Furth im Wald: Dragons, Rock Passages and Blacksmithing Culture
Accommodation in Furth im Wald
Furth im Wald tells its story through unusual sights: a traditional folk play, an underground labyrinth, two dragons as a symbol of peace, and a forge mill with heavy iron hammers. This gives you several clearly distinct themes to consider when planning your holiday. If you are travelling with your family, you can decide whether to focus on the stage performances, the history of blacksmithing, the garden or the view from the town tower.
The Dragon Slaying Festival and the Further Dragon
The Further Dragon Slaying Festival is performed every year and is considered Germany’s oldest folk play. The festival comprises twelve performances with 350 amateur actors. If you want to make a recurring cultural event the centrepiece of your trip, it offers a distinctive connection to Furth im Wald.
The Further Dragon is also part of the town’s history as a technological object: it is the world’s largest walking robot and has been in Furth im Wald since 2010. From April to October, it is housed in its dragon’s lair at the Further festival grounds. This offers a different way to explore the dragon theme than the annual Dragon Slaying Festival: here, you can focus on the robot and its stated location; there, on the performances and amateur actors. When planning your trip, take this seasonal information about the Further Dragon’s location into account.
Underground Labyrinth and Garden
The Further Rock Passages offer a very different chapter. A labyrinth stretching for several kilometres lies beneath Furth im Wald, carved into the gneiss since the late Middle Ages. The passages thus link a specific geological feature—gneiss—with a long period of formation. The contrast with the Dragon Slaying Festival is clear when choosing what interests you: instead of a play and festival, the focus here is an underground place and its historical construction. If the town’s history particularly interests you, you can include this subject in your holiday plans alongside the cultural offerings.
The Japanese Garden offers a quieter, symbolic accent. It is freely accessible and can be visited at any time; guided tours are available for groups. In the garden, a western and an eastern dragon meet and make peace. Here, then, the dragon motif appears not as a folk play or a walking robot, but as an image of an encounter and reconciliation. If you are travelling with a group, you can consider the guided tours on offer as a separate option.
Blacksmithing Demonstrations and Views
At the Voithenberghammer, the museum, exhibition and demonstrations come together. The hammer mill is an outpost of the Further Regional Gate Museum. An exhibition of blacksmith products and documents on the history of the hammer mill complements the blacksmithing demonstrations. Two enormous iron hammers, each weighing 123 kg, show what water power can move. The focus is therefore not only on the finished blacksmith products: the history of the hammer mill and the power of the hammers are also part of this theme. If you are interested in craftsmanship and technical processes, the Voithenberghammer offers a clear contrast to the theatre, garden and underground passages.
The town tower offers another perspective: from there, you can enjoy a panoramic view. This adds a view across the town to the more theme-specific experiences. These different interests can help guide your choice of holiday apartment in Furth im Wald: would you like to focus on the Dragon Slaying Festival, the rock passages, the history of blacksmithing, or perhaps the garden and views? Your choice depends on the character of your planned stay, without combining the different experiences into a single itinerary.
Discover More Places
If you are considering another place in addition to Furth im Wald, you can also visit Lixenried.
For the broader travel overview: Cham.
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