Penzberg: Mining history, art and nature

Penzberg brings together the history of mining, art and a green setting. If you want to explore the town, you can choose between exhibitions on its local past, paths on a former mining spoil heap and Eitzenberger Weiher. These different sides of Penzberg can help you decide which experiences you want to focus on when choosing a holiday apartment.

Mining history at several stops

The Mining Museum Penzberg brings mining history to life in an unusual location: it is at Karlstraße 36, in the rear building of the secondary school, on the basement level, and is accessed via the schoolyard. From Penzberg station, you can reach the museum on foot in about ten minutes. Its location makes the station a useful landmark if you are planning to include a museum visit in your day.

Another way to explore Penzberg's mining past is the mining trail established by the Penzberg Miners' Association. At its 13 stops, you can learn about former facilities of the mine. This lets you discover the subject not only in a museum, but also through individual stops around the town. A reconstruction of a miner's apartment from around 1920 adds to this insight: the Museum Penzberg – Campendonk Collection displays it in a listed historic building.

Campendonk and Penzberg's history

The Museum Penzberg – Campendonk Collection brings art together with a sobering chapter of the town's history. A permanent exhibition is devoted to the history of the Nazi era and the so-called “Penzberg Night of Murder.” The museum also presents the world's largest exhibition of works by Heinrich Campendonk, including paintings, drawings and luminous reverse-glass paintings. Campendonk was the only artist in the “Blue Rider” group to immortalise Penzberg in his paintings.

The Way of St. James also offers different perspectives: its religious, cultural and art-historical features include churches, paintings and altars dedicated to Saint James; at the same time, it leads through a varied landscape. When planning your trip, you can therefore consider whether you would rather focus on art and history or on scenery and getting active.

Green trails and ponds

The spoil heap was created in 1974 from the mine's former spoil mounds and turned into a green oasis in the heart of Penzberg. Its plateau has walking and Nordic walking trails. From there, panoramic views stretch across the Loisach-Kochelsee moorland to the Alpine chain. If you enjoy spending time outdoors during your stay, this offers a different way to connect with mining history than a museum: both the site's former use and its green character today are part of what makes it distinctive.

The spoil heap also used to have a ski slope with a tow lift and a toboggan run. These details describe its former use; when planning, do not mistake them for a statement about what is available today. Eitzenberger Weiher, in the northwest of Penzberg, offers a different kind of scenery. The small moor lake lies amid gently rolling woodland and hills and has silky water, a firmly anchored raft and several bathing jetties. It covers a good five hectares, is ten metres deep and has more than 18,000 square metres of well-kept sunbathing lawn.

Activities and getting around during your stay

If you would like to explore Penzberg and the surrounding area by bike or on foot, the cycling and hiking map includes suggested routes around Penzberg as far as Weilheim, Bernried, Bad Tölz and Kochel am See, as well as long-distance and hiking trails. These places point to different directions for day trips, without requiring you to settle on just one way of exploring.

For getting around Penzberg, the town bus network has four routes serving individual districts. Routes 940 and 941, along with two direct routes, generally start and end in the town centre and at the station. If connections to the station and town centre are important for your plans, you can take this into account when choosing accommodation. Whether you would rather focus on art, mining history, green trails or the pond, Penzberg offers a range of themes to shape your trip around.

Discover more places

If you are considering other places for your travel plans, you can find Hohenpeißenberg, Seeshaupt, Pähl, Peiting, Raisting, Huglfing, Eberfing and Rottenbuch here.

For the broader travel overview: Weilheim-Schongau.