Bamberg's sights
Ranking among the most outstanding buildings are the late romanesque/early gothic imperial cathedral, featuring the world-famous Bamberg Horseman, and the Old Bridge Town Hall. Bamberg also offers many other leisure activities and things to do. Find out more about the many sights or create your own sightseeing tour to make your stay in Bamberg truly unforgettable!
The World Heritage Visitor Centre
Located in the heart of the city, Bamberg's World Heritage Visitor Centre displays Bamberg's outstanding universal value and serves as an interpretation aid for the World Heritage site. Embedded in the international UNESCO context the special features of the World Heritage site “Town of ...
Old Court
The Old Court ranks among the most impressive buildings in the city. The complex once served as the bishop's residence. The precursor to the Old Court was the Castrum Babenberg and the former palace of Emperor Heinrich II. After the foundation of the bishopric in 1007, it was also used as the ...
Altenburg Castle
Altenburg castle is perched on top of Bamberg's highest hill and is one of Bamberg's major landmarks. The castle was first mentioned in 1109 and was used at this time as a refuge. In the 14th and 15th centuries it served as a richly furnished residence for Bamberg's bishops, but was almost ...
Old Town Hall
The Old Town Hall in Bamberg is quite a curiosity: The frescoes that adorn the facades are as amazing as the story behind the building's construction. According to legend the bishop of Bamberg did not grant the citizens any land for the construction of a town hall. This prompted the townsfolk to ...
Cathedral
St. Peter's and St. George's Imperial Cathedral is one of Emperor Heinrich II's legacies. It contains numerous impressive sights. Emperor Heinrich II. had the Cathedral constructed in Bamberg as early as 1002 and it was completed in 1012 after a building period of just ten years. However, this ...
Cathedral Square
One of the most impressive squares, featuring architectural styles from all periods, the Old Court, the New Residence and the Rose Garden The Imperial Cathedral with four spires is perched on top of one of Bamberg's seven hills and forms the heart of the city and the region's most significant ...
St. Michael's Monastery
On the initiative of Emperor Heinrich II., the former Benedictine monastery of St. Michael was founded in 1015. Today its imposing baroque style architecture cannot fail to impress. As early as 1117 the first church was destroyed by an earthquake. Bishop Otto then had a romanesque house of ...
Monastery gardens of St. Michael’s
The gardens of St. Michael’s, a former Benedictine monastery, invite visitors to linger and amble about or enjoy a cup of coffee in the café. A lovely walk is the “Benedictine path” traversing the former baroque gardens. One of the projects of Bamberg’s 2012 Bavarian gardening show is ...
New Residence, Bamberg
The New Residence with its splendid rooms and lavish furnishings is an impressive reflection of the prince-bishops' life. The state gallery contains a significant collection of old German and baroque paintings. Until 1802 the New Residence served as the seat of Bamberg's prince bishops. The more ...
Rose Garden
The Rose Garden in the inner court of the New Residence is not only filled with a sea of fragrant flowers but it also reveals a beautiful view of Michaelsberg and the Old Town. Prince-bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn had the garden designed by Balthasar Neumann. The symmetrically arranged ...
Lock no. 100
Last of the locks of the old Ludwig-Main-Danube-Canal, built between 1836 and 1845. It connected the Danube near Kehlheim with the River Main just outside of Bamberg. Over the course of these 172 km ships had to pass 100 locks, surpassing around 200 metres of elevation, and needed to be towed ...
„Anxious moon“ by Rui Chafes
This sculpture by the Portuguese sculptor Rui Chafes seems to hover above the waterline of the River Regnitz. Made of steel it is fixed to a tree that has its branches hanging over the waters of the river and surprises visitors on a stroll through Bamberg’s big city park, the “Hain”. The ...
„Air-Earth“ by Jaume Plensa
This luminous sculpture from the Catalan artist Jaume Plensa is called „Air-Earth“. It was erected in the middle of the historic mill quarter in 2012, going back to an exhibition of eight of these sculptures „EIGHT POETS“ located all over town in that year. The figure changes its colour ...
"Anchor figure 2002" by Bernhard Luginbühl
The sculpture by Swiss artist Bernhard Luginbühl deals with civilisation and the environment and is made of disused objects. After an exhibition in 2004, the sculpture was acquired by the Friends of the International Artists' House Villa Concordia e.V. with the support of the ...
