Dachau between history, art and nature

Old Town, Palace and Art History

Dachau’s historic town centre is protected as an architectural ensemble and invites visitors to stroll and linger. Wittelsbach Palace was once a popular summer residence of the Wittelsbach family. The climb up to the palace is rewarded with views across the Munich gravel plain, the state capital of Munich and as far as the Alps. Guided tours are regularly held at the palace; current dates are announced as they become available.

The Dachau Picture Gallery’s permanent collection features landscape and genre paintings from the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is connected with the Dachau artists’ colony, regarded as one of Germany’s most important artists’ colonies in art history, which strongly influenced the development of modern art in the 20th century. The Dachau District Museum complements this perspective with the cultural history of the town and district. Its three floors display exhibits on settlement patterns, town history, guild and market rights, crafts and trade, everyday life, holiday customs and popular religious culture.

Paths, Water and Nature

The Karlsfelder See recreation area lies directly beside the built-up area of northern Karlsfeld. The lake covers 58.2 hectares and is located in the district of Dachau. It is used year-round for walking, jogging, cycling and recreation. Those who want to include activity by the water in their trip will find a different focus here than on a day spent in Dachau’s museums.

The approximately 2.5-kilometre-long “Lebensader Maisach” (Maisach Lifeline) path runs alongside the Maisach. It is accessible to visitors with reduced mobility from Bergkirchen or Günding. In the Amper floodplains, patience and a little luck may reveal the beaver’s distinctive feeding marks; the animal has made a comeback in the area. Another walking route, “Art and Culture around Klosterberg,” loops around the monastery in Altomünster and passes important sights.

On Petersberg near Erdweg stands a Romanesque basilica built in 1104 that is still preserved today. The 200-metre-long sculpture trail also runs through Petersberg Forest, with a total of ten works of art at eight stations. Those who prefer cycling can consider the middle route of the “Der 7-Klöster-Weg” (The 7 Monasteries Trail) cycle route. It leads to Altomünster, which was home to a Birgitine monastery for centuries, and to Petersberg near Erdweg. A connecting route to the Munich Way of St James, which continues to Lindau, also runs through the Dachau region.

Monastic History and Places of Remembrance

The permanent exhibition at the Altomünster Museum is devoted to the history of the Birgitine Order in Europe and its founder, Saint Bridget of Sweden. One example is the now-closed monastery in Altomünster, which had been in existence for 500 years. Mariabrunn is also part of the municipality of Röhrmoos: after a miraculous healing attributed to water from a spring, the place developed into an important pilgrimage site in the Diocese of Freising from 1662 onwards.

The Path of Remembrance addresses the fate of children as victims of National Socialism. It also recalls that, after the Second World War, Markt Indersdorf was a place of refuge for more than 1,000 young survivors of Nazi persecution. To travel to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, take bus route 726 from Dachau station in the direction of “Saubachsiedlung.”

When choosing your holiday apartment, you can first consider which experiences you want to shape your trip: the old town and museums, paths and countryside, or monastic and remembrance history. The destinations are in different locations, so choose your base according to the places you would like to visit.

More places in the destination region: Dachau, Altomünster, Haimhausen, Bergkirchen, Weißling, Schwabhausen, Markt Indersdorf, Hebertshausen, Odelzhausen, Erdweg, Karlsfeld, Vierkirchen, Röhrmoos, Petershausen, Sulzemoos and Hilgertshausen-Tandern.

For the overarching travel overview: Bavaria.