Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Brühl (Germany). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces, Black Mamba Roller Coaster, and Taron Roller Coaster. Also, be sure to include Winjas in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Brühl (North Rhine-Westphalia).
Table of Contents
Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces
Also known as: Schlösser Augustusburg und Falkenlust
18th-century rococo palace guided tours. The Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces form a historical building complex in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which has been listed as a UNESCO cultural World Heritage Site since 1984. The buildings are connected by the spacious gardens and trees of the Schlosspark. Augustusburg Palace and its parks also serve as a venue for the Brühl Palace Concerts.
The palaces were built at the beginning of the 18th century by the Archbishop-Elector of Cologne, Clemens August of Bavaria of the Wittelsbach family. The architects were Johann Conrad Schlaun and François de Cuvilliés. The main block of Augustusburg Palace is a U-shaped building with three main storeys and two levels of attics. The magnificent staircase was designed by Johann Balthasar Neumann.
The gardens were designed by Dominique Girard. An elaborate parterre for an area south of the palaces was also designed, but it was restructured by Peter Joseph Lenné in the 19th century and turned into a landscape garden. Attempts to renovate the area have proven difficult, due to poor source material availability.
Falkenlust hunting lodge was designed by François de Cuvilliés and built from 1729 to 1740, in the style of the Amalienburg hunting lodge in the park of Nymphenburg Palace.
From shortly after World War II until 1994, Augustusburg was used as a reception hall for guests of state by the German President, as it is not far from Bonn, which was the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany at that time.[1]
Address: 6 Schloßstraße, Brühl
Black Mamba Roller Coaster
Also known as: Black Mamba
Roller coaster in Brühl, Germany. Black Mamba is an inverted roller coaster built by Bolliger & Mabillard in the German theme park Phantasialand. The ride is situated in the "Deep in Africa" area of the park and is named after the black mamba snake. Theming in the area largely draws from the mud architecture of Western Africa, especially the cities of Timbuktu and Djenne.[2]
Taron Roller Coaster
Also known as: Taron
Roller coaster in Brühl, Germany. Taron is a multilaunch steel roller coaster manufactured by Intamin located at Phantasialand in Germany. It was the fastest multi-launched roller coaster in the world when it opened. Taron opened on 30 June 2016.
The ride is situated in the 'Klugheim' area of the theme park, a mythical village reflecting Old Norse cultures. The coaster sits in a canyon of basalt rock at the edge of the village. Also within the canyon is a new-for-2016 Family Boomerang roller coaster called Raik. Klugheim replaced the former Silver City themed area of the park.[3]
Winjas
Also known as: Winja’s Fear & Winja’s Force
Winja's Fear & Force is the generic term for two spinning roller coasters, Winja's Fear and Winja's Force, at Phantasialand in Germany. They are located in Wuze Town, an indoor area of the park.
The rides consist of two similar tracks which mirror each other at first but also feature some unique sections. The cars seat four people, two facing backwards, and freely spin after the first drop. In theory, this would mean every single ride would spin in a unique pattern. However, several sections of track are designed to make optimal use of the car's momentum, forcing the car to move in certain ways.
The two roller coasters are raised via a vertical lift instead of the traditional lifthill. The Winjas feature a unique hinged section of track about halfway through, with Fear collapsing forward and Force banking sideways in order to continue. The two coasters travel on separate tracks and are intertwined in the main hall of Wuze Town. At the very end of the ride, a little surprise element is built in, which shortly drops a section of track a few feet and raises it again.
The ride is themed to fit the Wuze Town environment, a fictional town of myths and fantasy. The character Winja after whom the rides are named, is the main character of the area. A soundtrack specially written for the Winja's can be heard in the queuing area. Two samples of the soundtrack for the 2000 Disney film Dinosaur are also used during the ride, respectively the lift and hinged sections.[4]
Crazy Bats
Also known as: Temple of the Night Hawk
Roller coaster in Brühl, Germany. Crazy Bats, formerly Space Center and Temple of the Night Hawk is an enclosed roller coaster located at Phantasialand.[5]
Christ Church
The Christuskirche in Brühl is a Protestant church consecrated in 1888. It is considered the oldest Protestant church between Cologne and Bonn. The diaspora congregation was founded on the influx of Prussian, mostly Protestant soldiers, civil servants and entrepreneurs after the wars of liberation.
Address: 5 Mayersweg, Brühl
Maus au Chocolat
Maus au Chocolat is an interactive dark ride that opened 9 June 2011 in Phantasialand, Germany. The ride is situated in the Berlin area of the park.[6]
Address: Berggeiststr. 31-41, Brühl
Mystery Castle
Mystery Castle is a ride at Phantasialand Brühl, which together with River Quest and the Klugheim themed world, which includes Taron and Raik, forms the Mystery themed area. The manufacturer of the patented drive technology is Ride Trade, a company belonging to Intamin.
Unlike other rides of this type, the ride takes place inside the enclosed 65-meter tower and is accompanied by a complete story.
The attraction is divided into two sections and tells the story of the fictional Windhoven family.
First, the visitor is led through the castle surrounding the tower, and on the way is frightened by various park employees dressed as ghosts and monsters. The story of the "fight against evil", which manifests itself "high up in the tower" and which the guest is supposed to fight with his "positive energy", is retold during the waiting time inside the building.
Talocan
Talocan is the first suspended top spin in Europe and is located at Phantasialand Brühl near Cologne. Since 2007, the attraction by manufacturer Huss Rides has taken the place of the Condor, which was demolished for it, in the Mexico themed area. The theming follows a fictional story about the uncovering of an Aztec temple during the enlargement of the wine cellar of a Mexican cooperative. The name is derived from Aztec mythology, in which the paradise of the weather god Tlaloc was called Tlalocan.
Chiapas
Amusement ride. Chiapas, DIE Wasserbahn is an Intamin flume ride in Phantasialand, a theme park in Germany, which opened on 1 April 2014. It is located in the park's Mexico area and replaced Stonewash and Wildwash Creek, which were both demolished in 2011. Its 53° drop is the steepest drop on a log flume in the world.
The soundtrack for Chiapas was composed by Andreas and Sebastian Kübler of IMAscore and features the 65-person Budapest Film Music Orchestra.[7]
Address: Berggeiststraße 31-41, Brühl
Geister Rikscha
Theme park in Brühl, Germany. Phantasialand is a theme park in Brühl, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany that attracts approximately 2 million visitors annually. The park was opened in 1967 by Gottlieb Löffelhardt and Richard Schmidt. Although starting as a family-oriented park, Phantasialand has also added thrill rides, especially during recent years. Furthermore, following the example of Europa-Park, they have decided to attract business customers beside the regular ones, calling it "Business to Pleasure".
Phantasialand is known for its high attention to detail in its theming and introduces new attractions more often compared to other theme parks to compensate for its small area and regularly is voted one of the best parks in the world.
Among the park's thrill rides is Taron (the world's fastest multi-launch coaster), Black Mamba (a Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster) and a themed Mine Train roller coaster called Colorado Adventure, which runs among some mountains in the park's Wild West section and was opened by Michael Jackson.[8]