Historic city route Landau in der Pfalz

1) Town Hall Square
2) Tourism Office & New Town Hall (Marktstr. 50)
3) Böckingsches House (Town Hall Square 1)
4) Old Trading House, Town Hall Square 9
5) St. Catherine's Chapel, Kaufhausgasse
6) Frank-Loebsches House, Kaufhausgasse 9
7) German Gate, Untertorplatz
8) Augustinian Church with cloister, Königstr. 21-23
9) Schleusenstr. (drive-through only - no map point!)
10) Chopin Quarter, Ostbahnstr.
11) Art Nouveau Festival Hall, Mahlastr. 3
12) City Library, Heinrich Heine Square 10
13) Historic City Museum and Archive, Maximiliansstr. 7
14) Synagogue Memorial, Friedrich-Ebert-Str.
15) St. Maria, Marienring / corner Bismarkstr.
16) Municipal Gallery Villa Streccius, Südring 20
17) French Gate, Obertorplatz
18) Tomb of General Monclar
19) Meerweibchenstr. (drive-through only - no map point!)
20) Collegiate Church, Marktstr.
21) House "Zum Maulbeerbaum", Marktstr. 92 (no map point!)
22) Goethe Park
23) Schiller Park
24) "An 44" (drive-through only - no map point!)
25) Strieffler House, Löhlstr. 3
26) Fortifications
27) Galeerenturm Waffenstr. / corner Burghofgasse
28) Red Barracks, Marktstr. 40

Stop 1: Town Hall Square

You are at the historic Town Hall Square. After the great city fire in 1689, it was laid out as a weapons and parade ground for the French garrison and was renamed several times: During the French Revolution, it was called Place de l'Égalité, in 1816 again Paradeplatz, and in 1824 Max-Josef-Platz. Since 1945 it is officially called Town Hall Square. In the middle of the square is the equestrian statue of the Bavarian Prince Regent Luitpold from 1892.

Stop 2: New Town Hall at Marktstraße 50

The so-called “New Town Hall” was from 1823 the command center of the Bavarian military administration. It was built in the neoclassical style and today houses part of the municipal offices. In addition to the impressive sandstone facade, there are numerous art objects inside and in the courtyard, such as busts and paintings.

Stop 3: Böckingsches House at Town Hall Square number 1

Next is the Böckingsches House at Town Hall Square. It is a baroque building with a remarkable early classical facade, built around 1790. Due to its artistic design, it is one of the most beautiful residential buildings in the town.

Stop 4: Old Trading House at Town Hall Square number 9

A bit further on you see the Old Trading House, easily recognizable by the stepped gable with the large clock. In the Middle Ages and early modern period, it was used for taxed intermediate trade under a municipal trade master, strictly supervised by the town. On the ground floor were the wool, saffron and fruit scales as well as calibration devices, and on the upper floor the municipal ballroom. In 1838 and 1839 the building was converted into a concert and theatre house with a council cellar. Neo-Romanesque changes were made to the Gothic character of the building. Another conversion took place in 1995 when the Old Trading House was converted into the current cultural centre, opening in 1997.

Stop 5: St. Catherine's Chapel in Kaufhausgasse

In the small Kaufhausgasse you will find a somewhat hidden St. Catherine's Chapel. In 1344 it was built by the council and citizens for the community of the Beguines. It is a three-aisled structure with a square choir. During the Reformation the chapel was secularized and was no longer a church. From the 17th to the 19th century, the building was used in various ways, e.g. as a prison, guardhouse, powder magazine, wine cellar and grain magazine. Since 1872, after extensive renovation, it has served the Old Catholics, and since 1959 also the Evangelical Lutheran community as a place of worship. In the choir of the chapel are exposed wall paintings from its construction period, and on the east wall of the aisles you can see the tombs of two imperial field marshals who died in 1709 and 1710 respectively.

Stop 6: Frank-Loebsches House at Kaufhausgasse number 9

Diagonal opposite is the picturesque Frank-Loebsches House. Around the inside courtyard are wooden galleries on two floors. Since the 17th century, the inn “Zur Blum” has been housed there. In the 19th century, the great-grandparents of Anne Frank lived here. The rooms contain a permanent exhibition on the history of the Jews of Landau and a documentation on the fate of the Roma and Sinti in the Palatinate during National Socialism, as well as changing art exhibitions.

Stop 7: German Gate at Untertorplatz

The next stop is the German Gate at Untertorplatz. It is the northeastern gate of the Vauban fortress built from 1688 to 1691. It is identical to the French Gate at Obertorplatz in the south of the town, our Stop 17. Only through these two main gates in the north and south could the fortress of Landau be entered or left until well into the 19th century.

