from the first settlements right through to the rebuilding of the city after the Second World War.

The museum's artifacts chart much of the city's history. Many historical milestones are documented through the various exhibits on show including the founding of the city by Charlemagne, its attainment of city status in the middle ages, the role it played in the reformation, counter-reformation and thirty years war right through to its destruction during the last few weeks of war in 1945 and the subsequent phases of reconstruction.

Hours: Tues-Sun 10am - 6pm. Free entry.

Wewelsburg Castle was built between 1603 and1609 in Weser Renaissance style as a supplementary residence for the Prince Bishops of Paderborn. The triangular castle, which is located in the village of Wewelsburg (Büren) in the district of Paderborn, stands high on a rock overlooking the Alme Valley.

The triangular castle accommodates a youth hostel and Wewelsburg District Museum, which contains the Historical Museum of the Prince Bishopric of Paderborn. The Historical Museum presents the history of Paderborn Land from the time of the first settlement to secularisation in 1802. It also includes the contemporary history exhibition Wewelsburg 1933–1945: Cult and Terror Center of the SS as well as the exhibition Germans in Eastern Central Europe – Flight-Expulsion-Integration. Both exhibitions are located in the former guardhouse in the castle forecourt.

Hours: Tuesday - Friday 10am - 5pm. Saturday and Sunday 10am - 6pm.

Admission: Adults 3 €, Concessions and Children 1.50 €, Family ticket 6 €.

The cathedral was built in the 13th century; the existing buildings were included in the complex, affording various styles from Romanesque to Gothic. The cathedral has a vestibule measuring almost 100m in length, three aisles and two traverse buildings. The vestibule crypt is situated beneath the crossing of the centre aisle and the traverse and with a length of 32m and a width of 12m is one of the largest crypts in Germany. It houses the relics of St. Liborius, the patron Saint of Paderborn.

Of special interest are, among other sights, the Paradise Gate (prior to 1240), the Pietá (around 1380), the Gothic high altar (late 15th century), the double Madonna (around 1480), the monumental tomb of the Prince Bishop, Dietrich IV. von Fürstenberg († 1618) and a pulpit in the style of the Regency (1736). In the cloister of the cathedral one finds the famous 16th-century Three Hare Window, which depicts three jumping hares with only three ears in total, but each hare appears to have a complete pair of ears. This is one of the landmarks of Paderborn.

Hours: Daily: 10am - 6:30pm. Closed during Church Service.

The museum houses a comprehensive collection of sacral art from the 10th to the 20th century. This comprises approximately 6,000 exhibits in the exhibition rooms. An extraordinarily important exhibit is the Madonna belonging to Bishop Imad of Paderborn (1051/1058), which is one of the oldest depictions of the Madonna on the Throne in the occidental arts. The remarkable collection of sculptures comprises medieval pictures and excellent examples of Westphalian sculptures in the Baroque style, such as the 1736 festive Libori altar.

The Cathedral's treasury, in the medieval vault of the former Bishop's palace, accommodates liturgical instruments, relics and other creations of clerical treasure arts.

Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 10am - 6pm. First Wednesday of the month 10am - 8pm.

Admission: 3 € Adults, 6 € Family Card.