Nördlingen: City History and the Ries Crater

Nördlingen combines medieval city history with an extraordinary view of how the Ries was formed. From the 42-metre-high Löpsinger Gate Tower, you can enjoy views of the historic old town and the meteorite crater. There are also museums, church tours and walks through streets and lanes. On your trip, you can choose between geology, city history and church art.

Understanding the Ries and how it formed

The RiesKraterMuseum explores the formation of impact craters in general and the Nördlinger Ries in particular across six rooms. One topic is the asteroid impact 15 million years ago and its planetary and terrestrial effects. Meteorites, fossils and a piece of real lunar rock provide additional tangible points of interest during a visit to the museum. If you are interested in geological connections, you will find both a focus on the Ries and a broader look at impact craters beyond this particular location.

A geopark information centre is located right next to the museum. It provides a concise overview of the geology, archaeology and settlement history of the Ries. Together, the museum and information centre offer different perspectives: the museum focuses on the crater and impact, while the information centre also covers the history of settlement and archaeological topics.

The medieval town and special places

A roughly one-hour guided historical tour takes you through the medieval streets and lanes of Nördlingen. Stops include the completely preserved town wall, the tanners’ quarter and the market square with its imposing buildings. The tour thus brings together different aspects of the town’s history. You can factor the approximate duration of the tour into your day’s plans; the places mentioned also give you an idea of the topics covered along the way.

St. George’s is a Late Gothic hall church with the 90-metre-high bell tower known as “Daniel”. Open church tours cover the architecture and building history, as well as features such as the pulpit, high altar, choir stalls, baptismal font and organs. If you are particularly interested in architecture or sacred furnishings, this tour offers a themed introduction to the church, while a walk through the town explores other aspects of its history.

The town museum at the Holy Spirit Hospital offers a different way to explore history: during a guided tour, visitors learn about the otherwise inaccessible dungeon beneath Nördlingen Town Hall, known as the “Loch”. Afterwards, you can experience the dungeon using a VR headset. The explanation and virtual experience go hand in hand, making this a distinctive way to explore a specific place in the town’s history.

Choose a tour to suit your interests

The range of guided tours in Nördlingen includes town tours on scheduled dates, opportunities to explore the Ries Geopark, torchlit tours and themed tours. The RiesKraterMuseum also offers bookable tours tailored to visitor groups. Where possible and by arrangement, excursions to quarries and geotopes in the Ries area are available. If you are travelling with children, you can choose based on what your family is particularly interested in at the moment: how the Ries formed, finds in the museum, medieval town history or the furnishings of a church. The roughly one-hour town tour offers a concrete time frame for one possible activity.

If you are looking for a holiday apartment for your stay in Nördlingen, your trip’s main focus can be a helpful starting point: geology and the museum, a historical walk or church art each offer a different emphasis. This lets you choose your destination based on the experiences you would like to discover together, without trying to fit every activity into a single itinerary.

More places to discover: Fremdingen, Wallerstein, Rain, Tapfheim, Ries, Mertingen, Asbach-Bäumenheim and Kaisheim.

For the broader travel overview: Donau-Ries.