Beilngries: Historic Towers and Waterways

Beilngries can be explored through its medieval town towers, churches, historic canal structures and waterscapes. To decide whether the town is right for your stay, there are several ways to approach it: a clearly defined town walk, religious and engineering history, a visitor centre, a museum and viewpoints. This will help you gauge which aspects of Beilngries interest you.

Town Towers and Sacred Buildings

Beilngries’ medieval town towers were built from 1407 onwards; ten of the original fifteen have survived. The town walk takes one hour and is two kilometres long, providing a concrete guide for planning your time and route. With its brightly glazed tower spires, St Walburga’s parish church forms a striking focal point within the circle traced by the historic towers of the old town.

The Frauenkirche offers a different architectural accent. This Rococo building is considered the town’s most significant sacred building; its construction began in 1753 under Maurizio Pedetti, Director of Works to the Prince-Bishop. The towers and the two churches point to different aspects of Beilngries’ history: a surviving medieval ensemble and an important Rococo sacred building.

Canal History and Water Experiences

On the edge of town, a two-storey harbourmaster’s house, a goods shed and a quay wall with an iron crane were built between 1836 and 1845 as part of the Ludwig–Danube–Main Canal. The three structures illustrate different aspects of canal history: from the harbourmaster’s house to goods handling and the quay wall with its crane.

Since 2017, the “Erlebniswelt Wasserstraße” information and visitor centre has been located in the Gösselthalmühle, right beside the Main–Danube Canal. It provides information about waterways, technology, shipping and nature. Visitors can explore topics related to shipping and waterways at interactive stations. The centre’s themes therefore extend beyond the historic harbour structures.

You can also explore the Altmühl from Beilngries by boat. Beilngries is surrounded by four waterways: the Altmühl, Sulz, Main–Danube Canal and Ludwig Canal. The surrounding natural landscape was also shaped by the power of water. In Beilngries, you can therefore experience both the use of waterways and their significance for the landscape.

Toy Museum and Special Collections

The Beilngries Toy Museum displays old toys of all kinds. The Beilngries-Kinding Historical and Cultural Association (Kulturhistorischer Verein Beilngries-Kinding e. V.) brought the pieces together and assembled them into an exhibition. They include a large-scale model railway layout and special play areas where children can play. The museum thus combines the study of historical toys with engaging, hands-on elements.

Castle, Geology and Views

Hirschberg Castle lies northwest of Beilngries. Its present-day appearance preserves several elements of the former castle complex: the castle wall, the Grafenbau, the keep and the castle chapel. These surviving features show a different historical architectural style from the town towers and churches in Beilngries.

A short walk along the Wünschelrutenweg trail around Beilngries offers views over the town, the Main–Danube Canal and the Altmühl Valley. The “Malmschichten am Arzberg” geotope is a geological point of interest: the quarry’s exposed walls are 70 metres high, and the quarry documents a period of deposition of around five million years. The height and geological timespan provide two very different scales for viewing the landscape.

Beilngries offers several distinct highlights to help you decide: town history and sacred architecture, canal and shipping topics, a toy collection, and geology and views. The one-hour, two-kilometre town walk provides a concrete timeframe and route; you can choose which other topics to include in your stay according to your interests.

Discover more destinations: Lenting, Kösching, Denkendorf, Oberdolling, Altmannstein, Schernfeld, Dollnstein, Böhmfeld.

Return to the main travel overview: Eichstätt.