Durach: History at the Foot of the Allgäu Alps

Durach lies at the foot of the Allgäu Alps and combines local history with trails along the River Durach. Your stay can focus on a range of different interests: you can explore the village museum and the Late Gothic parish church, follow the K5 circular trail, or use Durach as a starting point for further discoveries in the Oberallgäu.

River Trails and Activities in Durach

The Durach flows through the village and is a tributary of the Iller. The river also shapes the ways you can explore Durach on foot: longer hikes and walks along the Durach are possible. If you would rather get around by bike, cycling tours are among the tourist activities in Durach. You can therefore plan your days around trails by the water or explore by bicycle, without this implying any particular route or duration.

Church, Rectory and Collections

The historic rectory grounds are home to an enormous lime tree, estimated to be about 700 years old. The Church of the Holy Spirit is a Roman Catholic Late Gothic parish church. Both places offer tangible points of reference for local history: a striking tree of great estimated age at one, and a sacred building from the Late Gothic period at the other.

At the Durach Village Museum, the Lingg local history collection displays furniture, household items, clothing and tools from rural life in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Roggors doll collection, meanwhile, comprises more than 200 dolls from different periods and from around the world. The two collections offer contrasting perspectives: one focuses on everyday life in past centuries, the other on dolls from different times and regions. The village museum is located at Feldweg 1. Its listed opening hours are the first Sunday of the month from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.; check before your visit to see whether this information is up to date.

The K5 Circular Trail and Its Historic Stops

The K5 circular trail starts at Durach School and follows the course of the Durach to the last houses in the village. The route is 5.91 kilometres long, and the stated duration is 1 hour and 45 minutes. This lets you plan the loop into your day and weigh it against other interests in the area.

Along the way, the K5 leads to the metre-thick remains of the former keep of Neuenburg. The ruin lies on a wooded hill spur southeast of Durach in the Oberallgäu district of Bavarian Swabia. In addition to the restored remains of the keep, other sections of wall have survived. The former Bachtel Mill is another stop: from the 17th century onwards, it was used as a sawmill and an oil-pounding mill. The circular trail also leads to the “Waldschenke” inn, which was mentioned as a paper mill in the 16th century and served as a cement mill from 1850 onwards. The loop thus connects the river and village outskirts with traces of the buildings’ and facilities’ former uses.

Getting Here, Day Trips and Finding Accommodation

Durach has a direct connection to the Pfronten-Steinach–Kempten railway line. Trains run hourly between Durach and Kempten; the journey to Kempten city centre takes five minutes. Kempten is described as a nearby medieval city. Check the current timetable before travelling. Bus routes 20 and 22 connect destinations within Durach, as well as Durach with the surrounding municipalities; check current services before your trip.

Kempten-Durach Airfield is one of the highest-altitude airfields in Germany. Sightseeing flights over the Allgäu mountain landscape are available from the airfield in Durach. If you are planning such a flight, check the dates and availability in advance. Durach offers holiday apartments and rooms for visitors.

The wider Oberallgäu destination offers further independent options. Oberstdorf has 200 kilometres of hiking trails and nature trails. You can also visit the Heini Klopfer ski flying hill there; a tower lift takes visitors to the viewing platform on the ski jump tower. This is a different scale from the 5.91-kilometre K5 circular trail in Durach: when choosing your accommodation, you can therefore consider whether you mainly want to experience local history and trails in Durach or explore other places in the Oberallgäu.

Discover more destinations: Immenstadt im Allgäu, Sulzberg, Wiggensbach, Lauben, Oy-Mittelberg, Hörnergruppe, Blaichach, Buchenberg.

Back to the main travel overview: Oberallgäu.