St. Märgen

Hiking trails around St. Märgen

For a specific tour, consider the circular hike through the Zweribach Bannwald forest: it is 12 kilometres long and takes about four hours. The distance and approximate duration offer a useful guide when you want to include a hike in your daily plans. St. Märgen also has 85 kilometres of hiking trails, including an 11-kilometre circular route to the Zweribach waterfalls. If you enjoy hiking, you can take the importance of such tours for your holiday into account when choosing a holiday apartment.

Monastic history and clockmaking tradition

The monastery church and cloister courtyard are long-standing landmarks of St. Märgen, a place of pilgrimage to the Virgin Mary. The pilgrimage church of the Assumption of Mary also shapes the town’s cultural character: its distinctive features include a Romanesque statue of the Virgin Mary and Rococo carvings. The Kloster Museum St. Märgen brings together two subjects that help place the town in context beyond its religious history: the history of Black Forest clockmaking and the global clock trade. The monastery’s history is also among the exhibition topics.

Guided tours of the permanent exhibition are offered regularly on Sundays at 11 a.m. This gives you a specific time to plan around if you would like to combine your museum visit with a guided tour. The monastery museum also offers children a quiz to help them explore the museum. This makes it possible to enjoy a museum visit as a shared discovery of the exhibition rooms.

Rankmühle Mill and the Roßfest festival

Rankmühle Mill opens to visitors once a month, and no advance booking is required. On site, you can watch the milling process and learn about the restoration of the historic building. A visit is therefore about more than the mill as a building: it also covers its function and the work involved in preserving it. Since it opens monthly, it is worth including a suitable visit date in your travel plans.

The Roßfest, held every three years, showcases another aspect of local tradition. Black Forest Fuchs horses are judged, and the festival also features demonstrations and traditional crafts. The historic parade includes Black Forest cold-blooded horses, historic wagons, traditional costume bands and clubs. If you are especially interested in horses, crafts and regional festival culture, this offers a distinct reason to consider St. Märgen for your holiday. The festival is not held annually, but every three years.

Winter hiking and cross-country ski trails

There are various options for winter outings, too: St. Märgen has 15 kilometres of cross-country ski trails, with a connection to the Thurner trail. The routes range from 8 to 15 kilometres. These are separate from the approximately 12 kilometres of winter hiking trails. An 8-kilometre panoramic trail leads to Thurner. If you enjoy cross-country skiing, the ski trails may influence your choice; for a stay focused on winter hiking, the stated trail distances and the destination of Thurner offer useful points of reference. When looking for a holiday apartment, you can first decide whether hiking, winter trails or culture should be the focus of your holiday.

More places to explore

If you would like to explore more places while planning your trip: Glottertal, Eichstetten am Kaiserstuhl, Breisach am Rhein, Ebringen, Wittnau, Stegen, Buggingen and Buchenbach.

For the main travel overview: Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald.