In Aichach, medieval city history, traces of the Wittelsbach dynasty and routes along the Paar come together. This offers several ways to shape your stay: explore the town center and its museums, follow the history of Unter- and Oberwittelsbach, or choose routes through the countryside. A look at the individual themes can help you organize your travel interests.
City History in the Town Center
Guided tours through the medieval town center take you to squares and narrow lanes. They also cover the history of Aichach's town square, with its grand town houses and two imposing town gates. The Wittelsbach Museum is housed in the Lower Gate. Numerous hands-on exhibits introduce visitors to archaeological methods and the history of the Aichach area. If you are planning a museum visit, check the latest visitor information in advance.
The Aichach City Museum focuses on something different: covering around 1,000 m², it is dedicated to the history and culture of the town and its surrounding area. Aichach thus offers a focus on both archaeological methods and the history of the area, as well as the broader history and culture of the town. If you are planning a culture-focused trip, you can combine these themes with exploring the historic town center.
Wittelsbach Sites in Unter- and Oberwittelsbach
The Wittelsbach ancestral castle stood in the Oberwittelsbach district. Today, the castle site still features the castle church, a few remnants of walls and the National Monument dating from 1834. A hiking trail leads from the moated castle in Unterwittelsbach across fields and through woodland to the site of the former ancestral castle in Oberwittelsbach. There is also a hiking trail between Unter- and Oberwittelsbach marked as the “History Trail”: six stations explore the Wittelsbach dynasty's connections to both places.
Sisi Castle is also in Unterwittelsbach. It served Duke Max in Bavaria as a hunting lodge and is a stop on the “Sisi Road,” a European cultural route following the places associated with Empress Elisabeth's life. The castle's historical connection to the Wittelsbach dynasty and its place on a route dedicated to Empress Elisabeth offer two distinct perspectives on the castle and its role in Aichach.
Routes Along the Paar and in the Grubet
In central Aichach, the green corridor along the Paar offers a riverside route for walkers and cyclists, away from heavily trafficked roads. It is also an important section of the continuous Paartal cycling trail. The green corridor therefore combines a route through the town with the opportunity to cycle along the Paar.
The approximately 2 km-long forest discovery trail in Aichach's Grubet offers a different experience of the landscape. The area was shaped by prehistoric iron ore mining, and the trail invites visitors to experience nature with all their senses. In the wider region west of Aichach, around 3,500 mining pits can be found across several former mining fields. These funnel-shaped depressions are up to 3 meters deep. The trail in the Grubet and the mining pits thus illustrate different aspects of the landscape and its former mining activity.
Listen to Aichach and Explore It Your Own Way
For “Aichach am Ohr,” residents of Aichach created audio features about special places in and around the town. The project is a joint effort by the City Museum and vhs Aichach-Friedberg e. V. Another way to explore places and history is the zeigmal.App for Aichach: it includes free audio guides for 21 stops, historical images and augmented reality features; no registration is required. As app features may change, it is best to check what is available before relying on them for your visit.
A Regional Look at Aichach-Friedberg
There are also routes in the wider Aichach-Friedberg area that differ from the route through the town center. The Paartal hiking trail follows the middle reaches of the Paar from Aichach to Gut Schenkenau in the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district and is 36.8 km long in total. This total distance refers to the hiking trail as far as its endpoint, not to the green corridor in the town center. The Aichach-Friedberg district cycling map also features 14 well-marked themed cycling routes. If you choose a specific route, check the trail conditions before setting off.
Discover more destinations: Schiltberg, Petersdorf, Friedberg, Merching, Schmiechen, Rehling, Steindorf, Kissing
Go to the regional overview: Aichach-Friedberg.
