Gröbenzell, in the Fürstenfeldbruck District of Bavaria, is a bedroom community of Munich and known to its 19,000+ residents as the Garden City.
Though officially not founded until the 1950’s, the name of Gröbenzell seems to have been first mentioned in 1725, but there’s a history in the area dating back to at least 1570.
Gröbenzell was once mostly marshland and during the 19th century, most of the land was drained, though to the north and the south of the city are recreational lakes. The town seemed to be a settlement known for its peat cutters, though peat cutting seemed to have ended at the advent of the Second World War.
While the lines of Gröbenzell have been blurred over the years with its merger with parts of Munich and Puchheim, there is still a bit to see here in this tiny town. You can see an example of peat cutting, a major economic income to the town prior to World War II.
Also visit the Hartmann House on Alpine Road 2, built at the turn of the last century in an art nouveau style, serving as a kindergarten today.
One of the more somber sites to see is the “Russian Bridge,” once part of a prisoner of war camp in Puchheim. During the War, some 8,000 Russians, 8,000 French, 8,000 Italian, and 100 English soldiers were held here as POW’s. As the war was ending, Typhoid killed many of these soldiers and all but the Russians remains were sent home to their respective countries.
Today, the Russian soldiers’ remains are buried here in a mass grave on Lena Christian Road.
Of course, no visit to any German town is complete without having visited its market. Though you’ll have to be an early-bird since Gröbenzell’s market is only held on Friday’s from 7am to noon.