“Apoll” by Markus Lüpertz
The disputed German artist Markus Lüpertz often alludes to the great archaic motives of the classic era. Apoll is one of them and shows the Roman god in a very different light. Its final location near the little church St. Elisabeth, was proposed by the artist himself. The sculpture is set on a ...
Studio Bernd Wagenhäuser
Artist Bernd Wagenhäuser presents his work in his new arts loft in the middle of Bamberg. On 200 sqm this new exhibition hall enables him to show some of his smaller works, models, graphic art and installations and sketches, even though he is well known especially for his large Cor-Ten Steel ...
The Leaning Observation Tower of Bamberg
The leaning tower offers an unusual panoramic view of Bamberg’s market gardeners’ district Located in the meadows of Böhmerwiese nursery in Heiliggrabstraße this tower was erected when Bamberg hosted the Bavarian Horticultural Show in 2012 and now belongs to the UNESCO model project ...
Benedictine Way
The cultivated garden of the former monastery is the ideal place to while away the hours. A lovely walk along the "Benedictine Way" leads through the former baroque gardens, to some lovely fountains and along the new vineyard.
City on the hills
Narrow lanes, baroque and romantic facades, mediaeval flair and the magic of the centuries make Bamberg what it is today. The seven hills Bamberg's nicknames - the "Seven Hill City" or "Franconian Rome" - refer to the part of the city situated on the hills. Cathedral Hill was the spiritual and ...
Bible gardens of St. Michael’s
A small garden within the walls of the former Benedictine Monastery of St. Michael’s shows a total of 49 plants mentioned in the bible. Each plant bears an annotation on the biblical context, the symbolism behind the plant and its medicinal effects. One patch shows selected plants also ...
Böttinger House
In 1707-1713 court counsellor Ignaz Tobias Böttinger had the baroque palace built like the Italian Palazzi. The interior contains a richly embellished court and a terraced garden. Today, the building is privately owned.
Stigma - Memorial for the victims of the 17. century witch hunt
The installation and sculpture was erected in memory of all the victims of the prosecutions and executions of at least 1.000 innocent men and women, and even children, who were accused of witchcraft, tortured and executed in 17. century Bamberg.
"Centurione I" by Igor Mitoraj
Bronze statue by Polish born sculptor Igor Mitoraj who works in Paris and Pietrasanta (Italy). The artist's heads, torsos and figures are reminiscent of the classical beauty of antiquity, but break away from it with intentional damage to each work of art. The sculpture was acquired by the ...
Bamberg's way of the cross
This is Germany's oldest, fully preserved way of the cross. Donated by Heinrich Marschalk von Raueneck in 1503 this „via dolorosa“ leads visitors and pilgrims from Bamberg's St. Elisabeth church up Michaelsberg Hill to the church of St. Getreu. Its donator wanted to enable the people to ...
ERBA site - former area of the flower show 2012
In 2012 Bamberg was host for the Bavarian Garden Show The so called ERBA site was the location of Bamberg's Bavarian Garden Show in 2012. More than 1 million visitors came to see the flowers and gardens and a fantastic conversion of a former industrial site to a completely new park at the ...
Market Gardeners' District
Market gardeners' and wine-growers district, traditional agricultural area in the heart of the town
The Miracle Sphere "Wunderkugel"
An arts project in the Wunderburg District of Bamberg The artist called on citizens from the Wunderburg district of Bamberg to donate scrap metal with a personal history for the art project. Only scrap metal objects that were donated from the locals were welded to form the sphere. All the added ...
Erlöserkirche church
The Erlöserkirche – Church of the Redeemer – was built in 1934 by Professor German Bestelmeyer and was the first protestant church originally built as a protestant church in Bamberg. Erlöserkirche church is also Bamberg’s first and so far only cyclists’ church, being directly on the ...
E.T.A. Hoffmann's House (closed for renovation)
E.T.A. Hoffmann lived in the narrow house on Schillerplatz in 1809/1813. He occupied the second floor and loft with the poet's little room which is still furnished as it might have been in Hoffmann's day. The other rooms are filled with information and displays as well as installations on the ...
