Schloss Hohentübingen

Top choice in Swabian Alps Region

LoginSave

On its perch above Tübingen, this turreted 16th-century castle has a terrace overlooking the Neckar River, the Altstadt’s triangular rooftops and the vine-streaked hills beyond. An ornate Renaissance gate leads to the courtyard and the laboratory where Friedrich Miescher discovered DNA in 1869.

Besides a clutch of museums, the finest of which is the Museum Alte Kulturen, the castle's highlights include the immense, 84,000-litre Grosse Fass wine vat – one of the world's oldest, dating to 1564 – which can only be visited on guided tours at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm and 5pm (book ahead online).

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Pipelines on wall

    Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

    19.09 MILES

    The neoclassical-meets-contemporary Staatsgalerie bears British architect James Stirling’s curvy, colourful imprint. Alongside big-name exhibitions, the…

  • Small bottles of "Monkey 47" gin are offered at a stand at the eat&STYLE food festival in Hamburg, Germany, 11 November 2016. Germany's biggest food festival "eat&STYLE" was opened at the Hamburg "Schuppen 52". The festival offers current food trends and workshops for visitors. Photo: Christian Charisius/dpa | usage worldwide (Photo by Christian Charisius/picture alliance via Getty Images)

    Monkey 47

    28.83 MILES

    Embracing the global craft gin craze, Monkey 47 has scooped awards for its batch-distilled, handcrafted dry gin, with piney, peppery notes. Distillery…

  • Museum Alte Kulturen

    Museum Alte Kulturen

    0.02 MILES

    Housed in Tübingen's hilltop castle, this fascinating archaeology museum houses the 40,000-year-old Vogelherd figurines – the world’s oldest figurative…

  • Residenzschloss

    Residenzschloss

    27.07 MILES

    Nicknamed the 'Swabian Versailles', the Residenzschloss is an extravagant 452-room baroque, rococo and Empire affair. The 90-minute chateau tours (in…

  • Blick über den Eckensee zum Opernhaus im Oberen Schlossgarten bei Nacht, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland

    Schlossgarten

    19.38 MILES

    A terrific park for a wander right in the heart of the city, Stuttgart's sprawling Schlossgarten threads together the Mittlerer Schlossgarten, with its…

  • Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Schlossplatz

    18.83 MILES

    Stuttgart's pride and joy is this central square, dominated by the exuberant three-winged Neues Schloss, an impressive, Versailles-inspired baroque palace…

  • exterior of Porsche Museum

    Porsche Museum

    22.24 MILES

    Like a pearly white spaceship preparing for lift-off, the barrier-free Porsche Museum is a car-lover's dream. Audioguides race you through the history of…

  • Mercedes Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Baden Wurttemberg, Germany, Europe

    Mercedes-Benz Museum

    20.51 MILES

    A futuristic swirl on the cityscape, the Mercedes-Benz Museum takes a chronological spin through the Mercedes empire. Look out for legends such as the…

View more attractions

Nearby Swabian Alps Region attractions

1. Museum Alte Kulturen

0.02 MILES

Housed in Tübingen's hilltop castle, this fascinating archaeology museum houses the 40,000-year-old Vogelherd figurines – the world’s oldest figurative…

2. Rathaus

0.12 MILES

Drawing the gaze high above Am Markt, Tübingen's 15th-century Rathaus sports a riotous, exuberantly frescoed baroque facade and an astronomical clock.

3. Neptunbrunnen

0.13 MILES

Statues of four women representing the seasons grace the Neptunbrunnen, the centrepiece of Am Markt square.

4. Am Markt

0.13 MILES

Half-timbered townhouses frame the Altstadt’s main plaza Am Markt, a much-loved student hang-out. Rising above it is the 15th-century Rathaus (town hall),…

5. Platanenallee

0.2 MILES

Steps lead down from Eberhardsbrücke bridge to Platanenallee, a leafy islet on the Neckar River canopied by sycamore trees. From here, there are views up…

6. Cottahaus

0.21 MILES

The Cottahaus is the one-time home of Johann Friedrich Cotta, who first published the works of Schiller and Goethe. A bit of a lad, Goethe conducted…

7. Hölderlinturm

0.22 MILES

You can see how the dreamy Neckar views from this silver-turreted tower fired the imagination of Romantic poet Friedrich Hölderlin, resident here from…

8. Stiftskirche St Georg

0.24 MILES

The late-Gothic Stiftskirche shelters the tombs of the Württemberg dukes and some dazzling late-medieval stained-glass windows.

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting: 
    {
  "url": "germany/tubingen/attractions/schloss-hohentuebingen/a/poi-sig/1140571/1003235",
  "destination": "Swabian-Alps-Region",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "Germany",
  "region": "Swabian-Alps-Region",
  "position": "superzone"
}