Discover Oberndorf a.Lech

Oberndorf a.Lech brings together a Lourdes Grotto in a historic park, protected natural areas and routes connected with the Battle of Rain and Oberndorf. When searching for a hotel, consider whether you want to focus on nature, cycling and hiking routes, or historical topics. The wider Donau-Ries travel destination adds its own geological and cultural history themes to this perspective.

Nature and history in Oberndorf

The Oberndorf Lourdes Grotto is located in a park laid out in the 19th century. The grounds include streams, the castle pond and a tea house. A candlelight procession takes place at the Lourdes Grotto every year on Mother’s Day. If you want to include this tradition in your travel plans, time your visit for Mother’s Day.

The Lech floodplain forest lies east of Oberndorf and is considered a peaceful, protected natural landscape. A large, strictly protected meadow-bird habitat lies in the south of the municipality of Oberndorf am Lech. It is home to ground-nesting birds that have become rare, such as the lapwing and the Eurasian curlew. There is one clear restriction when exploring the area: it may only be entered outside the breeding season.

Cycling and hiking routes

The Oberndorf Tilly Trail is a cycling and hiking route around the historic sites of the battle fought on April 14 and 15, 1632, near Rain and Oberndorf, on both sides of the Lech. The route therefore combines two activities with a specific historical connection. If you are looking for a named route connected with the battle sites, the Tilly Trail is the option.

Two other cycle routes pass directly by Oberndorf: the Via Claudia Augusta runs from Donauwörth to Füssen, and the Via Raetica from Mertingen into the Altmühl Valley. The named places help distinguish the two routes. Unlike these cycle routes, the Tilly Trail is explicitly designated as a hiking route as well. This lets you choose among the local routes based on their stated use and historical connection.

More topics in the wider Donau-Ries travel destination

The Donau-Ries district describes the Ries Geopark, with the Ries Crater formed by a meteorite impact, as a tourist attraction. The RiesKraterMuseum presents the asteroid impact that created the Nördlinger Ries, as well as its cosmic origins and effects that continue to this day. The Kühstein Geopark educational trail explains the processes involved in the impact 14.5 million years ago on eight information panels. From Buchberg, there are panoramic views of the Ries and its inner and outer crater rims.

Nördlingen’s medieval town wall is fully preserved and completely accessible on foot. The town museum displays a collection more than 150 years old across four floors. It covers life and faith in Nördlingen, the changes of the Reformation, the Thirty Years’ War and the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen. A model made of around 6,000 tin soldiers illustrates the battle.

The Maria Brünnlein pilgrimage basilica is a Rococo church built between 1748 and 1782 to designs by Franz Joseph Roth, as the flow of pilgrims grew. Its altar of grace is a fountain altar featuring the miraculous Virgin Mary by Johann Joseph Mayr, dating from 1755; Ernst Steinacker created the altar table with its fountain bowl in 1953. In 1998, Pope John Paul II elevated the basilica to the status of a minor basilica. Around 150,000 pilgrims visit it every year. A tour of Harburg Castle traces almost 900 years of history through its Baroque castle church, loopholes, prison cells, gates and towers.

Discover more destinations: Oettingen In Bayern, Nördlingen, Kaisheim, Wallerstein, Ries, Fremdingen, Asbach-Bäumenheim, Monheim.

For the wider travel overview: Donau-Ries.