City tours 2024
Everything about Hof - in one hour April to October every Saturday at 11 a.m. from the Tourist Information Office. (without registration)
The city guides take guests on an entertaining walk through Hof's city center and provide insights into the past and present of the city of Hof. Afterwards you can climb the town hall tower.
Price: 6 euros Duration: approx. 1 hour
Historical city walks January to November every 3rd Sunday of the month at 2 pm from the Tourist Information Office. The tour guides take a leisurely stroll through time and shed light on the facets that make up a town: the people, the buildings, the history or even the character that has developed over the centuries. On this historical walk through Hof, you will be amazed at the events that shaped the town, how church and monastery buildings, wars, sieges, fires, borders and festivals had a direct influence on the lives of the people of Hof and thus on the development of the community. As each tour guide has his or her own favorite topic, it is also worth taking part several times.
Price: 6 euros Duration: approx. 1.5 hours
"Romantic Stone" - the guided tour of the park
May 12, July 14, August 18, September 1 at 2 p.m. from Haus Theresienstein.
"On one side was a very beautiful motif for a scenic parthie", wrote Goethe in his diary when he was in Hof in 1806. The Theresienstein stretches its feelers far into the center of the city and beckons with green meadows, avenues and old trees, pavilions and ponds. A gently meandering network of paths leads through groves and along meadow edges, always under the protection of the trees. Along the quiet paths and avenues, you can experience new garden scenes time and again. Enchanting lines of sight open up to sculptures, fountains and staffage structures and also far beyond the boundaries of the park into the surrounding countryside. Visitors to the southern part of the park are particularly enchanted by the panoramic view of the lower Ludwigstrasse as far as the town hall. Thanks to continuous expert maintenance, the Theresienstein has hardly changed since its creation. According to a so-called park maintenance program, the typical characteristics of a classic English garden have been preserved and many historical elements have been restored.
Price: 6 euros Duration: approx. 1.5 hours
"Where I wrote the best ..." - Jean Paul and the court
June 22, July 6, August 3, September 14 at 2 p.m. from the Tourist Information Office.
Follow in the footsteps of the romantic poet Jean Paul (1763-1825) on this city tour through Hof: Jean Paul is one of the most eloquent European prose writers. In his day, he was more widely read than Goethe or Schiller and is considered the first German poet to make a living from writing.
The young writer spent some of his youth in Hof, where he experienced hard times and suffered great hardship. He wrote his most important novels here and in Schwarzenbach an der Saale. He writes about the town, which he calls "Kuhschnappel" or "Flachsenfingern": "Behold Hof, where I suffered the most, but wrote the best." And yet he later recalled that he "never had more elysian days (although only in my breast and under the blue sky) back then".
Anyone who wants to find out what the "East Indian Spice Islands or Moluccas" are all about is invited to take a guided tour of the city. The secret of the "erotic academy" will also be revealed ...
Price: 6 euros Duration: approx. 1.5 hours
Hof beer tour April 20, May 11, July 20, October 12 at 5:30 p.m. from the town hall fountain.
The people of Hof have been brewing their beer since the 14th century and soon perfected it. High time to find out more about this tasty brew! Whether it concerns the devastating Hussite raid in 1430, the municipal brewing law, the "beer finger" or the beer shortage that repeatedly plagued the citizens of Hof - take a stroll through 700 years of brewing in Hof with our ambassador of enjoyment. In addition to interesting and astonishing facts about beer, there is a tasting of three different beers including a Franconian snack.
Price: 30 euros Duration: approx. 3 hours
"Do you hear Mr. ..." - Night watchman tour
February 2, March 1, April 5, May 10, June 7, July 5, September 6, October 11 and November 8 at 8 pm from the town hall fountain. On December 31 at 6 pm.
An evening with a real night watchman in Hof - an unforgettable experience for everyone! It's a pleasure to be whisked away to the past before the great Hof town fire in 1823 and listen to the stories of the Hof night watchman.
Whenever the tower clock struck the hour, the night watchman would sound his horn and then call out the hour - he sang a different song for every hour. The citizens could turn to the other side with peace of mind, knowing that the night watchman was keeping an eye on all dangers. But the hourly song was not his only task: he had to keep an eye out for thieves in the streets, mediate in the event of a fire and between the tower keeper of St. Michael's and the Büttelei and also light the pitch pans.
And only if everything was in order was he allowed to extinguish them at midnight and continue his rounds - for the safety of the citizens of Hof. Our Hof night watchman will tell you about his duties, the events and special features of his work in Hof.
Price: 6 euros Duration: approx. 2 hours
Culinary city walk
February 10, March 16, April 20, May 11, June 8, July 20, September 14 and November 9 at 10:30 a.m. from the town hall fountain.
