Roßbach: Hiking, the Peace Trail and Cultural History

Plan a stay in Roßbach around specific themes that combine hiking and cultural history. Five marked trails run through the forest for long stretches; there are also the Peace Trail, the parish church and the local history museum. The options range from forest hikes to architectural history, collection items and local traditions.

Hiking and the Peace Trail

Roßbach has five marked hiking trails that run through the forest for long stretches. The number describes the local hiking options, while the forest provides a shared setting for the trails. The starting point for the Peace Trail is clearly specified: a large, well-signposted car park in the town centre. This lets you distinguish the overview of the marked trails from the specific information about where to start the Peace Trail—useful details to compare when planning your hikes.

The municipalities of Roßbach and St. Veit im Innkreis jointly created the Peace Trail. All known chapels, wayside shrines, and roadside and weather crosses were recorded for the trail, and a hiking route was also planned. The Peace Trail is thus shaped both by cooperation between two municipalities and by the range of religious landmarks documented along the way.

Roßbach Parish Church

Roßbach Parish Church is dedicated to Saint James, is Gothic in style and has three naves. “Three-naved” means that the church interior is divided into three naves; the term describes its spatial layout. The church was remodelled in the 17th century and later given a Baroque makeover. Its Gothic classification thus sits alongside later alterations. Its dedication to Saint James adds a distinct religious dimension to the architectural description. The design and phases of remodelling therefore offer different ways to understand the church’s architecture and history.

Roßbach Local History Museum

Roßbach Local History Museum displays tools, household items, furniture, locks, chests, clocks and musical instruments. Most of the objects date from the 17th to the 19th century. The range of object groups and the historical focus of most of the collection are important to its subject matter. Visitors exploring history through tangible objects will find a different perspective here from that offered by the architecturally distinctive parish church.

Heimkehrerwald Chapel

Since 2005, Heimkehrerwald Chapel has been a stopping point on the Way of St. James pilgrimage route. According to an old legend, apparitions of the Virgin Mary occurred several times around 1850 at the site of today’s chapel. The link to the pilgrimage route and the legend offer different perspectives on the place: one connects the chapel to a named route, while the other preserves a local story. A dated link to a route thus sits alongside a tradition identified as legend.

Historical time periods

The dates also refer to different things: the 17th-century remodelling of the parish church and its later Baroque makeover describe building phases, while most of the objects in the local history museum date from the 17th to the 19th century. Around 1850 belongs to the legend associated with Heimkehrerwald Chapel. This lets you compare the dates of the architecture, collection and local tradition without treating the legend as a dated building phase.

Discover more destinations: Palting, Kirchberg bei Mattighofen, Sankt Radegund, Treubach, Geretsberg, Auerbach, Mauerkirchen, Feldkirchen bei Mattighofen

For the overview of the wider region: Braunau Am Inn.