Aichach: City Gates, Wittelsbach History and Paths along the Paar

A medieval town centre, Wittelsbach history and paths along the Paar offer different ways to explore Aichach as a destination. You can shape your stay around guided city tours and museums, or hiking and cycling tours.

Wittelsbach History in Unter- and Oberwittelsbach

The Sisi Castle in Aichach’s Unterwittelsbach district served Duke Max in Bavaria as a hunting lodge. It is also a stop on the European cultural route “Sisi Road”, which follows the places where Empress Elisabeth lived. Oberwittelsbach was the site of the Wittelsbach ancestral castle. Today, the castle grounds there still feature the castle church, a few remnants of the walls and the National Monument dating from 1834.

The paths between the two districts also reflect this history: the hiking trail between Unter- and Oberwittelsbach is signposted as the “History Trail”. Six stops explore the Wittelsbach family’s connection with Ober- and Unterwittelsbach. You can learn about local history as you hike, rather than only viewing it in a museum.

Old Town, Museums and Audio Stories

Guided tours of the medieval town centre lead through its squares and narrow lanes. They introduce the history of Aichach’s town square, with its stately townhouses and two imposing city gates. At the Wittelsbach Museum in the Lower Gate, numerous interactive stations introduce archaeological methods and the history of the Aichach area. The Aichach Town Museum explores the history and culture of the town and its surrounding area across around 1,000 m².

Another way to discover special places is “Aichach am Ohr” (Aichach by Ear): residents of Aichach have created audio contributions about places in and around the town. The project is a joint initiative of the Town Museum and vhs Aichach-Friedberg e. V. The zeigmal.App for Aichach offers free audio guides for 21 stops, historical images and augmented reality features; registration is not required. If you plan to use the app, check in advance whether it is currently available. For the latest visitor information about the museum, check the official museum website.

Paths along the Paar and in Grubet

The green corridor along the Paar provides a riverside route through central Aichach for hikers and cyclists, away from heavily trafficked roads. It is also an important section of the continuous Paartal cycle route. For a shorter nature outing, the Aichach Grubet has a forest discovery trail about 2 km long. The landscape was shaped by prehistoric iron ore mining; the trail invites visitors to experience nature with all their senses.

The mining history is also visible in the landscape beyond Aichach to the west: around 3,500 pingen—funnel-shaped depressions up to 3 metres deep—lie across several former mining fields. Their approximate number and the surviving formations convey a different dimension of history from the marked stops in the town.

The wider Aichach-Friedberg destination

The wider Aichach-Friedberg destination offers further ways to include culture and activity in your plans. The Paartal hiking trail follows the middle stretch of the Paar from Aichach to Gut Schenkenau in Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district and is 36.8 km long in total. Cyclists can use the Aichach-Friedberg district cycling map, which features 14 well-signposted themed cycling routes; check current route conditions before setting out.

The wider destination’s cultural history extends beyond Aichach, too. In Friedberg, the Herrgottsruh pilgrimage church was built from 1731 to 1753; it is considered one of the finest examples of Bavarian Rococo. Friedberg’s Wittelsbach Castle originated as a High Medieval castle built around 1257 under Duke Ludwig II the Strict. In Inchenhofen, the Pilgrimage Museum displays iron and wax votive offerings, ploughshares, horseshoes, and neck and hand shackles, documenting the importance of Saint Leonhard and St. Leonhard Church as a much-visited pilgrimage destination.

Discover more destinations: Mering, Kissing, Merching, Ried, Petersdorf, Friedberg, Aindling, Kühbach.

For the wider travel overview: Aichach-Friedberg.