Stop 8: Augustinian Church with cloister at Königstraße 21-23

Not far away you will come across the Catholic parish church Holy Cross, also called Augustinian Church, with cloister and beautiful park inside. In the early 15th century it was built as a three-aisled Gothic basilica with cloister, replacing an earlier, probably dilapidated, mendicant order church of the Augustinian hermits. In 1794, after the monks were expelled during the French Revolution, it was secularized, so no longer used as a church, but as a warehouse, concert and exhibition hall. In 1893 it passed to the Catholics and became a parish church. Unfortunately, the choir was destroyed by a bomb hit in 1945. During the restoration from 1962 to 1964, a concrete gallery was installed and the choir area redesigned according to new liturgical requirements. In the 1980s restoration work was carried out on the cloister and the east wing with parish centre was rebuilt.

Stop 9: Schleusenstraße

On Schleusenstraße you can discover the remains of the water defensive systems of the fortress, built in the 17th century and later expanded.

Stop 10: Chopin Quarter on Ostbahnstraße

The discovery tour continues to the Chopin Quarter on Ostbahnstraße. The complex was built in the 1860s as Bavarian military buildings, later used by the French. In 1998 the buildings were opened as a modern service and commercial centre. It is also Landau’s first conversion project.

Stop 11: Art Nouveau Festival Hall at Mahlastraße 3

Near the East Park with its lake stands the impressive Art Nouveau Festival Hall with rich sculptural decoration. It is one of the most important festival and theatre buildings of Art Nouveau in southern Germany. The large complex was built from 1905 to 1907 by Düsseldorf architect Hermann Goerke and donated by Dr. August Ludowici. Inside the hall is a large room with 1,200 seats and a small room with 140 seats. Renowned artists and orchestras of international reputation can be admired here.

Stop 12: City Library at Heinrich Heine Square 10

Not far away, since 1998, is the city library with a modern glass extension in the former slaughterhouse from 1893 to 1894. The contemporary architecture attracts much attention from visitors and experts.

Stop 13: City archive and Museum of City History at Maximilianstraße 7

The city archive is the central memory of the city. Here you will find a historic archive with 17,000 volumes of scientific literature, 600,000 photographs and Landau newspapers from 1792. The museum focuses mainly on the fortress and garrison history of the town, with the central exhibit being the city's 18th-century fortress model.

Stop 14: Synagogue Memorial on Friedrich-Ebert-Strasse

The memorial was inaugurated in 1968 in the presence of the town's former rabbi, Dr. Kurt Metzger. It was created by Landau artist Margot Stempel-Lebert. The synagogue was set on fire during the so-called “Reich Pogrom Night” on 9 November 1938 and was blown up and dismantled a few days later.

Stop 15: St. Maria Church at Marienring / corner Bismarkstraße

The Catholic parish church, with late Romanesque-Gothic stylistic forms, was built from 1908 to 1911 and impresses with its representative two-tower facade in the style of French cathedrals. Notable are the late Gothic wooden sculptures “Lamentation of Christ” and “Holy Family”.

Stop 16: Municipal Gallery Villa Streccius at Südring 20

Since 1959, the municipal gallery Villa Streccius has constantly exhibited changing art exhibitions. The villa was built in 1892 according to plans by Karlsruhe architect Ludwig Levy and is an outstanding example of Landau’s ring boulevard architecture after the town’s de-fortification.

Stop 17: French Gate at Obertorplatz

The counterpart to the German Gate can be found at Obertorplatz, the so-called French Gate, the southwest gatehouse of the Vauban fortress. The outer front in the style of a Roman triumphal arch was incorporated into the main rampart. On both sides of the gate passage rest so-called pilasters on two high pedestals. Other special features are the Bourbon coat of arms relief in the arch field above the gate opening, as well as the head of the Sun King, richly ornamented in the gable field of the gates with the words “Nec pluribus impar” (also equal to many).

Stop 18: Tomb of General Monclar near the French Gate

Not far from the French Gate is the tomb of General Joseph de Pons, Baron de Monclar. He was the city commander during the fortress construction, died in 1690 in Landau and was buried in the choir of the collegiate church. The Baroque tomb monument, located here until 1959, is richly decorated with war ornaments and is now near the French Gate.

Stop 19: Meerweibchenstraße

The discovery journey continues to Meerweibchenstraße. Do you see the Meerweibchen? It is the roof gutter figure on the corner house at Martin-Luther Straße 8 / corner Meerweibchenstraße. This beautiful street is a typical example of baroque architecture in the town in the 18th century after the great city fire.

