Eichstatt Tourist Attractions
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Situation and characteristicsThe 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.
Eichstätt Cathedral
In the Domplatz in Eichstätt stands the Romanesque/Gothic Cathedral (11th-14th C), with a Baroque west front. In the west choir are the canopied altar, which contains the remains of St Willibald (first bishop of Eichstätt, d. 787), and a seated figure of the saint, the finest work of the local sculptor Loy Hering (1484-c. 1554). In the north transept is the stone Pappenheim Altar (by Veit Wirsberger, c. 1495).On the southeast side of the Cathedral is a two-story cloister (1420-30), with the fine two-aisled hall of the Mortuarium (15th C; "Beautiful Column", 1489).
Residenzplatz
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).
Leonrodplatz
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).
Prince-Bishops Summer Palace
From Eichstätt's Leonrodplatz, Ostenstrasse leads to the summer palace of the Prince-Bishops (by Gabrieli, 1735), beyond which is the Hofgarten.
Capuchin Church
In the Kapuzinerkirche (17th C) in Eichstätt is a copy (1189) of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
Marketplace
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).
St Walburga Church
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).
Bergér Museum
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.
Willibaldsburg
Above Eichstätt (750 m/850yd drive) stands the Willibaldsburg (by Elias Holl, 1609-19), which was the residence of the Prince-Bishops until 1725.
Jurassic Museum
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).
Museum of Prehistory and Early Historical Period
The Museum of Prehistory and the Early Historical Period is in the Willibaldsburg above Eichstätt.
Rebdorf Monastery
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.
Surroundings
Solnhofen
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).
Pappenheim
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.
