City district Villingen
Places of interest in and around the historical old town
Explore the historical city center of Villingen with its numerous sights, beautiful half-timbered houses, romantic alleys and splashing brooks. Go on a fascinating tour into the past of the Zähringer town, because the almost intact town wall with its mighty defense and gate towers, which encloses the Zähringer street cross, is also worth a visit. Enjoy the variety of the Baden and Swabian cuisine during a break in one of the numerous restaurants and cafés. Many owner-managed stores invite you to go window shopping.
Franciscan Cultural Center
Near the Riettor you find the magnificent former Franciscan monastery and today's cultural center, affectionately called the "living room" of the city. Today it houses the Franciscan Museum, the concert hall with incomparable acoustics and, since 2006, the tourist information and ticket service together with a café in a futuristic glass annex. The combination of high-class concerts, tangible history and regionally important exhibitions makes the Franciscan a lively and much-visited cultural center.
Münsterplatz
On the square with the cathedral fountain, which represents eight significant epochs of the city, there is the church "Münster Unserer Lieben Frau". Worth seeing are the bronze entrance doors created by Klaus Ringwald and the carillon. Every Saturday (and Wednesdays in summer) Münsterplatz is transformed into an event area for one of the largest weekly markets in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg region. Other events, such as weddings or the big "Stadtfest 9amMünster" are also celebrated here.
City wall
The citizens of the city are proud of its largely preserved medieval city wall with gates and defense towers around the historic center of Villingen. Originally, the Villingen's city fortifications consisted of the inner city wall, the inner moat and the outer city wall with a thickness of several meters and an outer moat. Today, the city wall is almost completely surrounded by public parks with old trees and shrubs - affectionately called "Anlage" by the people of Villingen.
Benedictine church with Silbermann organ
open during the day, free admission
The Benedictine church of St. George in the playful and opulent baroque style from the 18th century is situated next to the old town wall of Villingen. It impresses with a length of 50 meters and wall pillars of 16 meters height. A very special jewel is the Silbermann organ. It was reconstructed according to original plans and since 2002 it has attracted reverently listening visitors with its organ sounds at market time every 3rd Saturday of the month.
City fountain
Water, drinking water, industrial water and water for domestic use, was the basic precondition for the development of a city. Without water no city. It was that simple in the Middle Ages. As the population grew, so did the demand for water. And so in 1175 the famous city stream system was created. The Brigach was diverted far from the city and flowed into three canals of the city settlement and from there through streets and alleys.
Church of St. John
open during the day, free admission
The Johanneskirche in the Gerberstraße 11 was first the church oft he Johanniterkommende Villingen. It dates back to the 14th century. In 1711 the church was thoroughly renovated in baroque style. It contains a listed organ by Schildknecht & Bergmann from 1838 and since 1854 it has been the church of the Protestant parish of St. John. The Johanneskirche has been rebuilt and renovated several times, including 1980-1983 and last in 2012.
