Discover Kröning: rolling hills and pottery history

Kröning combines the landscape of Lower Bavaria’s rolling hills with a strong pottery tradition and buildings dating from several centuries. Located between the Isar and Vils valleys, the municipality offers a chance to explore both its landscape and its history.

Rolling hills and scattered settlements

Kröning is a relatively sparsely populated, fertile hilly region. Long, narrow strips of woodland stretch along the edges of the valleys. Small villages, hamlets and isolated farmsteads are scattered across the area and shape the Lower Bavarian landscape. Rather than picturing just one compact village centre, you can think of Kröning as a municipality with a variety of settlement types.

This can help with planning your trip: consider whether you are most interested in the rolling hills, the scattered settlements or the history of its buildings and crafts. The landscape is more than a backdrop for individual historic buildings; it frames the municipality’s rural character.

Blue clay and Kröning pottery

Blue clay is mined in Kröning near Groß- and Kleinbettenrain. It provided the basis for the once-famous Kröning pottery industry. Since the 15th century, Kröning tableware has been a regular feature in farming, middle-class and electoral households alike. The history of this craft thus extends beyond the everyday life of rural households.

Pottery was a rural craft practised mainly in widely spaced villages, hamlets and isolated farmsteads. Kröning’s scattered settlement pattern and its craft tradition are therefore part of the same story: pottery-making was not confined to a single, compact village centre.

Building heritage in Kröning and Bödldorf

In the village of Kröning itself, Kröning 2 is a listed farmhouse with living quarters and a stable, part of a three-sided farmstead dating from the first quarter of the 17th century. It is built using the block construction method and has a projecting eaves gallery. The house illustrates a specific historic form of rural architecture, offering a different perspective on the region from the history of pottery.

Typical Kröning potters’ houses have survived to this day in the hamlet of Bödldorf, within the municipality. The hamlet, with houses numbered 1 to 6, is listed as a protected architectural ensemble. This listed ensemble preserves an unusually undisturbed building tradition: the farmhouses have old half-hipped roofs, and some have upper storeys of block construction covered in plaster. Bödldorf 4 is a listed former potter’s farm dating from the second half of the 18th century. Here, the architectural forms and the buildings’ former use as potters’ farms link architecture with local craft history.

Churches and historic buildings in the municipality

Kirchberg offers another distinct focus on history. The listed Catholic parish church of St Florian and Wolfgang is a hall church with a recessed choir and attached side aisles, dating from the second half of the 15th century. The settlement of Kirchberg is said to date back to the 8th century. The church’s freestanding tower probably came from an earlier place of worship dating from the 12th century.

Wippstetten is home to a pilgrimage church, built in the Gothic period and later extended in the Baroque style. Its valuable Baroque furnishings include a Rococo cabinet for votive offerings, as well as monstrances and chalices. Also in Wippstetten is the listed granary at Kirchenstraße 2: this block-built structure with a half-hipped roof dates from 1732. The two buildings show different sides of the village, from church furnishings to historic granary architecture.

Further examples are spread across the municipality: Froschöd 1 is home to a listed farmhouse with living quarters and a stable, of the Mitterstube type, dating from 1823, with a block-built upper storey and a projecting gallery. There is an Art Nouveau church in Dietelskirchen.

A stage of the Martinus Trail

There is also a specific route to consider when planning a hike: the Martinus Trail includes the 23 km HW-32-02 stage from Kröning to Geisenhausen. If you plan to hike this stage, check the current trail markers before setting out. When looking for accommodation in Kröning, you can use your interests as a starting point: the rolling hills and settlement pattern, pottery history, historic buildings or the hiking stage each offer a different focus for your stay.

For the broader travel overview: Gerzen.