Statue of Saint Sebastian
The group of figures depicting the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian was donated by Martin Mutschele in 1780 and was dedicated as a thank-offering for the safe return of Mutschele’s brother, the court sculptor Bonaventura Joseph Mutschele, who had been to Moscow during the plague of 1771.
"Large sculpture 1982" von Joannis Avramidis
Abstract bronze sculpture by the Greek-born artist Joannis Avramidis. After an exhibition, the sculpture was acquired by the Friends of the International Artists' House Villa Concordia e.V. with the support of the Oberfrankenstiftung and private donors.
Grüner Markt (Green Market)
The pedestrian zone of Bamberg begins at the Green Market (Grüner Markt). With its many stalls selling fruit and vegetables from the region and afar from Monday to Saturday, the many shops and cafés, and the fountain called Gabelman (local lingo for Neptune, the “man with the fork”) it is ...
The Island City
The Island City is the old "bourgeois" merchant city and is now Bamberg's centre. In the pedestrian zone and beyond, we find what has become a rare retail landscape which is characterised by small, privately run stores in historical buildings, beautiful shops for browsing and, of course, an ...
International Artists' House Villa Concordia
Just three years after completing Böttinger House, Ignaz Tobias Böttinger commissioned architect Johann Dientzenhofer to construct the baroque water palace Concordia. Today, the building accommodates the International Artists' House Villa Concordia. The most impressive view of the building can ...
Carmelite monastery
The monastery was founded in the 12th century and turned into a baroque style building by Leonhard Dientzenhofer in 1692-1701. Behind the monastery's baroque facade is a late romanesque cloister dating from the 13th century. While the church is still open to the public most of the times, the ...
Little Venice
The former fishermen's district in Bamberg's Island City is endearingly known as Little Venice. This district is characterised by half-timbered buildings that prop each other up and by tiny, pretty gardens. The half-timbered buildings were mainly built in the Middle Ages. They are squashed ...
Bamberg’s Art Association
Bamberg’s Art Association was founded on December 12th, 1823 and is therefore one of Germany’s oldest institutions of this kind. Its main goal is to promote and present contemporary art. Exhibitions of paintings, graphic art, sculptures, photography, installations and performances make up ...
"kunstwerk10“ (Work of art 10)
Ten iron columns, each four metres high, encased in Cor-Ten steel, placed at various locations in Bamberg – that is the "kunstwerk10" project. With the art installations created by Bamberg artist Bernd Wagenhäuser, the "kunstwerk10" association aims to commemorate the once flourishing Jewish ...
„Slow dream“ by Rui Chafes
This steel sculpture by the Portuguese sculptor Rui Chafes stood in front of the old town hall on the Upper Bridge during the exhibition in 2018 and seemed to interact with the playful Baroque ornamentation of the town hall. It is now situated on a small square in front of the restaurant ...
"Lady with fruit" by Fernando Botero
Bronze sculpture created by the Columbian artist Fernando Botero. In 1998, it was bought by the town of Bamberg and was the first statue on the sculpture trail.
Stained-glass windows by Markus Lüpertz in St. Elisabeth
8 stained-glass windows depict scenes from the life and times of Holy Elisabeth in combination with the seven works of mercy. The famous German contemporary artist Markus Lüpertz designed eight stained-glass windows for the small parish church of St. Elisabeth in Bamberg's Sand district. Within ...
Memorial for Resistance and Civil Courage
Situated centrally in town between the E.T.A.-Hoffmann Square and the Gardens of Harmony This memorial commemorates three outstanding personalities of the German resistance movement and local personalities involved in resistance to the Nazi Regime: Willy Aron, Hans Wölfel and Claus Schenk Graf ...
Church of Our Lady
The church, which is called "Upper Parish" by the locals, is Bamberg's only purely gothic church. The simple nave was added 50 years after the late gothic choir whose foundations date from 1375 and the upper choir which is supported by flying buttresses. The wedding portal is a striking feature ...
Geyerswörth Palace
The former prince-bishop's city palace was built from 1585-1587. Please note: The "Geyerswörth Palace" has been closed since 2019 due to restoration work and will remain closed until further notice.
"Pillar" by Micha Ullmann
Kaiser Heinrich II., who founded Bamberg in the year 1007, firmly believed, that his Rome of the North, his capital to be, marked the centre of his empire, the hub of the world. Up until the 18th century the Bamberg people designated this spot with a pillar – the Tattermannsäule -, which ...
