Art and the electoral summer

The route first leads through the centre of Dachau. Sparkassenplatz is adorned with a large fountain created by the artist Reinhold Grübl in 1984. A section of the Dachau Artists' Trail can already be found in Münchener Straße, which the hike follows to the Amper.

The Dachau Artists' Trail offers an artistic journey of discovery through the district town. The circular route with 18 information pillars is the result of an initiative by Dachau's Lord Mayor Florian Hartmann. Works of art are displayed along almost six kilometres of the trail. They are each located at the exact spot where the artists painted the picture more than 100 years ago. An exciting experience, because you can see the place then and now at the same time. Information about the artists' life stories is provided en passant.

From the middle of the 19th century, the art movement of open-air painting gained strength throughout Europe. Painters flocked to the countryside to artistically capture the play of light as the seasons changed. It was the time of emerging Impressionism. The life and work of the rural population also provided popular motifs.

Thanks to the nearby Alps and the foehn effect, the light conditions in the Dachau area had a special charm. The Dachauer Moos with its moor and peat meadows also offered special landscape motifs. At the end of the 19th century, the town provided the artists with favourable living space and they settled here until 1914. Ludwig Dill, Adolf Hölzel and Arthur Langhammer founded the "New Dachau School". Dachau became a centre of landscape painting known beyond the region.

Circular route
Start and finish Rathausterrasse Dachau

Continue along the idyllic footpath along the Amper to the bridge in Eschenrieder Straße. After crossing the Amper and the Amper Canal, the old Gündingen hydroelectric power station can be seen from the riverside path. It has been in operation since 1897 and supplies 10 per cent of Dachau's households with electricity. The route continues along the banks of the river through the riparian forest and across the Maisach. On the Georg-Andorfer-Weg, the hikers meet the Künstlerweg again. Steps lead up to the castle garden.

The Dachau courtyard garden bears witness to the different concepts of garden culture since the Renaissance. It was laid out as early as the 16th century as a Renaissance garden with many geometric, mainly square beds. Three of the pavilions built at that time to enjoy the view from the Schlossberg are still preserved today. The pergola of lime trees also dates back to this early period. In the 18th century, the Effner brothers were commissioned to carry out a Baroque redesign modelled on the gardens in Paris. Various play facilities were built in a newly acquired wooded area. A skittle alley and swings were now part of the manorial amusements. At the end of the 18th century, Elector Max III had part of the garden redesigned as an English landscape garden. Under the direction of garden designer Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell, the design of the garden was functionally simplified at the beginning of the 19th century. Since then, orchards and rose beds have dominated the landscape. The panoramic view from the south-east-facing terraces across Munich to the Alps is a favourite.

The walk through the courtyard garden leads directly to Dachau Palace. Access to the rooms is only possible through the castle café.

Built in the Middle Ages, the castle was converted into a four-winged Renaissance palace in the 16th century. It served as a summer residence for the Wittelsbach family. Three of the four wings had to be demolished in the 19th century following the quartering of Napoleonic troops because they were badly damaged.

In 1868, the Renaissance ceiling panelling of the great hall was taken to the National Museum in Munich. There it survived the two major world wars undamaged and was reinstalled in the palace in 1977, so that the Great Hall can now be viewed in its original state.

The Dachau court architect Joseph Effner was commissioned around 1715 to remodel the building in the Regence style. Today, the staircase to the upper vestibule in particular bears witness to these late Baroque changes.

The Great Hall and the vestibule are now open to visitors.

The route leads back to the railway station via Karlsberg. The walk takes you past the town hall and Rathausplatz. The Drei Rosen inn is located at Münchener Straße 5. A good place to stop for refreshments after the hike, art and castle tour and to round off the day.