Gold-beating, church art and trails close to the city give you different ways to plan a stay in Schwabach. Depending on your interests, you can focus on crafts and museums, historic sites or an outing in the countryside.

Gold leaf and the gold-beating craft

The Goldbox is at the heart of the permanent exhibition on Schwabach’s internationally significant craft and industrial history. The exhibition focuses on gold-beating. The Goldbox houses a demonstration theatre with a historic gold-beater’s workshop.

Behind a shop window, the gold-beater’s demonstration workshop shows the steps involved in turning a gold bar into wafer-thin gold leaf, including cutting and packaging. It is near Schwabach’s market square and pedestrian zone.

For over 20 years, Schwabach’s Goldbeater’s Night has been celebrated every two years as a “golden festival.” On special occasions, a master gold-beater actually beats gold in the demonstration workshop, for example during the citizens’ festival, the church fair or the Christmas market. If you are planning your trip around a demonstration, check the dates for your travel year.

Museums and Jewish history

The Schwabach City Museum displays a collection of natural history and ethnographic eggs that is unique in Europe. For children, it offers the 60-minute tour “From Gold to Gold Leaf” for groups of no more than 25, by appointment. Check before your trip whether a time slot is available.

The Franconian Jewish Museum in Schwabach places the historic building itself at the centre of the exhibition. Exhibition sections, animated films and listening stations explore the history of the building and its residents, Jewish life in Schwabach and the festival of Sukkot. A free app provides a self-guided tour of Synagogengasse and Schwabach’s former Jewish centre.

Church art and historic sites

The Protestant Church of St. John and St. Martin is one of Schwabach’s landmarks. It preserves mostly original works of art from the time it was built in the 15th century. The church houses a magnificent high altar from the workshop of Michael Wolgemut, one of the largest double-sided, walk-around altars of the Late Gothic period in Bavaria.

The Mönchshof is Schwabach’s largest historic farmstead and has been known as Mönchshof since 1195.

Nature trails and landscapes in Schwabach

The Schwabach Nature Walk, close to the city, is a route with 14 information boards, seating and children’s playgrounds. The Schwabach educational trail runs across the Wöhrwiese, alongside the Nadlersbach, up Gartenstraße and back into the city through Weingässchen. In 2010, it received four new interactive stations and new signage.

The routes offer different focuses: the Nature Walk combines information with places to sit and play, while the educational trail passes clearly named places and streets.

The sand pits of Wolkersdorf are the only habitat in the Schwabach urban area of significance throughout the state.

Discover more destinations: Heideck, Spalt, Abenberg, Allersberg, Greding, Thalmässing, Georgensgmünd, Rohr.

See the main travel overview: Roth.