Dachau: Art, Old Town and Palace Gardens

Dachau combines a formative artistic history with a historic Old Town and places of remembrance. There are several different ways to plan your trip: visit the Gemäldegalerie and the Bezirksmuseum, the palace gardens, the Old Town with St. Jakob, or take the route to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. The S-Bahn connections and sights within walking distance also make it easier to plan your visits.

Art, museums and local history

With around 200 paintings and a selection of sculptures, the permanent exhibition at the Gemäldegalerie Dachau documents the emergence and development of landscape painting in Dachau, from its beginnings through to well into the 20th century. The focus is on the Dachau artists’ colony, which flourished around 1900. The collection also includes 19th- and early 20th-century landscape and genre paintings.

The Bezirksmuseum Dachau has a different focus: across three floors, it presents the cultural history of the town and district. In addition to its permanent exhibition, the museum regularly hosts special exhibitions. A comparison of the two museums therefore sets painting and the artists’ colony against the cultural history of the town and region.

A striking landmark in the Old Town is the parish church of St. Jakob. Its 44-metre-high octagonal tower is visible from far away and rises above Dachau’s Old Town. On the south side of the nave is an 18th-century sundial, which shows not only the time but also the month and zodiac sign.

Old Town and palace gardens

The historic Old Town centre is a protected ensemble and invites you to stroll and linger. The Gemäldegalerie, Bezirksmuseum, St. Jakob parish church, town hall and Dachau Palace are all within easy walking distance in the Old Town. Guided tours of Dachau Palace take place regularly; check the latest dates before your visit.

The gardens of Dachau Palace include a Baroque lime-tree arcade, old garden walls, fruit trees, flower beds and a small adjoining wood. Nature is another special feature of this area: information boards along the bee nature trail explain the beehives. Five bee colonies live in the English Garden within the palace gardens.

Route to the concentration camp memorial site and getting your bearings

The “Path of Remembrance” leads from Dachau railway station to the visitor centre at the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. Twelve information boards have lined the route since 2007. The route is three kilometres long and takes about 45 minutes on foot. The memorial site is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm, except on 24 December; check the information before you travel.

The S2 S-Bahn runs directly from Munich Central Station to Dachau station without a change; the journey takes around 20 minutes. You can check the approximate journey time and connection again before travelling. On weekdays and Saturdays until 2 pm, Citybus 719 runs every ten minutes from the station to the Old Town. On Sundays and public holidays, bus routes 720 and 722 operate. Here, too, it is a good idea to check the latest timetable.

You can plan your visit to Dachau around your own interests: compare art and local history in the museums, explore several sights within walking distance in the Old Town, and choose either the signposted route or public transport to reach the memorial site.

Discover more destinations: Pellheim, Bergkirchen, Altomünster, Markt Indersdorf, Schwabhausen, Erdweg, Petershausen, Odelzhausen.

Back to the overarching travel overview: Dachau.