Lodged around the modern day creations of health food stores, massage therapists, and the country of Austria is a town that’s more than 7,000 years old. It’s easy to imagine yourself sitting in a beer garden in Garching an der Alz discussing what life must have been like through all those millennia.
Actually, you might want to wait until after you’ve visited the Prehistoric and Early History Museum since many artifacts in the museum were found right here in this part of Upper Bavaria. You just better do it between April and October on the first & third Sunday of the month. (Sorry, I don’t make the admission hours. ;-)
While you’re there ask about the tumuli (prehistoric burial mounds) found in the area, including the one of a king from around 1200-500 B.C.
Twenty-five hundred years later the Schanalinger Kircherl was built — but, sorry to say the stunning building you see today didn’t come along for another 500.
You also got to see the Schlosskirche, or Castle Chapel. Built by Duke Otto VI in 1333 its frescoes are a fantastic example of medieval art; which you’ll also find in Garching’s Gothic Church (built 1484).
There’s no sign of the Middle Ages in the St. Antonius Chapel, that’s purely Baroque, as it wasn’t built until 1729. And the St. Nicholas Church is Neo-Romanesque architecture built in 1870.
St. Nicholas’ is younger than the Mörner Oak, a single Oak tree that was planted in 1825 and now stands six meters tall.
Garching’s Oak isn’t the only draw out into the Upper Bavarian countryside. The outdoor pool is a good idea, as are the guided walks through the “woods” and just about a gazillion other hiking and cycling trails.
I’m thinking maybe there’s a reason there are quite a few massage therapists in town… After attempting all those walking & bike paths, you’re gonna need at least one!
I wonder how prehistoric man went all those years with them?
