Oberdolling – Cycling Routes and Romanesque Churches

Two aspects can help guide your choice of Oberdolling: its direct connection to the cycle route at the association and event center, and the church art in Weißendorf, a village within the municipality. The wider Eichstätt travel destination also offers other, independent cultural attractions. This lets you consider local points of interest and regional destinations separately, according to your interests.

Cycling routes in the village and region

The municipality of Oberdolling’s association and event center, “D’Roßschwemm,” lies directly on the Schambachtal Cycle Route. For anyone who considers cycling routes when choosing a place to stay, this provides a specific local point of reference. The center’s name also reflects its function as an association and event center.

The Schambachtalbahn Cycle Route runs through the wider region. It connects Ingolstadt with Riedenburg and links the Danube Cycle Route with the Altmühltal Cycle Route. It is family-friendly, almost entirely flat, and close to nature. The route runs away from road traffic through the Schambachtal, passing river meadows, meadows, and forests. These characteristics describe the regional cycle route; they are not features exclusive to Oberdolling. When planning your trip, it is therefore helpful to distinguish between D’Roßschwemm’s direct connection to the Schambachtal Cycle Route and the longer course of the Schambachtalbahn Cycle Route.

A carved image in St. George’s Church

St. George’s Church in Oberdolling houses a stone carving of the priest Eigilo. It symbolically depicts him handing a church over to the Bishop of Freising. The carving commemorates the transfer of Kirchendolling to the Bishop of Freising, which, according to tradition, is said to have taken place in 825. The work is believed to date from the 13th century. Thus, two dates are associated with it: the traditional account of the transfer in the 9th century and the presumed date of the artwork several centuries later.

Romanesque details in Weißendorf

The Catholic Church of St. Margaret is in Weißendorf, a village within the municipality of Oberdolling, not in Oberdolling’s built-up center. The hall church has a recessed semicircular apse, a gabled roof, and a roof turret. It is tentatively dated to 1171/75; the church was given a Baroque makeover in 1723. The Romanesque gallery rests on cross vaults and two columns whose capitals are decorated with depictions of animals and people.

A round-arch frieze featuring human and animal heads runs along the semicircular apse. The west portal opens between buttresses; two guardian lions flank it, and a plaitwork motif surrounds the entrance. Several Romanesque sculptures can also be found inside: the half-length figure of the “builder” stands between the gallery and the left wall of the nave. Two men’s heads are mounted above the chancel arch, and a man sits on the cornice on the right side of the apse. The gallery, apse, portal, and figures show different aspects of the church’s architectural and sculptural design.

Access is subject to a seasonal restriction: in summer, visitors can enter the church as far as the barrier; in winter, it is closed. Before visiting, check locally whether this arrangement is still in effect.

Cultural attractions in the wider Eichstätt travel destination

The Jura Museum offers a distinct focus within the wider Eichstätt travel destination. Its exhibition centers on fossils from the Solnhofen Plattenkalk limestone deposits; it also displays the original Eichstätt specimen of Archaeopteryx. This offers a different subject matter from the church art in Oberdolling and Weißendorf.

Another historic attraction in Eichstätt is Willibaldsburg Castle. Bishop Berthold Burggraf von Zollern had it built in 1355; it served as the bishop’s residence until 1725. Of the 420-meter-long castle, the walls and bastions, the arsenal, the 63-meter-long gate hall, and the Gemmingen building with its two towers remain. The bastion garden at Willibaldsburg covers 1,500 square meters. There, the Hortus Eystettensis, destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, was brought back to life after 400 years; visitors can discover many of the original plant species. Eichstätt’s cathedral square lies on the oldest inhabited ground in the city.

Discover more destinations: Altmannstein, Kipfenberg, Mindelstetten, Titting, Wellheim, Böhmfeld, Gaimersheim, Lenting.

Return to the overview of the wider destination: Eichstätt.