"Hof - right at the top in Bavaria" is what the people of Hof like to say about their city - and that also applies to enjoyment! In 2018, Hof was recognized by the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry as one of Bavaria's "100 places of enjoyment". This made public what every local already knew: Hof shines with excellent bakeries and butchers, there are fantastic confectioners and Hof beer is also second to none.
The many varieties of bratwurst, ham and sausage, a wide variety of pastries and baked goods, as well as fish, fruit and cheese specialties are unmissable - and all of them are of outstanding quality. In addition to the finely spiced Hof beef sausage, which has even made it into the European register of typical regional specialties, the Hofer Schnitz, the Hofer Allerlei, Leberkäs', Schwaas, Aus'zogene and many other Hof delicacies are well known.
You can find out what these are on a culinary walk through the town with an ambassador of the Upper Franconia gourmet region. Both savory and sweet delicacies can be sampled.
Price: 20 euros Duration: approx. 2 hours
Where the pyres once blazed - the executioner's tour
February 7, March 6, April 3, May 8, June 5, July 3, September 11, October 9 and November 6 at 8 pm from the town hall fountain.
Good nerves are an advantage here. Guests experience exciting and unforgettable moments with the Hofer Scharfrichter. A historically based and lively journey through superstition, justice and healing. Medieval history comes to life when the executioner talks about his unusual trade: Where the funeral pyres once blazed, where the embarrassing interrogations took place, where evildoers stood in the pillory and the imperial blood court met - who would know better than someone who had to carry out capital and corporal punishments at the behest of the judiciary and also tortured?
As an executioner, he was also a brothel keeper and dog beater, he cleaned the cesspools or disposed of the bodies of dead people and animal carcasses. He often also had medical knowledge and acted as a healer. The profession of executioner was considered "dishonest", he lived for himself and was shunned by the people. He was usually trained by his father, who passed the job on to his son. After the master's test, the head of a condemned man cut off with a sword according to all the rules of the art, he was allowed to work.
Today, Master Franz Schmidt can be found in front of a historical backdrop and will take you on his tour.
Price: 6 euros Duration: approx. 2 hours
Crime scene Hof - the criminal history of Hof
April 25, May 30, June 27, July 25, August 29, September 26 and October 31 at 8 pm from the town hall fountain.
This city tour is not for the faint-hearted. Guests discover Hof from a completely different, sinister side and embark on a shocking journey through Hof's criminal history.
Places where gruesome crimes once took place are visited here. Using selected examples, the tour guides explain the punishments to which witches, robbers and even murderers were sentenced under the law of the time. Locations where ghosts and other terrifying creatures wreaked havoc are also visited.
Price: 6 euros Duration: approx. 2 hours
The tour is not suitable for sensitive persons and young people under the age of 14.
On the trail of persecution and resistance - Hof between 1933 and 1945
April 13, June 8, July 6 and September 14 at 2 p.m. from Sophienschule.
This walk introduces selected places and personalities from the years 1933 to 1945. Who still knows today where the "Brown House", as the district office of the Hofer NSDAP was called, was located? Why was a small part of Hof's old town renamed "Bernhard-Lichtenberg-Platz"? What happened in front of the Ury department store in 1938 and where was it located? Did the people of Hof all take part in the "March into the Third Reich" or was there resistance to the Nazi dictatorship? What role did the trade unions and the workers' parties SPD and KPD play during this time?
Price: 6 euros Duration: approx. 2 hours
The Hussites are coming! Medieval city tour spectacle on the occasion of Hofer Schlappentag
May 26 at 2 p.m. from the town hall
Hof's national holiday, Schlappentag, has its origins in the Hussite attack on the town of Hof in 1430. To mark the occasion, the town invites visitors to a medieval guided tour of the town. The guides, dressed in medieval costumes, re-enact the Hussite raid in scenes and guests learn a lot about the history of the Hussites and how Hof's Schlappentag came about.
Dressed in medieval costumes, a pious citizen of Hof and a pompous Hussite describe how they experienced the attack - each from their own perspective and at the scene of the event. Naturally, there are some discrepancies: The Hussite gloats over the destruction and desecration of the monastery, for example, while the citizen of Hof would prefer to see this dissolute man in purgatory ... Yes, he has even brought other marauding Hussites with him, who are not afraid to pick up where they left off in 1430 and almost even go after a monk. Naturally, all good citizens are called upon to stand up to these ragamuffins.
Price: 5 euros Duration: approx. 2 hours
Registration at the Tourist Information Office is always required, except for the "All about Hof - in an hour" city tours.
Further information is available from the Hof Tourist Information Office at Ludwigstraße 24.
Telephone: 09281 / 815 - 7777 Mail: touristinfo(at)stadt-hof.de