Medieval Fair 2024

Friday, March 15 to Sunday, March 17

What happens when the Rhineland Vikings pack their tents and the warriors of the Oftersheim Steppe set up their night quarters 20 km away in Mannheim? Where is there a bookstall with fairy tales for brave people? Where can you watch a scissor grinder at work? Where does face painting for children cost 2 thalers and is done by a lady of the castle in a fine dress? And where does an equally splendidly dressed lady explain to a crowd of little people in Middle High German how to spin the medieval wheel of fortune? That’s right, the Medieval Fair in Herzogenriedpark is coming up in 2024 from Friday, March 15 to Sunday, March 17.

Last year, after a two-year break, the market was so popular that the Medieval Fair was moved to the middle of the park for the first time, making the Park Center the venue for this great festival. It will be the same again this year, with park admission and opening hours corresponding to the market conditions on all days and for all park visitors.

A festival like a journey through time

An open-air festival about the legendary age of the Germanic tribes, Vikings and Celts, in which “Charlemagne” and “Walther von der Vogelweide” lived. There is hardly an era that holds as many secrets and contradictions as the Middle Ages. Visitors and exhibitors will once again be splendidly costumed, and there will be handmade dishes that knights and noblemen once had on the feast table. There will be other “products of daily use” at many stands.

The Mannheim market was held 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. Around 120 exhibitors take part every year. Coopers, hurdy-gurdy makers, blacksmiths and fire painters, cloth merchants and market women invite you on an exciting journey back in time to a bygone era with their handcrafted arts and crafts. 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 a shoe shiner. Widely traveled jewelry and soap merchants offer their treasures for the ladies.

Forest elves and mini knights can discover the Middle Ages in a playful way by trying their hand at archery and crossbow shooting, and even build their own bow – it should shoot 80 meters! Crack eggs or throw spears or something a little gentler, there’s plenty to discover with pottery and children’s bookbinding or with the storyteller, who knows great legends and stories. Once again this year, there will be a blacksmith with a real treadmill that children can “run”: The self-built, almost four-meter-high wheel is connected to a camshaft that drives a 60-kilogram hammer – this “giant hamster wheel” is sure to delight many kids!

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! Medieval fans are spoiled with oriental fruits, oriental vegetables, cream puddings and hemp baked goods. 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. From dusk until the evening hours, the market is then transformed into a “legendary” setting: with a band that seems to come from this very legendary time, with its songs of shamans who fear for the good harvest, it finally beams you back to the medieval timeline. The setting is complemented by an illumination of torches and candles to match the era – the atmosphere is simply perfect!

Opening hours:

Fri. 15.03., 3 pm – 9 pm, Sat. 16.03. 11 am – 9 pm, Sun. 17.03. 11 am – 6 pm

Admission to the market is valid for ALL visitors to Herzogenriedpark!

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

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 at the corner of Maybach-/Max-Joseph-Straße

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!