City tour

There are two town halls in Kelheim's old town, the old and the new. However, both have an even older predecessor: until 1824, the council met in a house at the crossroads in the middle of the old town. Eventually there was no longer enough space, the house was demolished and the council moved into the town clerk's house, built in 1598 and renovated in the 17th century, with its baroque façade and beautiful fountain courtyard - today the Old Town Hall. Immediately to the right is the New Town Hall from the 16th century. Once a bourgeois commercial building, it was purchased by the town in 1866 and rebuilt between 1912 and 1913. Today, both buildings house the city administration.

A striking crossroads divides Kelheim's old town into four districts as if drawn with a ruler - just as the former Wittelsbach dukes wanted at the end of the 12th century and in the first half of the 13th century. Ludwigsplatz begins at the center of the crossroads. From there, it takes up the entire space in front of the two town halls up to the stone statue of the Bavarian King Ludwig I (1786 to 1868), which is located in the east, in front of the Weisses Bräuhaus. As an enthusiastic builder, Ludwig I erected the Liberation Hall in Kelheim - his figurative statue is curled up holding the plan in his hand. The approximately seven-metre-high Marian column from 1700 shows the gilded type of the Munich "Patrona Bavariae".

At the beginning of the 17th century, the right to brew wheat beer throughout Bavaria passed by inheritance to Duke Maximilian I (1573-1651) - the future Elector. He founded many ducal wheat beer breweries in the state, the first in 1607 in Kelheim - still the Weisse Bräuhaus today. Since 1928, the brewery "Schneider Weisse G. Schneider & Sohn GmbH" has been owned by the Schneider family.

After the demolition of the old and too small St. Mary's Church, the Catholic parish church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was built in the middle of the 15th century in the late Gothic style. The church tower was rebuilt between 1861 and 1863, the nave was extended between 1877 and 1886 and the church was redesigned in the neo-Gothic style. The high altar (1878), carved from Kelheim marble, is a masterpiece by the Kelheim sculptor Johann Obermeier.

On the side of the Altmühltor facing the old town is the Kelheim town coat of arms as it was used from 1410 to 1809. In its lower half, the coat of arms bears branches of vines with blue grapes. After all, Kelheim was one of the most important areas for growing Bavarian wine in the late Middle Ages, before cultivation came to a standstill due to the Thirty Years' War and a change in climate.

Leonhard von Eck (1480-1550) is one of Kelheim's most famous sons. As an influential court councillor to Duke Wilhelm IV, he played a decisive role in shaping the political, economic, religious and social life of Bavaria in the first half of the 16th century. Today, a memorial plaque commemorates Leonhard von Eck at Altmühlstraße 13, where his birthplace once stood. The house was destroyed during the war in 1945.

St. Matthew's Church, built in 1888, is to a certain extent the Protestant-Lutheran counterpart to the Catholic parish church. The site where the outbuildings of the "Zu den drei Löwen" inn once stood is now home to the Protestant community center.

The museum is located in the late Gothic duke's granary. The building was constructed at the end of the 15th century from humpback ashlars from the former Kelheim Castle and served as a granary for the duke's dues. The archaeology department of today's museum displays important finds and archaeological sites in and around Kelheim from the Neanderthal period to the early Middle Ages. A special focus is on Kelheim's Celtic past with its Celtic town, the oppidum "Alkimoennis". In the museum courtyard, you can see 13 meters of original remains of the Celtic city wall as well as a reconstruction of its original height. There is also a section on the history of the town and changing special exhibitions.

Guided tours on request at info@archaeologisches-museum-kelheim.de and 09441/10409; duration: from 1 hour.

The town gate originally dates back to the 13th century. When all three surviving towers of the town fortifications were structurally harmonized in 1809, the saddle roof of the Mittertor was replaced. The gatehouse in front of the gate was demolished in 1868. In 1904, a painting by the painter Georg Lickleder was added to the side of the gate facing the old town. It depicts the capture of Austrian soldiers by the rebellious Kelheim master butcher Matthias Kraus in 1705 (see point 17, "Matthias Kraus monument").

King Ludwig I was personally present at the laying of the foundation stone for the Befreiungshalle on October 19, 1842. He and his family stayed at the Deutscher Hof, which the master mariner Sebastian Rieder had built as an important inn with a large banqueting hall in 1841/42. Whenever the king came to Kelheim during the construction phase, he chose the Deutscher Hof as his accommodation. The building has been owned by the town of Kelheim since 1888 and today houses the town library and the town archives, among other things.

The old Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal - the predecessor of the Main-Danube Canal - was put into operation in 1846 after eleven years of construction. Today, the old canal harbor still reminds us of it. The walled canal trough contains lock no. 1, a harbor basin with crane, warehouse and lock house. The 600-metre-long structure is still fully functional today and is a monument to the engineering of the time.

A thousand years after Charlemagne made the unsuccessful attempt to connect the Main with the Danube by means of a canal, a Bavarian monarch set about realizing this plan: King Ludwig I (1824 - 1848). In July 1846, the "Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal" was opened to traffic. From lock no. 1 in Kelheim to lock no. 100 in Bamberg, the 172.44 km long waterway provided a link between the Black Sea and the North Sea. The 65 km of the canal that still exist today are among the most beautiful relics of German industrial culture and are listed as a historical monument.

The remains of the former Wittelsbach castle, which was demolished around 1476, were used to build the Schleiferturm. It served as the former town fortifications. The tower got its name from the grinding mill that was directly attached to it at the time.

