Things to do in Haguenau: old centre, forest and potters’ country

The old centre fits into a small perimeter, between Place d’Armes and the banks of the Moder. The church of Saint-Georges is the most logical starting point: its Romanesque nave and Gothic chancel belong to the 12th and 13th centuries, and the building holds a eucharistic tabernacle of 1523 as well as a crucifix by Clement of Baden dated 1488. A few streets away, the church of Saint-Nicolas and the Protestant church complete the run of religious buildings in the centre.

Two towers recall the medieval walls. The Knights’ Tower, built in brick around 1235, was used to sound the alarm, then housed a powder store before becoming the district prison from 1763 to 1918: its barred openings still say so. It owes its name to the Ritter family, who lived nearby, and not to any warriors. The Fishermen’s Tower, also of brick, is octagonal in plan: built between 1228 and 1235, it was remodelled in the 16th century. Add the old customs house, the hop hall, the town hall, the Wissembourg gate, the Dischlach mill and the former synagogue to complete the round.

The historical museum occupies a neo-Renaissance building put up between 1900 and 1905, at 9 rue du Maréchal Foch. The entrance hall is lit by a stained-glass window by Léo Schnug showing Richard the Lionheart before Emperor Henry VI, an episode that took place in Haguenau in 1193. The permanent route runs from the Stone Age to the 20th century: Mesolithic and Neolithic tools, more than 750 objects from Bronze and Iron Age necropolises, Roman material, religious sculpture and medieval stove tiles, then a series of more than 80 Art Nouveau and Art Deco glass pieces.

The Alsatian museum is housed in the former chancellery on Place Joseph Thierry. The building itself deserves a look: six medieval corbels from the 14th-century town hall have been reset here, and an astronomical clock made in 1904 takes up an Ulm model of 1581. The collections cover everyday life in Alsace since the early 19th century: dress and headwear varying by faith and social rank, reverse glass paintings, painted furniture, regional stoves, religious imagery, Soufflenheim ceramics and Betschdorf stoneware.

The massif extends over 21,000 hectares, roughly 30 kilometres from west to east and 10 kilometres from north to south. It is the sixth largest lowland forest in France. The undivided forest of Haguenau received the Forêt d’Exception label in 2020. The stands mainly combine pine and oak, and several remarkable trees are spread across the massif. There are also ponds, burial mounds and wartime remains, which give the walk an unexpected historical depth.

The Gros Chêne site serves as the main way in: play area, picnic area and inn are grouped there, and the Saint-Arbogast chapel is nearby. Further north, the forest junction at the Gründel ponds offers another start. A bird observatory built in 2011 lets you watch for birds. As for routes, the forest is threaded with walking paths, fitness trails and cycle circuits, including a trail suited to people with reduced mobility.

In the 1850s some thirty villages of the Bas-Rhin housed potter families. Only two have kept the craft: Betschdorf and Soufflenheim. The techniques differ and are recognisable at a glance. At Betschdorf, craftspeople work salt-glazed stoneware, grey and decorated in cobalt blue, a production characteristic of the area since the 18th century. At Soufflenheim, clay is shaped and bright colours used, in forms running from cookware to decorative and garden pieces.

The pottery museum, at 2 rue de Kuhlendorf in Betschdorf, makes a useful preamble: it presents the local output, sets salt-glazed stoneware within the ceramic history of the Rhine plain and shows a reconstructed workshop with the different stages of making. The visit takes about an hour. Shops and workshops in both villages then let you watch the potters at work. To link it all on foot, the potters’ trail starts from Haguenau and totals 33 kilometres, divisible into three sections of 9 to 12.5 kilometres.

Haguenau holds two distinct fixtures. The twice-weekly market takes place on Tuesdays and Fridays, all year, at the hop hall and around it. The range is wide: fruit and vegetables, various foodstuffs, but also clothing and haberdashery. It is the everyday market, the one that fills a basket for the week, and it gives a good measure of weekday activity in the centre.

The second is a food market, on Saturday mornings from April to the end of October, on Place de la République. It puts forward local and regional producers selling direct. Both markets are moved for certain events, notably the Made in Alsace fair in spring and the hop festival in summer, and they do not take place on public holidays. Check the municipal page before setting off if your stay coincides with an event.

Haguenau works well as a base for northern Alsace. Wissembourg, a medieval town with a former abbey, can be visited in half a day. Hunspach is among the most beautiful villages in France. For the Maginot Line, the Schoenenbourg fort at Lembach and the Musée de l’Abri at Hatten give two complementary angles on the fortified works. Fleckenstein castle, partly cut into the rock, adds an older stage to that defensive route.

Other outings suit an afternoon. The Maison rurale de l’Outre-Forêt, at Kutzenhausen, presents local peasant life. The vineyard and cellar of Cleebourg mark the northern end of the Alsace wine region. For families, the lake at Brumath and its adventure park fill half a day, and Nautiland remains a fallback in Haguenau itself when the weather turns. Bischwiller and Brumath also offer waymarked, playful walks, including the Trame Verte trail.