Stop 20: Collegiate Church at Marktstraße

The Protestant parish church is a three-aisled Gothic basilica. It captivates visitors with impressive architecture and wall paintings and is considered one of the most important Gothic churches in the Palatinate. The former church “Zu unserer Lieben Frau” of the Augustinian canons was built from 1281. In 1333 the consecration of the church took place, which was built on the site of an earlier smaller church. Further buildings were added; in 1349 construction of the tower began; in 1490 a second northern aisle with ornate late Gothic net vaulting was added. In 1897 the tracery of the nave windows was added and new vaults installed. In the tympanum on the west portal there are sculptures from 1330 to 1340 showing scenes from the life of Mary. These were unfortunately damaged during the French Revolution. Also worth seeing is the magnificent Baroque organ case from 1772, as well as the baptism and wedding chapel (formerly chapter hall) with the impressive wall paintings from the time of the church’s construction uncovered in 1897. These are valuable testimonies of high Gothic painting in the Palatinate region and were restored in the 1960s. During the Reformation, the church was divided by iron grilles: the choir was reserved for the Augustinian canons and Catholics, the main and side aisles for the Lutherans. From 1650 there was a simultaneum. Since 1893 the church has been in sole possession of the Protestants.

Stop 21: House “Zum Maulbeerbaum” at Marktstraße 92

The next stop is the house “Zum Maulbeerbaum”, a noble estate until 1322, then until 1488 property of the Klingenmünster monastery. From the late 15th to the 17th centuries, the building was a municipal inn where in 1522 the knightly orders of Swabia, Franconia and the Rhine allied against Emperor and Empire in the “Landau League.” In 1888 the facade was rebuilt and redesigned and adorned with 17 head reliefs, including those of Emperor Charles V., Franz von Sickingen, Ulrich von Hutten, Götz von Berlichingen, Florian Geyer and other distinguished guests.

Stops 22 + 23: Goethe Park and Schiller Park

After so many impressive buildings and personalities, we can take a short break in Landau’s beautiful green oases. The generous park areas Goethe Park and Schiller Park were designed from 1872 after the de-fortification and have significantly contributed to Landau’s reputation as a “wine and garden town” since the “Southwest German Garden Show - SÜWEGA” in 1949.

Stop 24: “An 44”

Next is the street “An 44”. It is named after the former fortress work No. 44 and is a conservation area with typical bourgeois houses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Stop 25: Strieffler House at Löhlstraße number 3

The next stop is the former residence of the important Palatinate painter Heinrich Strieffler (1872-1949) and his daughter Marie (1917-1987). After their deaths it came into the possession of the town. Built in Art Deco and Art Nouveau style, it is essentially preserved as the last resident left it, making it a remarkable document of bourgeois residential culture. Particularly impressive is the large studio in the attic. On the middle floor, the Strieffler House of the Arts Association e.V. voluntarily exhibits changing exhibitions.

Stop 26: Fortifications

Quote of Jörg Seitz, Fortress Construction Association Landau

The impressive fortification was built from 1700 to 1702 on the northwestern hill to protect and strengthen the fortress as a citadel and was separated from it by a flooding basin. The main rampart is still fully preserved today, the dry moat and the outer trench works and hornworks are largely still present. Inside the fort, instead of former military buildings, the University of Landau built from 1960 to 1964 is located. In the rear basin, a bird sanctuary was established in 1905, which became the first zoological garden in the Palatinate, today’s Landau Zoo. 

Stop 27: Galeerenturm at Waffenstraße / corner Burghofgasse

Now we come to the Galeerenturm, probably part of an imperial castle separated in 1315. Until 1688 it was the northwestern corner tower in the city wall of the free imperial city. In 1732 it was set up as a prison for military convicts who were then sent to the galleys, hence the name “Galeerenturm”.

 Stop 28: Red Barracks at Marktstraße 40

The Red Barracks, the last preserved barracks building from the fortress period, built from 1756 to 1759. The building was restored in the 1990s. Thomas Nast, the founder of political cartooning in the USA, was born here. With his family, like many other Palatines in the mid-19th century, he emigrated to the USA. Thomas Nast became a commentator on American politics there and created timeless symbols, such as the donkey and elephant as emblems of the two major American parties.

Stop 29: Lunette 41

A special experience is a special guided tour through Lunette 41, an underground part of the fortress which was uncovered during excavations. The individual works are connected in a network under the town of up to 30 kilometers with tunnels. Many construction projects reveal and partially uncover further buildings of this impressive system. The Landau Fortress Construction Association offers special tours for this.

Stop 30: South Park with viewing tower

Those who want to take a small detour can visit the town’s South Park. In 2015, the state horticultural show of Rhineland-Palatinate took place on the former barracks site. Besides various green zones, the residential area Schulze-Delitzsch-Carrée, and gastronomy businesses, you can still find the impressive EnergieSüdwest viewing tower on the site. With a height of 25 meters, it offers a fascinating panoramic view over the site, the town of Landau, and all the way to the Palatinate Forest from its platform.