Most people meet Wittenberg at 60 miles an hour, at the spot where Highway 29 and US 45 cross in western Shawano County. The ones who take the exit find a village with a smokehouse that ships bacon across the country, more than 30 murals on its downtown walls, and a disc golf course on the river. This is a straight list of things to do in Wittenberg, with the hours, the distances and the catches.
Everything below sits within 2.5 miles of downtown except where noted. You will want a car. The interchange strip, where the Best Western and two of the restaurants are, sits about 2.5 miles east of the downtown blocks.
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What Wittenberg is known for
Wittenberg is known for Nueske's applewood-smoked meats, the Walls of Wittenberg mural project, and the Ho-Chunk casino north of town. Of the three, the bacon draws the most attention: the Nueske's store alone has close to 1,000 Google reviews.
The town has an odd origin story for a place this quiet. The Rev. E.J. Homme, a Norwegian Lutheran pastor, arrived in 1879 and talked the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railroad into renaming its station here from Carbonero to Wittenberg. He built an orphanage, a home for the aged and a church, and paid for it partly by selling a patent medicine called Wittenberg Drops. He also dammed the Embarrass River to run his sawmill, which is how Homme Pond came to exist.
The Homme Homes marker and Homme Pond
You can still see where Homme dammed the river. A Wisconsin Historical Society marker, put up in 1973, stands on US 45 at the edge of the village near the entrance to the Homme Dam, with the pond spread out behind it. By 1885 Homme had drawn forty families here, and the orphanage he built just south of the marker took in children from across the Upper Midwest.
It takes five minutes and explains more about the village than anything else on this list. Homme died in 1903 and is buried in Wittenberg.
Nueske's Company Store
The company turned 90 in 2023 and marked it with a pancake breakfast at the store. Tanya Nueske runs it now as CEO. R.C. got the business going during the Depression by buying a refrigerated truck and delivering meat to people vacationing in the Northwoods.
Reviewers say the same two things over and over: it is the best bacon they have had, and it is not cheap. Both are fair. If you are driving through on 29, this is the stop that justifies the exit on its own.
The Walls of Wittenberg murals
The Walls of Wittenberg are more than 30 murals painted on downtown buildings since 2005, and you can see most of them in one slow loop on foot. Resident Lois Smith started the project after seeing a similar one in Florida, and a volunteer group still commissions new walls.
WOWSPACE, a restored building that used to be the village pharmacy, hosts the group's art shows, a quilt show and the occasional murder mystery dinner theater. Nearby, the Art Park holds nine sculptures by area artists in a landscaped lot.
Go on a weekend if you want the gallery open. Any day works for the walls themselves.
Parks, disc golf and Wilson Lake
Wittenberg has four parks worth knowing, and each one does a different job. All four are free.
Panic Park, 1.2 miles northeast of downtown, has a nine-basket disc golf course along the river, with small rapids running under the bridge. Bring your own discs. Washington Park on Park St is the downtown one, with a bandshell built so the sound carries back toward the crowd, an old-school playground and the restrooms that serve Community Days.
Wilson Lake County Park is the big one: 110 acres, 2.5 miles west of downtown, with a small beach, a fishing pier, a boat ramp and rustic campsites. Panfish are the usual catch. Pond Park rounds out the list with a basketball court, grills and a shelter that has electricity, which makes it the default for birthday parties.
Biking and walking the Wiouwash Trail
The northern section of the Wiouwash State Trail runs right through Wittenberg, so you can ride a rail trail without loading the bikes. It comes in from Eland, 3 miles north, follows Howard St through the village and carries on south toward Tigerton.
The surface is rustic, part crushed stone and part mowed grass, so a hybrid or mountain bike beats a road bike. The route, the access points and the rules for the northern Wiouwash State Trail have more detail than fits here. In Eland the Wiouwash meets the Mountain-Bay State Trail, which heads west toward Weston and east toward Green Bay.
In winter the Mountain-Bay corridor turns into a snowmobile route. Sleds need a Wisconsin registration or a snowmobile state trail pass.
Ho-Chunk Gaming Wittenberg
Ho-Chunk's rewards card works at all six of the Nation's Wisconsin casinos, and points can go toward meals and hotel nights. Check the casino's site for current restaurant hours before you plan dinner around it.
Golf and bowling
Downtown on Howard St, Wittenberg Lanes is the alley locals knew for years as Resch Lanes, with bowling there since 1948. It runs Tuesday through Sunday, has a bar and a kitchen, and its back wall carries one of the best-known murals in town.
Shopping downtown and on Highway 29
Wittenberg's downtown shopping is secondhand and small, and that is the appeal. The Olde Dime Store on S Webb St is a consignment shop with clothing, furniture and books, open Tuesday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday 9am to 3pm. Across the street, Wishing Well Vintage runs vendor booths of antiques and handmade goods from Wednesday to Saturday.
Out on the highways, Black Creek Falls Furniture on US 45 builds indoor and outdoor furniture, a lot of it aimed at lake homes. Fireworks Country, 1.6 miles west of downtown on Highway 29, is a year-round fireworks store where you can scan a barcode on each item and watch it go off before you buy.
Rustic Road 47
Rustic Road 47 is a 14-mile paved drive on County M between County Q and US 45, and it is the best slow drive near Wittenberg. The route passes a round barn and a red granite town hall, crosses two streams and runs through conifer stands, wetland and farm fields.
Rustic Roads are a Wisconsin designation with a 45 mph top speed, which suits the road. Fall color makes it worth a second trip.
Wittenberg Community Days
Wittenberg Community Days is the village's big weekend, held in June around Washington Park. Recent years have run Friday to Sunday, with carnival rides, live music, a bag tournament, WOW mural tours, fireworks on Saturday night and a parade at noon on Sunday.
The Lions Club cheese curds are the thing people mention first. Dates move year to year, so check the Events tab before you book.
Nearby, worth the short drive
Two stops outside the village are worth adding if you have the afternoon. In Tigerton, 7.5 miles southeast, Rocks For Fun Cafe is a roadside spot full of rock-art displays that sells homemade frozen pasties to take home.
About 16 miles north-northwest, near Aniwa, the Motorama Auto Museum keeps a collection of 20th-century cars and motorcycles, open Wednesday to Saturday 9am to 5pm. It pairs well with Nueske's if you are coming down US 45 from the north.
Where to eat
For breakfast, Wittenberg Family Restaurant on Genesee St is the downtown diner, open from 7am and closing at 3pm on every day except Friday, when it stays open to 8pm for fish fry. Friday is fish fry night across the village, and the bars and the bowling alley all join in.
For something sweet, Britt's Candy & Ice Cream on Grand Ave does soft serve, custard and a rhubarb sundae, Wednesday to Sunday. The full rundown of restaurants in Wittenberg, with every place's open days, is the thing to read before a Monday visit, when half the kitchens are closed.
Where to stay
Wittenberg has two hotels and a campground. The Best Western Wittenberg Inn sits at the Highway 29 interchange with an indoor pool and breakfast, and Ho-Chunk has 86 rooms in its tower north of town.
Wilson Lake County Park takes tents. Which of the two Wittenberg hotels suits you comes down to whether you came for the casino.
When to go
Mid-May through September is the comfortable stretch, with July highs around 80°F. Snow usually starts in November and the area averages about 55 inches a winter.
Community Days lands in June, fall color peaks on Rustic Road 47, and Nueske's is open year-round. Month-by-month numbers are in Wittenberg weather by month.
Frequently asked questions
Published August 31, 2026
