Wawern offers several distinct points of interest for a stay: art in St. Apollonia’s Chapel, two signposted hiking trails, local customs and archaeological finds. The subjects range from 18th-century features to finds now on display in Trier. You can choose to focus on art, walking or planning your trip around a festival.
Chapel Art and Crosses
The central work of art in St. Apollonia’s Chapel is an altar of the Fourteen Holy Helpers dating from the 18th century. Its wall paintings were created by Christoph März, the “Painter Pastor of Eschfeld,” between 1929 and 1931. Thus, an 18th-century altar and early 20th-century wall paintings stand side by side as two clearly distinct layers of art from different periods.
The crosses also offer specific architectural and art-historical points of interest. The sandstone cross on Hauptstraße in Wawern is a late-Baroque shaft cross, also known as a bellflower cross, made of red sandstone. It has no inscription, dates from 1758 and belongs to the so-called Seffern type. A wayside cross near Burgstraße 7 is listed as a shaft cross in the Informational Directory of Cultural Monuments in the Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm. The entry gives the uncertain date “1797 (?)” and is current as of 2024.
Hiking Trails and Festival Dates
Wawern has two signposted hiking trails, numbered 7 and 8. The numbers help with orientation; check the trail signs on site before setting out. If you would like to include hiking in your stay, you can make the trails your main focus, or instead devote more of the day to the village’s artistic and cultural heritage.
Local customs offer further opportunities to plan your trip. On 30 April, the volunteer fire brigade puts up the maypole, whose crown is decorated by children. The traditional village fair has been held every year since the 1960s on the weekend after 18 August. A parade takes place on Carnival Saturday, organised by KV Legendär. If a festival is the deciding factor for your trip, check the specific date for your chosen year in advance.
Archaeological Traces and Finds
In 1932, ten Celtic graves and a burial oven were discovered northeast of Wawern, in the area now known as “Hirscheid.” Well-preserved urns, glazed plates and bowls, as well as jewellery, fibulae and brooches from the Celtic finds in Wawern can now be seen at the Rheinisches Landesmuseum in Trier. These archaeological finds add a distinct perspective on the past to the village’s artistic and cultural monuments. If you would like to explore this subject further, you could consider a museum visit as a separate activity; check museum admission arrangements separately.
More Things to Explore in the Eifelkreis Bitburg-PrĂĽm
The wider travel destination of Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm offers other, separate subjects to explore. The Mühlenberger Stollen Bleialf visitor mine has a mining trail with numerous information panels on the area’s mining history. One-hour guided tours of the mine explain ore extraction, from geology to applied technology; check the current times before visiting. The Devonium in Waxweiler presents complex concepts in palaeontology and the science of fossil life in an engaging way. Mining history and the study of fossils are further subjects to explore in the Eifelkreis.
Discover more destinations: Wallersheim, Speicher, Winterspelt, Utscheid, HĂĽtterscheid, Scharfbillig, Niederweis, Kyllburg
Return to the overview of the wider destination: Eifelkreis Bitburg-PrĂĽm.
