Medieval fair

Herzogenriedpark Mannheim
Fri. 14.03.2025, 3 pm – Sun. 16.03.2025, 6 pm

Where is there a bookstall with fairy tales for brave people? Where can you watch a pewterer at work? Where can you find a band that seems to come from another time with songs about shamans who fear for the good harvest? And where does a lady in a splendid robe explain to a small crowd in Middle High German how to spin the medieval wheel of fortune? You can experience all of this at the Medieval Fair in Herzogenriedpark from March 14 to 16, 2025!

A festival like a journey through time

An open-air festival about the legendary age of the Germanic tribes, Vikings, Celts and crusaders, in which Charlemagne, Walther von der Vogelweide and Frederick I, known as Barbarossa, lived. There is hardly an era that holds as many secrets and contradictions as the Middle Ages. And this fascination can be experienced again in Herzogenriedpark from March 14 to 16, 2025. Visitors and exhibitors will once again be magnificently costumed, and there will be food that knights and noblemen once had on the feast table. There will be “products for everyday use” at many stands.

The Mannheim market took place for the first time in 2005, when the horticultural director of Herzogenriedpark Wolfgang Adrian, himself a passionate fan of the period, launched it – and more and more visitors came every year! The event started with 10,000 visitors in its first year, and by 2024, 18,000 had already attended – so the medieval trend in the region is definitely something to be proud of! 
Around 130 exhibitors take part every year. Coopers, hurdy-gurdy makers, blacksmiths and fire painters, cloth merchants, tailors and market women take visitors on an exciting journey back in time to a bygone era at their stands. With bag cutters and chiselers, there are historical crafts to touch, while witches mix up the park alongside jugglers and knights. Once again this year, “Ugly Hans” will be there as a beggar, a historical carousel driven by servants with pure muscle power, a fortune teller and jugglers will entertain the audience. Widely traveled jewelry and soap merchants offer their treasures for the ladies.

Wood elves and mini knights can discover the Middle Ages in a playful way by trying their hand at archery and crossbow shooting, cracking eggs or throwing spears. If the latter is too daring for you, you can try your hand at pottery or children’s bookbinding or go to the storyteller, who knows great legends and stories. Or you can let the children’s make-up artist make you even more beautiful! A blacksmith will be there again this year and a stonemason will let children participate in his craft and swing a hammer and chisel themselves.

A knightly feast with a great atmosphere in the evening with lanterns & live music

And as all this is known to make you hungry, food is also provided. The aroma of freshly baked bread, spices, grilled meat, sweet honey wine and tempting pastries fills the air and you immediately realize: our ancestors knew how to cook! With oriental fruits, oriental vegetables, cream puddings, hemp baked goods and even half a pig on a spit over an open fire, medieval fans of all eating preferences are in for a real treat. Whether it’s venison goulash with dumplings, robber’s ribs or simply a piece of fresh wood-fired bread with a glass of fruit wine, home-brewed beer or Barbarossa punch – the menu has it all.

And from dusk until the evening hours, the Medieval Fair is transformed into a “legendary” setting: with authentic music from traditional instruments and songs, with oriental tribal dancing and an illumination of torches and candles to match the era, the atmosphere here is very atmospheric.

Medieval fair
Herzogenriedpark Mannheim Max-Joseph-Straße 64 68169 Mannheim

• Opening hours: Fri. 14. March, 3 – 9 p.m., Sat. 15. March. 11 – 9 p.m., Sun. 16. March. 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Admission: Adults € 9, beneficiaries and annual pass holders € 7, children (6 to 15 years) € 5, kids with annual pass € 4, children under sword size free
• Market admission is valid for ALL visitors to Herzogenriedpark!
• By public transport to Herzogenriedpark: RNV train lines 1 and 3, stop Neuer Messplatz RNV train lines 4/4A, 5/5A and 15, stop Bonifatius-Kirche RNV bus line 61, stop Bonifatius-Kirche
• For those arriving by car: Parking on the Neuer Messplatz site via the access road on the corner of Maybach-/Max-Joseph-Straße
• ONLINE TICKETS HERE!
  Link: https://shop.herzogenriedpark.de/categories/70
  Admission to the park and opening hours are in line with the market conditions on all days and for all park visitors.

Herzogenriedpark Mannheim

Seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling

– the colors of nature, the singing of birds, the scent of flowers or the bark of ancient trees: a visit to Herzogenriedpark activates the senses, is a recreational and freshness cure for body, mind and soul at the same time, a place of pure relaxation in the middle of nature. On 365 days a year, around 500,000 visitors enjoy the park in Mannheim’s Neckar city, which stands for its pristine landscapes, countless opportunities for children and a unique range of open-air sports. On 365 days a year, Herzogenriedpark in the heart of Mannheim’s Neckarstadt district has a cozy spot for everyone on its 21 hectares. Whether in the traditional farmer’s garden, in the enchanted rose garden or along the many shady avenues of trees: the meaning of the word “deceleration” can be experienced here with all the senses.

Movement, relaxation, nature

From the sun terraces, you can enjoy a magnificent view of blossoming magnolias, cherry blossoms and lovingly planted flower hills. And what are the perfect ingredients for relaxation in the midst of nature? In addition to extensive, well-tended greenery, a park lake, a modern Kneipp pool and many fountains, our “freshness guarantors” for hot days! Mannheim’s sports park also scores points when it comes to exercise: From boules to basketball, table tennis, tennis, athletics with ash track and long jump facility, soccer field fitness equipment under the open sky and, new and cross-generational, the motor skills course leave nothing to be desired for athletes. Kids will get their money’s worth on an eleven-meter high climbing facility, at the spray guns, in the cave labyrinth or on the farm.

Please understand that due to our free-roaming animals, dogs, except guide dogs for the blind, and other pets are not allowed. Feeding the animals living in the parks is not allowed.

New opening hours

As of March 1, 2023, modified ticket office opening hours are in effect at Herzogenriedpark. The new hours have been adapted to the previous visitors usage behavior and apply to the entrances Main Entrance/Neuer Messplatz and Jakob-Trumpfheller-Strasse/corner Hochuferstraße. Both entrances are staffed cash desks at the times indicated. 

In March and October, the cash desk at the main entrance will open at 9 a.m. as usual, while the cash desk at Jacob-Trumpfheller-Strasse will now open one hour later at 10 a.m. Both cash desks will close half an hour earlier than usual. Both ticket offices will close half an hour earlier than before at 6 p.m. In April and September, the ticket office at both entrances will run uniformly from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. From May through August, both ticket offices will run uniformly from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. From November through February, the main ticket office at the new Messplatz opens at 9 a.m., while the ticket office at Jacob-Trumpfhellerstrasse does not open until 10 a.m. Box office closing time at both entrances is 4 p.m.

At the entrance near the GBG Hall and at the Herzogenried residential development, both fully automated entrances, the opening hours remain unchanged in all months. Visitors can only pass through these entrances with an annual pass or a ticket previously purchased elsewhere. With an annual pass, access is possible one hour earlier in the morning and one hour longer in the afternoon. Exit is possible at all times via the turnstiles!