Discover Marktl

Marktl can be viewed through three distinct themes: cycling routes, natural landscapes and memorial sites. If you are looking for a hotel for your trip, these themes can help you decide which local and regional topics matter for your stay. The following sections first focus on Marktl, then on selected aspects of the wider destination of Altötting.

Cycling Routes and Nature in Marktl

Marktl is a junction for the Inn Cycle Route, the Benedict Cycle Route, the Traun-Alz Cycle Route and the Inn-Salzach Cycle Route. One popular variant of the Inn Cycle Route leads from Neuötting through Altötting and the extensive Ötting Forest to the ducal town of Burghausen, past the confluence of the Inn and Salzach rivers, and onward to Marktl. The section in the Inn-Salzach region is just over 75 kilometres long. The local description of Marktl as a junction and this longer route description show two different scales of cycling.

The Dachlwand nature reserve on the Inn is a natural area with a precisely defined size. It covers parts of the municipalities of Marktl, Erlbach and Perach and is about 206 hectares in size. In 1986, it was converted from a landscape protection area into a nature reserve. The beekeeping educational trail in Marktl runs through an orchard meadow with more than 20 old varieties of apple and pear. Marktl thus offers a variety of nature-related attractions: a protected area and an educational trail whose distinctive surroundings are shaped by old fruit varieties.

History and Memorial Sites

One specific historical connection to St. Oswald’s Church is the baptismal font in which Joseph Ratzinger was baptised on 16 April 1927. It had to be removed from the church in 1965 because of renovation work. Since Easter Sunday 2006, it has once again been used there as a baptismal font, in keeping with its original purpose. These dates link the baptism with later changes to the church and the font’s return to use.

The Benedict Column was erected to mark the papal visit on 11 September 2006. It was designed by sculptor Joseph Michael Neustifter of Eggenfelden. A bronze commemorative plaque with important historical dates was installed at the town hall to mark the tenth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s visit. A dove adorns the Town Twinning Square. It symbolises peace and international understanding and commemorates the ten-year partnership with Wadowice, the birthplace of Pope John Paul II. The column, plaque and dove each provide a distinct focus: sculpture, historical dates and a symbol of the partnership.

Altötting as the Wider Destination

Within the wider destination of Altötting, the district of Altötting lies along the Inn and Salzach rivers. The landscape is shaped by a plain about 10 kilometres wide, through which the Inn flows and which is bounded to the north and south by lush green hills. Together with the district of Mühldorf, Altötting belongs to the Inn-Salzach tourism region. The region’s visitor information includes cycling and pilgrimage routes, museums and bathing lakes, among other attractions.

The regional cycling route description also offers a different perspective from the four routes for which Marktl is a junction: a popular variant of the Inn Cycle Route leads from Neuötting through Altötting and the Ötting Forest to Burghausen and onward to Marktl. The just-over-75-kilometre distance refers to the section in the Inn-Salzach region, not to a single route section within Marktl.

The wider destination also includes the “Lower Inn between Haiming and Neuhaus” nature reserve. It provides a habitat for migrating, overwintering and breeding marsh and water birds; more than 25 different bird species associated with water and wetlands breed there. For those interested in culture, the Basilica of St. Anna in Altötting is another regional point of interest: it is the largest church in Altötting and can accommodate more than 8,000 people. The octagon of the Chapel of Grace probably dates from around the year 700 and is believed to be Germany’s oldest central-plan building.

Discover more destinations: Stammham, Burgkirchen an der Alz, Neuötting, Emmerting, Altötting, Reischach, Haiming, Pleiskirchen.

Back to the wider travel overview: Altötting.