Altötting District Is The Religious Hub Of Bavaria

The Altötting District has been a religious center for a dozen centuries and a magnet for spiritual quests since the 1400s.

Altötting District Map

You will surely want to see St. Nikolaus, a huge gothic church in Neuötting, and the Gnadenkapelle (Chapel of the Miraculous Image) in Altötting town, where a sacred statue of the Virgin Mary has become one of Germany’s most-visited relics.

Smaller towns in the area bear names reflective of their deep roots in the church, such as Pleiskirchen, Unterneukirchen, and Burgkirchen an der Alz.

Kirchweidach is another example and a favorite destination for birdwatchers, owing to its high concentration of local owls.

Worthy of note, the tiny municipality of Marktl on the Inn River is the birthplace of current Pope Benedict XVI (1927~). And the little village of Kastl houses St. Kastulus, one of the most beautiful parish churches in the region.

Beyond religious sites, the Altötting District offers you many other attractions. They range from markets and festivals, cycling paths and river tours, to the beautiful landscape of the alpine foothills.

Don’t miss Burghausen, the biggest town in the area, with Europe’s longest castle, stretching out for over a kilometer on a ridge near the Austrian border.

And along the highway outside Töging am Inn, look for high tech in the highlands — an innovative solar power array constructed as part of a noise-reduction barrier.