41 – (GER 41) – Schongau- Rottenbuch

Place of Departure	SCHONGAU
Place of Arrival	ROTTENBUCH
Length – KM	15
Nation of the route	Germany
Region	Bavaria
Uphill Gap	426 mt.
Downhill Gap	381 mt.
CAI (Diff. Escurs.)	E
Praticability
File (.KMZ)	File .kmz
Open Street Map on Outdooractive	Open Site

Schongau (10.500 inhabitants), is a town with a medieval character enclosed within its walls with towers and gates (among them the Frauentor) placed on a hill next to the bank of the Lech. In the past it was one of the residences of the Wittelsbachs and a frontier fortress. In the historical centre there is the Marienplatz with late gothic houses with their typical roofs, such as the Ballenhaus (1515), the Altes Rathaus, and the Parish of Mariae Himmelfahrt, designed by the famous architect Dominikus Zimmermann in Bavarian rococo, rich with stuccos and frescoes. 2 km to the North-West there is the Old Town (Altenstadt), the ancient Schongau which ha as it principal monument the fine Romanesque church of St. Michael. The building was erected over a long period: between 1170 and 1220.

We leave the Rathaus and walk across the entire square to the South up to gate Frauentor, we cross, and we also cross the Sonnengraben and descend for 100 m, then turn left on the flight of steps and the walkway, which takes us on the bank of the river Lech. We up to the turn left and follow the right bank of the river up to the artificial barrier, which we cross; we go on along the lake, turn left and arrive at the margins of the industrial estate of the city, where we turn right and start an uphill walk on a tarmac which takes us on a plateau. We cross the fields and at the second crossroad on the Schongauerstrasse, which we follow for over 300 m, we turn left on the Poststrasse, and right on the Freistrasse. We continue on the Bahnhofstrasse, we turn right on the Zugspitzsstrasse which takes us on the Der Mittlere weg for 700 m, we underpass the 472 and turn left, and go on for 350 m when we turn right and we are on the Scknalzstrasse. With Peiting we would have left the valley of the Lech and now we would have arrived along the Ammer, which runs in front of us embedded within natural cliffs covered by lush vegetation. At the start of the way there is a notice regarding a cycling lane on the right, which takes directly to Rottenbuch; we prefer to go ahead for a further 150 m, turning right and entering the lush vegetation on the river bank, 500 m end we will now see for the first time the impetuous flowing of the river. For 1,5 km the footpath is tortuous, uneven, with footbridges and wooden stepladders, more or less close to the rushing waters, within a fascinating true forest. After a brief uphill climb we are back on the plateau, where beautiful grasslands and fields welcome us. We walk straight on for 900 m, then we cross a farming estate, and between this and a next one we turn left, we pass through another farm, on the edge of woodland still along the banks of the river Ammer, and we come to two ponds and walk between them, climbing up to the square of Rottenbuch, the Klosterhof, where we find the municipal building and the cathedral of St Augustine.

G.Caselli e Th.Dahms   Via Romea Stade-Mittenwald Pilgerfuher Duetschland  Ostfalia