“Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” certified in 2014

The House of Habsburg was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. To a certain extent the history of the Habsburgs is also our history. From 996 to 1815 the personalities of this major dynasty had a decisive influence on history, as they helped to form the geography and the fate of Europe. Ententes and disputes, power struggles and territorial conquests, times of war and of peace… all divided peoples but also reunited them and formed bonds, which endure over time.

 Heritage

The 800-year-old history of the Habsburgs is preserved in sites covering thousands of square kilometres in western and central Europe. Palaces, castles, magnificent churches, monasteries, abbeys and splendid museums show how this emblematic dynastic family shaped not only history but also art, transmitting cultural wealth from different periods and, at the time of its decline, provoking the modernist revolt.  

Travelling today

More than 70 sites and cities in four different countries and six regions invite the visitor to embark on a journey through timeless landscapes and extraordinary places. Among the many regions of Central Europe that were shaped by the Habsburgs and which also form part of this Cultural Route are Tyrol (Austria), the Black Forest (Germany), Alsace and Lorraine (France), as well as Lake Constance (Switzerland) and Herceg Novi, at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor (Montenegro), forming over 150 tourist destinations waiting to be discovered.  

Photo Credits: ©Aargau Tourismus