LANDSBERG
AM LECH
Beautiful Tower Town of the Bavarian Romantic Road
A bridge has crossed the Lech River in the plains of Bavaria west of
Munich since the Dark Ages, well before the town of Landsberg Am Lech
was founded
by Henry “The Lion”. The town grew to prominence driven
by wealth from salt mines and became a major trading center in the
15th Century under the Kings of Bavaria. That legacy has left a beautiful
picture book town of red tile roofs and pastel walls surrounding a
medieval market square with its frescoed city hall, fountain and cobblestones.
One of the towns along the tourist route known as the Romantic Road
from southern Bavaria to Franconia (see Tour
the Romantic Road), Landsberg
am Lech’s cityscape is particularly noted for its towers of curious
romantic beauty and dark history.
The Bavaria Gate Tower (Bayern-Tor) built in 1425, impresses as an
example of southern Germany’s version of early Gothic, colorfully
painted and built to a great height for the time as a demonstration
of the city’s wealth and power. The cry of “The Duke Comes!” while
the city fathers stood at attention and horns blared, when the Duke
Elector of Bavaria brought his new bride Elizabeth Visconti of Milan
home through the city gates, celebrated a return to beauty and glory
after the town was devastated by the Black Plague of the 1300s. A climb
up the 36 meter tower, the original inspiration for Munich's famous
town hall glockenspiel (see Munich Walking Tour), offers a great view
of the city.
The Schmaltz Tower “Beautiful Tower” (Schmalzturm),
which gets its name from its colorfully tiled roof, is the earliest
city
tower dating from 1290. It is in the center of the old town at the
gothic Basilica of Maria of the Ascension church, the area known
as the Witches Quarter (Hexenviertel). This was the artist’s
quarter popular among painters from Munich for the city’s picturesque
background, but changed its nickname after the trail of one particularly
unlucky red haired beauty, a female artist and therefore undoubtedly
a witch. Near the Lech River along the old city walls is the guard
tower known as “Maidens Leap” (Jungfernsprung) meaning
for its part during the 30 Years War when invading soldiers dragged
young girls to the
tower, who leapt to their death in the river rather
than suffer ravishment.
Mother's Tower
Cross
the bridge over the Lech River, roiled to a white froth by the stepped
rapids of the dammed stream and under the ancient Chestnut
trees of the river park and here you’ll find perhaps the best
Mother’s Day gift ever given to a mom. The Bavarian born but
British knighted artist Hurbert Von Herkomer, in 1884 at the height
of the gothic romantic revival, commissioned the building of a tower
in honor of his mother to reflect the medieval flavor of the rest of
the town. The Mother’s Tower (Muttertrum) is straight out of
a Grimm’s Rapunzel fairy tail, with its gnarled stonework, yellow
tiled roof and spooky wooden bridgework, looks like the quintessential
chess-piece rook. The tower has a wedding chapel for civil ceremonies
and an extremely popular backdrop for nuptial photos. Next to the tower,
the Herkomer Museum offers a history of the artist’s legacy
and a few of his works. The museum is only open from 2pm to 5 pm, closed
on monday.
Landsberg Prison and Concentration Camp
Landsberg Am Lech also has its curious historic connections to the 20th Century as well. In Landsberg, was the prison where Adolf Hitler was jailed in the 1920’s before coming to power and from his cell began writing his “Mein Kampf”. Just outside of town was the first Nazi concentration camp discovered in Germany, liberated by the 101st Airborne in 1945, dramatized in an episode of the “Band of Brothers” television series (see Bastogne Foy Foxholes), and at the army air corps base established outside of Landsberg where earthen bunkered hangers are still visible, country music icon Johnny Cash formed his first band while stationed in Germany. He called his band the Landsberg Barbarians.
Getting to Landsbeg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech is about 50 minutes by train from Munich or 20 minutes
from Augsburg. The main-line express stops in Kaufering and a regionalbahn
local train transfers to the Lech station across the river from the
old town, near the Mutterturm and the river park. With a car from
Landsberg one can easily visit the Benedictine Monastery at Ansdech,
the Skyline Amusement Park, and the Ludwig castles of Linderhof and
Neuschwanstein (see Museum of Bavarian Kings), about 20 minutes away. © Bargain
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See Also:
DINKELSBUHL MEDIEVAL WALLED TOWN
GERMAN LIMES ROAD - ROMAN FORTS AND MUSEUMS
SCHLOSS NYMPHENBURG - KINGS PALACE MUNICH
ROTHENBURG
OB DER TAUBER MUSEUMS
