Pförring: Roman History and Medieval Traces

Pförring combines Roman and medieval local history with specific places of interest for culturally minded travellers. The 19-kilometre heritage trail leads through the market town’s past. Other highlights include the Celeusum fort, the Romanesque parish church of St. Leonhard and Roman finds in the town hall. Special visiting arrangements apply to the exhibition in the market tower.

Roman Times and the Middle Ages in Pförring

The heritage trail is 19 kilometres long and leads through the market town’s medieval and Roman past. It brings together two historical periods in a named circular route offering an overview of Pförring. Its length is a practical planning consideration when deciding how much time to devote to this historical exploration during your stay.

The Celeusum fort is one of the market town’s most important historic monuments. It was opened up to tourism in 2009. Together with the heritage trail, it offers both a significant individual monument and a broader view of Pförring’s history.

The parish church of St. Leonhard is a Romanesque, three-aisled basilica with two eastern towers. It was built around 1180 and was dedicated to St. Leonhard at the time. Its architecture, approximate date of construction and dedication offer different insights into the town’s medieval history.

Roman traces can also be seen in the entrance area of Pförring Town Hall: a small selection of finds is on display there, including clay vessels and bronze spoons. The exhibition adds tangible objects to the historical themes found locally.

Visits to the Market Tower and Nearby

Visits to the exhibition about the Kleinhäusler family in the market tower must be arranged with Pförring Town Hall. Visitors are asked to organise themselves into a group; individual visits are possible only in exceptional cases. Arrange your visit with the town hall in advance so you can take this requirement into account when planning.

Near the destination, the Kelsbach spring is located by Ettling. It is a large spring pool fed by several tributaries. Most of the springs there are typical karst spring pools; their water comes from greater depths. The spring and the nearby ruin are on private property. Permission is required to visit them.

Eichstätt as a Wider Travel Destination

Those who also explore the wider destination of Eichstätt will find further cultural and natural history attractions there. The Jura Museum Eichstätt focuses its exhibitions on fossils from the Solnhofen limestone; the museum also displays the original Eichstätt specimen of Archaeopteryx. The fossil collection and the individual original specimen offer distinct highlights.

Willibaldsburg Castle in Eichstätt was built in 1355 by Bishop Berthold Burggraf von Zollern and served as the bishop’s residence until 1725. Of the 420-metre-long castle, the walls and bastions, the armoury, the 63-metre-long gate hall and the Gemmingen building with its two towers have survived. The dimensions of the complex and its gate hall give a tangible impression of the scale of this historic structure.

The 1,500-square-metre bastion garden is also located at Willibaldsburg Castle. There, the Hortus Eystettensis, destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, was brought back to life after 400 years. Visitors can discover many of the garden’s original plant species there. Domplatz, meanwhile, lies on the oldest settled ground in the city of Eichstätt.

Food is also part of the wider destination: several times a year, Eichstätt’s Genuss-Wirte serve special dishes under the motto “Eichstätt cooks...”, including savoury Altmühltal lamb dishes. Another activity in Eichstätt is the Fossilienpfad, a moderately difficult, nine-kilometre circular trail for families. By comparison, the Pförring heritage trail is longer at 19 kilometres and focuses on the market town’s medieval and Roman past.

Discover more destinations: Gaden near Pförring, Nassenfels, Denkendorf, Altmannstein, Pollenfeld, Wellheim, Böhmfeld, Kösching.

Go to the wider travel overview: Eichstätt.