In Bischwiller, art and the history of the textile industry sit alongside literary trails and nature. The Maison des Arts and the Musée de la Laub offer different cultural perspectives; walking routes explore the town’s history, while other trails focus on the writing of Alsatian authors or the wetlands of the Ried. To plan your stay, you can first decide whether museums, local history or nature matter most to you.
Art and the town’s textile history
The Maison des Arts regularly presents permanent collections of painting, engraving, drawing, marquetry and sculpture. The range extends from painting and drawing to engraving, marquetry and three-dimensional works. This 17th-century Alsatian house was home and workplace to two generations of local artists. Today, the museum preserves and presents the town’s historical and artistic heritage.
Guided group visits are offered throughout the year, but only by prior reservation and for groups of at least ten people. If you are planning this type of visit, check the reservation requirements before your trip.
The Musée de la Laub is in the centre of Bischwiller, in the former 17th-century Maison Commune. It is largely devoted to the town’s textile industrial heritage, exploring textile fibre processing, Bischwiller’s major factories and workers’ lives. Together, the two museums offer different perspectives on local heritage: art and artists’ lives on the one hand, and textile production and work on the other.
Local history and literary trails
The “Redécouvrez Bischwiller” Circuit is an approximately 3 km urban walking route with 24 stops exploring the town’s history. Suitable for all ages, it passes through an urban setting with green sections. By contrast, the Circuit Claude Vigée focuses on places the poet regularly visited during his childhood and youth, and later in his literary life. These offer two different ways to encounter history: a series of stops exploring the town and a walk tracing a particular biography.
The Sentier des Poètes, known as Dìchterwaj in Alsatian, highlights the regional language, Alsatian literature and Bischwiller’s natural surroundings. The Dìchterwaj passes through green landscapes; information panels feature texts by Alsatian authors associated with Bischwiller’s history and identity. The panel content may be updated. For those interested in both literature and landscapes, the trail brings these two themes together.
The Ried plain, woodland and bodies of water
The Sentier de la Gravière is a 7.5 km walking trail starting in Hanhoffen. It passes through wooded landscapes with several bodies of water that serve as large watering places for birds. It is worth checking the latest practical access details before your trip.
The Sentier du Ried runs through the wet Ried plain. Grey cranes, wild geese and deer can be spotted there; sightings vary by season and are not guaranteed. This trail offers a different nature experience from the woodland and bodies of water along the Gravière.
The Sentier du Bollachgraben is a 5.5 km walking route. It leads to an attractively designed vegetable-growing area and then on to the edge of Gries Forest. There is also a small animal park along the route; check its condition before your visit.
The stated distances make the Gravière, at 7.5 km, the longer of the two trails, and the Bollachgraben, at 5.5 km, the shorter. Their landscapes also differ: one focuses on woodland and bodies of water, the other on a vegetable-growing area and the edge of the forest. You can consider both the distance and the trail’s particular focus when choosing.
Discover more destinations: Grandfontaine, Oberschaeffolsheim, Mundolsheim, Roppenheim, Valff, HĹ“rdt, Plobsheim, Hochfelden.
For the regional travel overview: Bas-Rhin.