Some citizens had to spend several hours and days in the tower if they were "sentenced" to imprisonment in the tower by the town council for misconduct. The citizens' prison was administered by the town servant on behalf of the town. He lived in the tower, which was originally one storey higher. The Stadtknechtturm was the corner tower of the town fortifications and dates back to the 13th century.

The Danube Gate dates back to the 13th century. On the side facing the old town is the first city coat of arms with the city gate and the Bavarian Wecken. From the 15th century, the gate was the seat of the cobblestone customs office. Every wagon had to pay the toll for the city here. The four corner towers of the gate are no longer preserved, but the tower-width dungeon is. The two stone lions were added in 1913. They come from the Wittelsbach castle.

The Otto Chapel commemorates the death of the Wittelsbach Duke Ludwig I, who was murdered in Kelheim on September 16, 1231. To atone for his father's murder, his son and successor Otto II erected the chapel and founded a small monastery. The monastery and chapel were later converted into a hospital.

In the park near Wöhrdplatz stands the monument erected in 1905 to the 33-year-old master butcher Matthias Kraus from Kelheim. Kelheim was under Austrian occupation from 1704. However, Kraus confronted the occupying forces in 1705, threw them out of the town and, as "town commander", demanded full support from the council and citizens. However, opinion was divided among them. Kraus surrendered on the condition of an honorable withdrawal and mercy for the citizens. Things turned out differently: the troops fell upon the Kelheimers and Kraus himself was beheaded and quartered in Kelheim in 1706.

The Maximiliandenmal is an expression of gratitude from the citizens of Kelheim for the promotion of the town's prosperity by King Ludwig I and Maximilian II.

According to one legend, blood, wax and oil are said to have rained down on the site of today's foundation walls of the Wöhrdkirche. Another says that a blood-colored stream rose here and flowed to the Danube. The fact is that the Wöhrdkirche zum Hl. Blut, built in the 14th century, stood on the foundations of the Romanesque castle chapel. Over time, it suffered due to its location on the Danube. After secularization, the town of Kelheim used the church as a building shed and it was demolished in 1864. In 1990, the foundations were faithfully reconstructed.

Kelheim Castle was first mentioned in 1050 as belonging to the Wittelsbach dynasty. The future Duke Ludwig of Kelheim is said to have been born here in 1174. After his assassination in 1231, his son Otto II moved the Wittelsbachs' main residence to Landshut. Around 1476, the building was demolished down to the keep - all that remains are the mighty bases of the keep inside the building. The new castle was probably built around 1500. From 1150, the building was characterized by a centuries-old tradition: It was initially one of the ducal residences and the seat of the bailiff, the ducal administrator, later the district bailiff and, from 1938 to 2016, the official residence of the district administration.

On the footpath from Kelheim to Weltenburg Abbey lies the former hermitage Klösterl, also known as "Bruderloch im Traunthal". In 1450, the hermit Antonius von Siebenbürgen converted a large rock cave into a hermitage and built a chapel in honor of St. Nicholas. In 1454, the Franciscans took over the rock cave in the Danube gorge and established a small monastery with a chapel there, which was called "Bruderloch". Due to the poor living conditions, the Franciscans requested the construction of a monastery in Kelheim (Franciscan monastery) in 1461. The monastery increasingly fell into disrepair. In 1603, the Franciscans had the complex rebuilt by master mason Hans.

The Benedictine Weltenburg Abbey was founded around the year 600 by Columban monks and stands below an earlier Bronze Age castle near the Danube gorge. Abbot Maurus Bächl had the current monastery complex built between 1716 and 1751 after centuries of flood damage and looting. The church was decorated by the artist brothers Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin Asam: The baroque interior is "theatrum sacrum" (sacred theater) in perfection. In the middle of the baroque monastery complex is perhaps one of the most beautiful beer gardens in Bavaria (ideal for enjoying the Weltenburg monastery beer from the oldest monastery brewery in the world) as well as the visitor center in the historic rock cellar, where guided tours can be booked.

King Ludwig I had the memorial built to commemorate the victorious battles against Napoleon in the Wars of Liberation from 1813 to 1815 and as a memorial to the unity of Germany. The building was begun by architect Friedrich von Gärtner and completed after his death by Leo von Klenze according to modified plans in 1863. The domed hall is 45 meters high. 34 monumental goddesses of victory made of white Carrara marble, designed by Ludwig Schwanthaler, join hands in a solemn round dance. The outside gallery of the hall offers a unique view of the surrounding Altmühl and Danube valleys. Multimedia guides provide unusual insights into the art, culture and history of the Kelheim landmark on the Michelsberg using images, music, animations and radio plays.

St. Michael's Church, with its relatively high tower, is the oldest surviving church in the parish of Kelheim. Dedicated to the Archangel Michael, it also gives its name to the Michelsberg, on which the Befreiungshalle is enthroned. Its tower is often mistakenly attributed to the much larger Gothic Franciscan church. The church was probably built in the 12th century, as was the first floor of the tower, which serves as the choir of the small church. The Romanesque building was first mentioned in documents in 1393. During renovation work, highly stylized wall paintings from the 13th or early 14th century were uncovered. The church was once the parish church of the Oberkelheim district. It was often on the verge of being demolished. But thanks to the commitment of the people of Kelheim, the church is still standing.

The monastery church was built between 1461 and 1506. In 1802, the monastery was dissolved as part of secularization, the church was desecrated and the furnishings were publicly auctioned off. Today, the church is used as a triad of church, concert hall and museum.