The Lourdes Grotto in Oberndorf is located in a park laid out in the 19th century. Watercourses, the castle pond and the tea house are part of the park setting. The Lech floodplain forest, described as a peaceful and protected natural landscape, also lies to the east of Oberndorf. This gives you a choice of different themes when planning your trip: the park, trails with historical connections and nature.
Park and Lech Floodplain Forest
The Lourdes Grotto is nestled in the park, whose features include watercourses, the castle pond and the tea house. The reference to the 19th century establishes when the park was created, while these individual features give a closer picture of it. Anyone interested in this place will find a tangible connection here to a landscaped park and its history.
The Lech floodplain forest to the east of Oberndorf has a different character: it is considered a peaceful and protected natural landscape. The town’s profile thus brings together two distinct themes: a historic park and a designated natural area.
Cycling and Hiking Trails with Historical Connections
The Oberndorf Tilly Trail is a cycling and hiking route around the historic sites of the battle fought on 14 and 15 April 1632 near Rain and Oberndorf, on both sides of the Lech. Its focus is therefore a specific historical event and its locations. The dates also make clear which period of history the trail relates to.
Two cycling routes also pass directly through Oberndorf: the Via Claudia Augusta runs from Donauwörth to Füssen, while the Via Raetica runs from Mertingen to the Altmühltal. Their endpoints distinguish the two routes; the Tilly Trail, in turn, is defined by its connection to the 1632 battle. Depending on your interests, you can choose between a trail focused on a specific local historical topic and the two named cycling routes.
Protected Habitat in the South of the Municipality
A large, strictly protected meadow-breeding bird area lies in the south of the municipality of Oberndorf am Lech. It is a habitat for increasingly rare ground-nesting birds, including lapwings and curlews. The area can only be explored outside the breeding season. The protected status of the area and the bird species mentioned make this a different nature-focused theme from the Lech floodplain forest.
Donau-Ries as an Additional Regional Destination
Beyond Oberndorf itself, the wider travel destination of Donau-Ries offers other distinct themes. The district describes the Ries Geopark, with its Ries Crater formed by a meteorite impact, as a tourist attraction. In the regional context, this brings together geology and landscape history.
In Nördlingen, the medieval town wall is fully preserved and can be walked in its entirety. The town museum explores the lives and beliefs of the people of Nördlingen, the changes brought about during the Reformation, the Thirty Years’ War and the 1634 Battle of Nördlingen. Its collection, which is more than 150 years old, spans four floors; the battle is illustrated with a model featuring around 6,000 tin soldiers. Nördlingen thus offers both town history and a specific exhibit about the battle.
The RiesKraterMuseum focuses on the asteroid impact that created the Nördlingen Ries, its cosmic background and its effects up to the present day. Exhibits include meteorites, fossils and a piece of real lunar rock; information panels and multimedia offerings complement the displays. The museum presents the subject in a carefully renovated medieval barn dating from 1503. These regional attractions add independent perspectives on geology and history in Donau-Ries to the local focus on Oberndorf.
Discover more destinations: Wemding, Wallerstein, Oettingen In Bayern, Kaisheim, Ehingen Am Ries, Harburg, Rain, Monheim.
For the wider travel overview: Donau-Ries.