The sculpture „Meeting“
The sculpture „Meeting“ by the Chinese artist Wang Shugang, depicts eight lifesize squatting men, positioned in a circle on Schönleinsplatz Square near a busy crossroads in the middle of the old town. The work of art is made of bronze, varnished in red and goes back to an exhibition in the ...
Sculpture Park Bamberg
Large statues by artist Bernd Wagenhäuser At a permanent exhibition, the artist displays more recent and older works of art, which are mostly made of steel.
St. Elisabeth
Featuring stained-glass windows by Markus Lüpertz Consecrated in 1354, St. Elisabeth was built to attend to the needs of the "Hospice of the Holy Spirit" in the Sand District of town. The choir still standing today goes back to 1400, the nave was errected in 1493. When the churches were closed ...
St. Gangolf's Church
St. Gangolf's church boasts the oldest foundations in Bamberg and comprises several styles. The parish church, a former convent of canons, was built in the 12th century under bishop Otto the Holy in a romanesque style and converted into a gothic style around 1400. It later received baroque ...
St. Getreu
The church was built in 1652 after the plans of Justus Heinrich Dientzenhofer and ranks among the most significant baroque sacred buildings in Bavaria. The church is also the final station of the historic Way of the Cross from 1503, Germany’s oldest fully intact medieval Way of the Ccross. St. ...
St. Jakob's Church
Despite its baroque facade, St. Jacob's is the only completely romanesque church in Bamberg. In the 11th and 12th centuries, when the church was built, it was situated outside the fortifications around Cathedral Hill, and was used by numerous Jacob pilgrims on their way to Santiago de ...
St. Martin's Church
St. Martin's Church is located in the heart of the bourgeois town. Built by the Dietzenhofer brothers, it is Bamberg's only baroque church. The creation of this church is closely linked with the Jesuits as it was originally constructed as the university church and the church of the Jesuit ...
St. Otto
Catholic Parish Church of the market gardeners‘ district When the church of St. Gangolf couldn’t take all the parish members of the market gardeners’ district anymore, the parish decided to build a new church further to the north. Construction works of St. Otto began in 1912, following ...
St. Stephan's Church
The church, devoted to the martyr Stephanus, is built on the most eastern of the seven hills. It has been Bamberg's most important protestant church since 1807. The original building, which was probably donated by empress Kunigunde, was erected at the same time as Heinrich's Cathedral and was ...
City Archives
Bamberg's city archives see themselves not only as a documentation centre ("The administration's memory") but also as a centre for research on Bamberg's history and its associated institutions. In addition, literature, photos, posters and films etc relating to and from Bamberg are collected ...
Hain park
The Theresien and Luisenhain Park and the Botanical Gardens are riddled with paths. This natural beauty spot is just a few minutes walk from the former millers' district and can be reached by proceeding down the romantic paths along the Old Canal and the River Regnitz.
“Stärker als der Tod” (stronger than death) by Rui Chafes
The Portugal born artist created a twofold work of art, to be seen in both Bamberg and in one its twin cities, Villach in Austria. He copies the playfulness of the Baroque era and establishes a relationship between different times and places.
“Stimmgabel” (tuning fork) by Erwin Wortelkamp
Erwin Wortelkamp originally created an untitled sculpture in Bamberg in 2001 made from wood. A year later, this 5 metres high and 1.7 tons heavy bronze sculpture took up its final position in front of Bamberg’s concert hall.
Stolpersteine - Stumbling stones
An art project, that commemorates the victims of National Socialism, keeping alive the memory of all Jews, Roma and Sinti, homosexuals, dissidents, Jehova’s witnesses, and victims of Euthanasia, who were deported and exterminated during the Nazi reign The artist Gunter Demnig remembers the ...
Villa Remeis
Neo-classical villa owned by Dr. Karl Remeis (died in 1882) with a beautiful view and coffeehouse.
"Wandlung (transubstantiation)" by Kazuo Katase
This work of art was introduced and erected on the occasion of the millennium celebration of the Bishopric of Bamberg in the year 2007. It was a project of the Villa Concordia, the international artists’ house in Bamberg. Placed on the slopes of St. Michael’s Mount, it is a dry fountain made ...