The picturesque old town of Eichstätt at the foot of the Franconian Alb in the Altmühltal nature park, with the massive Willibaldsburg looming over it, has the stamp of an ecclesiastical city; it is the see of a bishop and the seat of a Catholic University. It is a town of fine Baroque buildings, often with something of an Italian air. It is still surrounded by remains of its medieval walls.
To the south of the Eichstätt Cathedral, in the Baroque Residenzplatz, can be found the former Electoral Palace (17th-18th century; by Angelini and Gabrieli), lodgings for members of the court, a 19m/62ft high Mariensäule (column in honor of the Virgin) of 1777 and the Diocesan Museum (Treasury).
In the Willibaldsburg above Eichstätt is the Jurassic Museum, with fossils from the Jurassic limestone of the surrounding area (including the skeleton of an archaeopteryx).
The Bergér Museum, to the west of Eichstätt in the outlying district of Blumenberg, has fine examples of fossils from the local limestone, minerals and shells. Fossils can be collected in the nearby quarry.
Southeast of the Eichstätt Cathedral, in Leonrodplatz, are the Schutzengelkirche (Church of the Guardian Angel; 17th C), with a very fine Baroque interior, the Bishop's Palace (c. 1730) and the Dompropstei (Deanery; 1672).
North of Domplatz in Eichstätt lies the Marktplatz, with the Town Hall (Rathaus; 15th and 19th C.), the Stadtpropstei (18th C.) and the Willibald Fountain (1695).
In a bend on the Altmühl lies the old-world little town of Pappenheim, with the 15th century Stadtkirche (Gothic), the Galluskirche, which dates from Carolingian times and two Schlösser of 1608 and 1822. On the hill above the town stands the ancestral castle of the Counts Pappenheim.
At the foot of the Franconian Alb outside of Eichstätt, beyond the Altmühl, is Rebdorf Monastery, a house of Augustinian canons dating from the 12th C.
The beautiful little town of Solnhofen, in the Altmühl, is noted for its quarries of Jurassic limestone, in which numerous fossils have been found. In the Town Hall is the Bürgermeister Müller Museum (fossils, lithography). There are remains of the Sola basilica (seven building phases from the sixth century onwards).
Northwest of the Marktplatz in Eichstätt, reached by way of Westenstrasse, is the Baroque abbey church of St Walburga (17th C), with the burial chapel of the saint (d. 779).
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), New Year's Eve (December 31), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Christmas Eve - Christian (December 24)
The Museum of Prehistory and the Early Historical Period is in the Willibaldsburg above Eichstätt.
Address: Museum of Prehistory and the Early Historical Period, Ingolstädterstrasse 32, D-85072 Eichstätt, Germany
Hours:
April 1 to September 30: 9am-6pm; Closed: Mon
October 1 to March 31: 10am-4pm; Closed: Mon, Mon
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), New Year's Eve (December 31), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day (December 26)
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Pappenheim, Germany
Pappenheim, Eichstatt
Pappenheim, Eichstatt
