Fossils

Picturesque Towns with Castles and Fossils in the Altmühl Valley, Bavaria

Pappenheim and Solnhofen are small, picturesque towns in a beautiful part of the Altmühl Valley in Bavaria. Pappenheim is famous for its castle while fossils and nature enchant in Solnhofen.

Pappenheim is a small town with a picture-perfect location where the Altmühl makes a complete U-turn. From here downstream towards Eichstätt, the Altmühl valley is narrower with some of the steepest cliffs. The Altmühl valley can be enjoyed by road, rail, hiking, cycling, or of course kayaking – all routes mostly follow the flow of the river.

Pappenheim’s written history goes back to 802 when the area was given to the Monastery of St Gallen. From the 12th century, it was under secular control with the descendants of the counts of Pappenheim still living in the Neue Schloss.

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Baroque Palaces and Churches, Willibaldsburg Castle, and Fossil Museums

Eichstätt has an Italian Baroque style old town, an interesting cathedral, a copy of the Holy Sepulcher, and unique Altmühl Valley fossils in the Jura and Bergér Museums.

The Episcopal town Eichstätt has a history going back to 741 when St Boniface founded a monastery here. During the Thirty Years’ War, three quarters of the town was destroyed allowing Eichstätt to be rebuilt during the 18th century in an Italian Baroque style.

Following secularization in 1802, the bishopric became part of Bavaria. Almost a third of the town’s population of 14,000 is students at the local university, the only Catholic one in the German-speaking world.

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Cheap accommodation and great food are available in small Altmühl Valley towns including Wolframs-Eschenbach, Gunzenhausen, Weißenburg, Pappenheim, and Eichstätt.

The Altmühl Valley towns have pleasant hotels and restaurants at cheap prices. Chain hotels are far and few between in this beautiful part of Bavaria. It is worth using major internet hotel reservations to see what deals are available and to compare prices in the Altmühltal region but reservations are often best made directly with the hotels themselves.

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