Todays district centre has developed from a mansion of a Frankish landed gentleman from whom its former name “Basonevillare” derives. Since the populace started to revere a holy man named St. Wendelin, sometime in the 11th or 12th century the place was renamed “St. Wendel”. The relics of St. Wendel are still kept in a church in the centre of town, the so called “Wendelsdom” (Cathedral St. Wendel), an impressive building worth seeing.

Visitors of St. Wendel should also visit the museum “Stadtmuseum St. Wendel” in its very modern edifice, the “Mia Münster Haus”. It is dedicated to the St. Wendel artist Mia Münster, but shows five different exhibitions per year, all related to arts and artists of the Saarland. If you should be more interested in the history of everyday life a visit to the “Heimatmuseum Dörrenbach” will give you insights into regional life as it was in the past.

From St. Wendel you might wish to make trips to Lake Bostalsee with its beaches and its marina, but also many open air events offered in summer. Well worth the visit are also the Abbey Tholay and the Celtic ring wall Nonnweiler-Otzenhausen, in which the prince of the Treveri Celts (after which Trier is named), sought shelter 2,500 years ago. Lovers of valuable stones will be happy in Freisen, where volcanic layers harbour agate stones, topaz and amethysts which can be found by amateurs.

More information: http://www.visitsaarland.co.uk/en/st-wendel-1

Photo: Jorg Hackemann/Shutterstock