Huglfing: Churches, Spring Moor and Stone Experience Trail

Huglfing combines a rich church history with a landscape of moraine hills, meadows and a spring-fed moor. Stone is another recurring theme: in the geology on the southeastern edge of the village and along the Stone Experience Trail. This offers different ways to get to know the place, from historic buildings to traces of quarrying.

St. Magnus and St. Sebastian’s Chapel

The Roman Catholic parish church of St. Magnus is a listed place of worship in Huglfing. Its tower dates from a Romanesque predecessor built around 1100. The later Gothic church was built in 1501; in 1773 and 1843, it was altered, extended and redesigned in the Rococo style. Its documented history thus reflects several periods in the building’s development.

Another chapter in the village’s history is the present-day St. Sebastian’s Chapel. It was added between 1573 and 1606 as a burial chapel for the noble family von Romegg. It was redesigned in 1773 and altered again in 1882; the chapel was also dedicated to St. Sebastian. It underwent extensive renovation from 2016 to 2022. Together with St. Magnus, it shows how different histories of church construction and use have found their place in Huglfing.

Moraine Landscape, Spring-Fed Moor and Stone

Huglfing lies between gentle moraine hills and the wide meadows of the Pfaffenwinkel region. On the southeastern edge of the village, spring water emerges from gravels deposited during the Würm glaciation. A shallow moor and lime deposits formed in a depression; the spring-fed moor is protected as a designated natural monument. It is also regarded as a geotope of local historical and tourist significance. Here, geological formation meets the local importance of the natural environment.

The Stone Experience Trail around Huglfing also explores the theme of stone. Information panels and play stations are located at sites of current or former gravel and tufa extraction. The trail leads into the village and returns to the train station via Steinbruchstraße. In this way, it combines educational and interactive elements with practical wayfinding around the village. If you are interested in the landscape, it offers a different perspective from the spring-fed moor: the focus is on local rocks and how they have been used.

Culture in the Old Signal Box

The ausstellwerk Huglfing e.V. art and cultural association is based in the old signal box and the station’s goods shed at Huglfing train station. The historic railway site is therefore also connected to the village’s cultural life. The association has held art exhibitions and cultural events. Its “Bild und Wort” (“Image and Word”) lecture series began in winter 2012/2013. Since the association was founded, it has regularly held three talks each year on a range of topics. This look at the association’s history adds another dimension to Huglfing’s church architecture.

Considering Huglfing as a Holiday Destination

The village’s award also offers a clue to its character: Huglfing received the Gold Medal Plus in the European Entente Florale Europe competition for outstanding village design, sustainability and civic engagement. If you are looking for accommodation in Huglfing, local themes can help guide your holiday plans: churches and cultural history offer a different focus from the spring-fed moor and Stone Experience Trail. You can start by thinking about which aspects of the village interest you most.

More to Explore in the Wider Weilheim-Schongau Destination

The wider Weilheim-Schongau destination also offers its own cultural and excursion highlights. The Wieskirche near Steingaden has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1983 and was built by Dominikus Zimmermann from 1745 to 1754. It hosts church services and summer concerts and offers a place for quiet reflection; if you are interested in a concert, it is best to check the relevant dates. In Penzberg, the Mining Museum commemorates the local peat-coal mining industry, which operated from 1796 to 1966. The museum offers multilingual guided tours for international visitors, families and school groups.

Another way to explore Weilheim-Schongau is the approximately 5-kilometre Erdfunkstelle hiking trail. It starts at Raisting train station and forms a circular route through the satellite earth station, passing large satellite dishes and the Radom industrial monument with historic Antenna 1. The Wieskirche, the Mining Museum and the trail near Raisting are regional highlights in the wider Weilheim-Schongau destination; they are not attractions in Huglfing.

Discover more destinations: Polling, Eberfing, Weilheim in Oberbayern, Penzberg, Schongau, Oberhausen, Habach, Altenstadt.

Go to the overview of the wider destination: Weilheim-Schongau.