Schwäbisch Hall

Schwäbisch Hall is in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Schwäbisch Hall, closeup to St. Michael's Church

Understand

Schwabisch Hall was founded by the Celts, but got its current name from the name for Swabia, and Hall for "drying something by heating it", likely due to the salt production that was the mainstay of the town. It grew prosperous with salt and in its power to mint its own currency. It therefore has many buildings from the Middle Ages, most intact since after the Thirty Years' War the town declined in power, so the latest buildings in the old town are from the Baroque period, replacing those burned in the last major fire the city had in 1728.

In more modern times Schwäbisch Hall is a household name mostly due to the Bausparkasse headquartered there and named after the town. Another claim to fame is its twice German champion American Football team, that also produced the first European ever to be drafted without playing College Football in North America.

Get in

By car

Schwabisch Hall is two hours from Frankfurt taking the A6 highway, two hours away from Strasbourg via both A5 and A6 roads, one hour away from Stuttgart via A81 and A6 highway, two and a half hours from Munich via A9 and A6, three hours from Zurich via A81, four hours from Prague via E50 and A6, and five hours from Berlin via A9.

By train

• 🌍 Schwäbisch Hall-Hessental station. A bit out of the way in the annexed suburb of Hessental, but the busier of the two stations.  
• 🌍 Schwäbisch Hall station. More conveniently located, but unfortunately not the more important station in terms of traffic  

there are regional trains from Crailsheim and Nürnberg

By bus

See also: Intercity buses in Germany

Get around

The old town is split between an upper town, which includes the town square and St. Michael's Church, and the lower town, by the river, where there is a Biergarten and more old town, as well as the Wurth Collection. They are connected by medieval stone stairways between buildings.

See

Rathaus (Town Hall)

If you go in the summer, you may see theatre in the town square on the steps of St. Michael's Church, or in the temporary Globe Theatre next to the Biergarten. However much of what to see is simply a medieval town, as well as the baroque town square.

• St. Michael's church. medieval Lutheran Church in front of the town square, or market square. 
• medieval fountain to St. George and St. Michael. 
• municipal museum. explains the history of the town well. You can also see people working in the trade that made the town grow in the Middle Ages, salt, boiling it in the traditional way. 
• Wurth medieval art collection. a small but very good collection of German Medieval Art that includes works of Hans Holbein the Younger and the Older. 

Do

• The Schwäbisch Hall Unicorns play American Football in the first division German Football League and have been a regular Playoff and championship contender in recent years. German champions in 2011 and 2012 they lost the 2014 and 2015 finals to Braunschweig. The regular season runs roughly May-September with the latter half of September and the first half of October comprised of Playoffs culminating in the German Bowl, which for the 2016 edition will be held in Berlin. In 2016 the Unicorns also played in the European big six tournament - as they did in 2015, where they lost the final to Braunschweig. They are the reigning 2017 champion.

Eat

Since it is in the heart of Swabia, Schwabisch Hall has very good Swabian food, with restaurants in all parts of Schwabisch Hall. There are also many good cafes where you can have a good breakfast, and many good bakeries, butchers, pastry shops, and ice cream parlors that sell local cuisine.

Drink

You can get a cheap beer at the Biergarten, as well as a cheap dinner.

Sleep

• 🌍 Campingplatz Steinbacher See, Mühlsteige 26, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Wohnmobil-Stellplatz Auwiese, Heilbronnerstraße. 
• 🌍 Naturfreundehaus Lemberghaus, Lemberghaus 1, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Hotel Garni Sölch (Der Sölchebäck), Hauffstr. 14, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Hotel Scholl, Klosterstraße 2 - 4, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Hotel-Restaurant Sonneck, Fischweg 2, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Ringhotel Die Krone, Wirtsgasse 1, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Ringhotel Hohenlohe, Weilertor 14, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Romantik-Hotel "Der Adelshof", Am Markt 12, ☎ [phone]. 
• 🌍 Hotel zum Hirsch, Sulzdorfer Str. 14, ☎ [phone]. 

Go next

Dinkelsbühl, Rot an der Rot